Harry Potter and the Veil of Darkness
by Oceans Phoenix
Summary: Post OOTP. There were a three inescapable truths which confronted Harry. 1. His powers were growing and would soon consume him. 2. He was being plagued by dark visions of the future. 3. He had just killed an innocent man. Dark Fic
1. Summer at the Dursleys UPDATED

Hello, my name is SJ, and this is my fanfiction. It has been 6 years sine I started it, and I think we are nearly there now!

Considering I started it so long ago, my writing style developed a lot over that time. For this reason I have decided to rewrite all chapters as I would now, in order to give it consistency. If a chapter says "Updated" or "Complete" it means I have made any changes, it has been worked on by my kind beta checker and should be ready for reading. I'm hoping this process will be completed by June 2010, with the story and its sequel being finished some time in 2011. If there is no tag, then apologies for errors, paragraph size etc.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I wouldn't have written books 6 & 7. What a disappointment. No money is being made. Harry Potter is property of J K Rowling, Warnerbrothers, Scolastic etc.

Harry Potter? The best way to know who he is, is to hear things as they are. First, we need to go back to the start, before that bit, and then a little bit more to the left.

Here

Deep in space, past that smelly bit and past that bit with the funny name, are thousands? No, millions! Of stars and planets swirling round in their own sense, blissfully unaware of each other. Most of them have a rock here or there, some dust, and maybe if they are lucky, a couple of stones.

Some of the special planets however, are teaming with life. Life itself starts off small, but once people become aware of the fact they are alive, they decide they like it, and set about trying to keep things that way. And so it grows.

Some life is big, whilst some is small. There is the big yet dull kind, such as a tree, which may sit there for decades and ponder about the great mysteries of Astrophysics, or more likely, wonder what the weather will be like. Then you get the smaller more exciting kind such as mice.

Mice by all definitions are very alive. They spend their time running round, always on the move. Sometimes running from cats, before they hide behind a corner and jump out wielding a frying pan several times larger than themselves. Whilst others spend their time concocting elaborate cheese thieving plans.

To look at all life would be stupid, and rather boring, after all no one wants to look at a teacher. So Instead it is best only to look at the most important of them. For a hypothetical purpose, let's choose a small planet called Earth. Earth has been around for a while and the people alive there are pretty certain of what they want to be, in some sense. A few wars have happened here and there, a couple of people got a bit angry, but generally things went on

Now Magic, that is the interesting part. Somewhere along the way some bright spark said "Hey, I wonder what would happen if I did this…" and so magic was made. This leads to Harry Potter. He was one of these magic folk. He went to a magic school and had magic friends and, if it had been invented, he would most definitely have eaten magical breakfast. He was sixteen years old today, and lying on his back in a dingy little room in a very typical street in a place not too far away, called Surrey. He tried to mind his business and get along with things but the Dark Lord's people and fat relatives generally got in the way. Such as today.

"GET DOWN HERE BOY!" yelled uncle Vernon from the bottom of the stairs, interrupting what few peaceful moments Harry managed to find as usual. It was Harry Potter's sixteenth birthday and the middle of summer, or the muggle season, as he liked to call it, because essentially that is what it was. He lay for a moment longer, in mild annoyance. He had at some point in his earlier life discovered that by placing a set of stairs between himself and his uncle he could greatly reduce the possibility of an encounter.

It was a well known fact that fat people avoid walking up stairs when possible.

Nonetheless, after deciding that peace would only elude him if he continued to ignore the gruff bellowing of his uncle, he dragged himself out of his bed, hastily pulled on some clothes, and walked out of the room ready to face what was probably going to be his worst birthday ever.

And we don't mean a bad birthday, like those bratty girls on TV angry that someone wore the wrong coloured dress to their "sweet 16". To summarize, Voldemort, an evil, insane and overly dramatic dark lord had made his return known to the wizarding world. Add to this the fact his godfather Sirius had died in some sort of strange dark portal related adventure, and Harry was feeling rather gloomier than usual.

"What am I supposed to have done now?" He asked in exasperation as he rolled his eyes and made his way downstairs. "Blown up something? Magically made you stupid did I?" Harry muttered as he slumped towards the bellowing spit machine of an uncle.

"Don't play silly buggers with me. Look out THERE!" uncle Vernon roared as he roughly pointed one of his fat sausages like fingers towards the kitchen window that aunt Petunia had her bony face squashed against.

"So come on then, what did I do his time? Glued her face to the window?" he asked as he freely let the sarcasm hang in the air.

"Don't act stupid with me boy, look at the weather! Look! This is all your fault! You have been doing IT haven't you!" He said as his anger reached such a peak that it caused him to go into the raspy whispering he normally only achieved when choking on something, like the big lump of ham at dinner last night. Harry, who was now interested in what he was supposed to have done, walked over to the window to look.

As he stared outside he ran a checklist of things which would definitely be worthy of remark. Wizards? None. A spooky house appearing where one had never appeared before? None. Dudley doing exercise? Definitely not. It was just a typical boring day, a rainy one at that. Harry turned back to face his uncle, who had managed to appear right next to him without being heard. He guessed it had something to do with cushions of fat on his toes allowing him to walk quietly.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Harry asked hopelessly. Uncle Vernon's face seemed to inflate like a purple party balloon in indignation at what he obviously thought was Harry's impertinence.

"Are you blind? It never rains! Never! This is all your fault. Rain in July? I don't think so. Not in my neighbourhood. Not if I have anything to say about it. You had better stop whatever it is you are doing right now…"

"Breathing?" Harry interrupted.

"I'm not playing here!" Uncle Vernon hissed as he got a level up in anger.

"No you're just spitting on me." He used the momentarily silence that followed to contemplate the absurdity of the entire conversation. "And of course it rains in July" He added. "This is England!"

One good thing he had to say was that, whilst this year was like any other in the sense that he got shouted at, moaned at for the speed at which the grass grew, and blamed for the fact dogs kept pooing on the front lawn, he couldn't possibly miss the change in their behaviour. They seemed almost afraid to actually punish him or make him do chores, and so it was for this reason he didn't mind being "a sarcastic git" or so the phrase was.

There was a good reason to this. Around a month ago a team of wizards happened to make it apparent that if the Dursley's enjoyed their lives, then they would have to treat Harry better. Their new program of Harry treatment became apparent on his second night back. They had ordered some Chinese food in celebration of Dudley breaking someone's jaw.

Whilst Harry lay in his bedroom trying to calculate how many cheese slices he could fit into his bedroom, he was called downstairs. According to his aunt, they had finished dinner and had apparently ordered too much food. Thus some of it would need to be thrown away. And Harry was the man for the job. After an exchange of understanding from his aunt, he waited for them to excuse themselves into the living room, before hastily tearing open several containers of Chinese food and shoveling it down it a manner which could best be described as Dudley-esque.

After licking the last scraps from the containers, he did indeed throw the rubbish away. His aunt was also careful enough to make a whisper that said this would be the beginning of some sort of contract, with his side of the bargain being that he wrote at least every three days to his friends at the Order, informing them of his good health and treatment, and thus ensured the Dursley's a magic free lifestyle. Or at least as magic free as you could get with Harry around.

The new-found plan worked fine with Harry, and his only regret was that someone hadn't threatened them sooner. All this, however, couldn't make up for the loss of Sirius. Nothing probably could, unless of course it turned out that his late father James had another hairy ex con best friend who was looking for the company of a young boy. On second thought, Harry actually hoped that wasn't the case.

As he lay in his bedroom, ticking away the seconds in his mind, he couldn't help but feel anger arise in him. When he was younger, a lonely birthday was ok. It was all he had ever known. What other type of birthday could there be? Now however, laying on his own when his friends, Hermione, Remus, and everyone else he cared about were so far away, he felt bitter. He had tasted what things could be like, and without even so much as a "Happy Birthday Harry" in a letter, he felt abandoned like yesterdays jam.

For no reason other than hope he sat up and looked out the window for a moment, wondering if someone was out there now, standing guard over him. All he saw was the rain and the neighbour's dog doing another poo in the flower bed. "Great" he thought as he slumped back onto his bed. "My birthday and even the weather is celebrating!"

After a mind numbing twenty minutes had passed, the shouts from downstairs gradually faded until they reached their normal daily level. This meant that Dudley had started breakfast and Petunia had found something to be nosey about. He eventually pulled himself up off his bed and sat staring at his glum reflection in the mirror, as if asking it, what he should do. Something seemed a little different, although he couldn't place his finger on it. The furniture was in the same place, it wasn't his reflection in the full-length mirror that was different; he was still scruffy, slightly scrawny, and short sighed. Then he spotted it: It was the four owls that were bobbing outside his window waiting to be let in.

Harry pulled himself up off his bed and reached over to the window to let the owls in. They all immediately flew over and landed on his bed, where they had a brief argument over who would be seen by Harry first. The first one, which was a snowy white that he knew as his own, gave the two owls to her left a hard push and nudged her way forward right next to Harry, probably so he could give her some treats and tell her she was good for killing mice.

The one he saw rolling on the bed, having been apparently disorientated, was called Pigwidgeon, or Pig, and belonged to his best friend Ron Weasley. He hoped it hadn't obtained any sort of brain damage, although after thinking on this he realised it probably wouldn't make much difference to the overly excitable owl. The last two which looked more sensible than either Hedwig, or Pig, were barn owls, which Harry guessed came from Hogwarts.

In the end, Harry reached for Pig's letter as it was very large compared to the owl, and did actually run the risk of suffocating or squashing its carrier if left unattended. He untied the letter and it gave a small hoot of thanks before rolling to rest on its back, where it tried to gets its breath back from the long flight. He tore the letter open and took out the parchment. He read it through twice, looking for any hidden meanings about Voldemort.

Dear Harry,

_Happy Birthday mate. Me and Hermione are here at the you know where. I'm writing to say that we are coming to pick you up tomorrow at about 11:00. I will give you my present then. I can't really tell you much at the moment with things as they are. You know how it is. We should get our O.W.L results any day now. They said July and it is the end of July so you might actually have them by the time my rubbishy owl finds you. He probably got lost again. Last week when I sent a letter it took him three hours to even find the window. You should see Hermione, She's mental! Running all over the place and looking out the window for owls. That girl's bonkers. She practically had a party when a blackbird landed outside her window. She thought the results were here. Anyway I will see you tomorrow_

_From_

_Ron_

Harry put down the letter and took a deep breath. O.W.L. results were just about the last thing on his mind, other than what Snape would look like in a hula skirt. He had wondered that once, and straight after wished that he hadn't. He made sure that it was always the last thing on his mind. Also, to his disappointment, there hadn't been any information on any dark doings, but at least this time they had bothered to say when they were coming to get him. Last time he had just been left with the frustratingly vague date of "soon".

He cautiously reached for the first of the two barn owls. Unless the O.W.L results were late, and he had suddenly become very popular then the chances were that one of these contained the information as to whether or not he would be able to pursue his career as an Auror. He took the letter from the barn owl that had hoped up onto his leg. As soon as it was untied, the owl flew back off, telling him this was going to be the kind of letter that didn't need a response. As he turned over the yellow parchment in his hand he could see the Hogwarts crest sealing it in crimson wax.

He suddenly found that his throat had gone very dry. It wasn't that he was scared; it was more anxiety and worry that he would disappoint everyone. He had to calm himself for a minute as he realised his hand was shaking slightly. "Don't be stupid. You're not Hermione, you don't care" he said to himself. "It is just a few words written down. It won't hurt you. It is insignificant. It is only what you have spent the last five years of your life doing… Oh dear" he thought as he failed to trick himself. If he was this nervous, then he felt genuinely sorry for Hermione. She was probably on a tightrope, wobbling over the void of insanity below.

He decided that the best thing to do would just be to get it over with quickly. Once it's gone it's gone. Quick and painful or slow and painful… the former made more sense.

He tore open the seal and slid out the paper that was inside. It had been folded into three, and as he unfolded it he was met by the official Hogwarts seal, this time printed on the top centre and bottom right hand corner. Anyone clever knows that the more official seals it has, the more important it is. It was quite short, but Harry spent some time reading it and re-reading it. Just to check… No matter how many times he went over it, it wasn't what he hoped for.

_Dear Harry James Potter_

_We are writing to you in regards to you Ordinary Wizarding Levels. We would like to thank you for taking your time to sit the examinations. Please find listed below your examination results. Should you have any questions or complaints regarding the grading, please contact the official wizard grading and examination board._

_Yours Sincerely_

_Graham Tufflethrump_

Ordinary Wizarding Level examination results for Harry James Potter.

Astronomy……………………………………………Acceptable………

Care of Magical Creatures…………………..……..…Outstanding………

Charms………………………………………………..Exceeds expectation………

Defence against the Dark Arts…………………………Outstanding………

Divinations……………………………………………Troll………

Herbology…………………………………………….Exceeds Expectation………

History of Magic…………………………………...…Acceptable………

Potions………………………………………………...Exceeds Expectation………

Transfiguration………………………………………..Outstanding………

Harry couldn't believe what was he saw. "Outstanding" in C.O.M.C. He couldn't wait to show Hagrid this. It would prove once and for all that he wasn't a rubbish teacher. At least Hagrid would have some students passing with high marks. Maybe Ron got Outstanding as well. Hermione undoubtedly did. D.A.D.A wasn't that much of a surprise, but Harry was still relieved that having rubbish teachers in second and fifth year hadn't bought his final grade down. He considered sending this to Professor Umbridge to show that she was wrong, but decided against it in case she somehow applied to have it changed. Just because she was disgraced and mentally disturbed after the centaur incident, didn't mean she couldn't pull a few strings. T! A "Troll" in divination's. Well it wasn't exactly unexpected. Still, Harry thought, it would make Fred and George proud

"Wow" He said as he scanned further down. I actually passed in History of Magic!

Potions? He couldn't believe it, he got an E! There must have been a mistake or something. He was certain he was going to fail. But then, the more Harry thought about it, the more obvious it seemed to become. If the greasy-haired git of a teacher didn't think very much of Harry, then it wouldn't have been difficult to "exceed expectations." Indeed, Harry likely exceeded Snape's expectations every time he managed to dress himself properly.

Harry couldn't believe his luck when he got an outstanding in transfiguration. He remembered the exam going quiet well but for some reason suspected that his butter dish wasn't still meant to have bat wings…

Overall, Harry was quiet please with the grades he got. He didn't get what he had hoped, for which was all outstanding, but hoping for something and expecting it are quite different. Then it hit him. Like a tidal wave of disappointment. If his memory served him correctly then he had needed an Outstanding in Potions. An Exceeds Expectations, though better than he had thought possible, wasn't as good as an Outstanding, and without the grades he wouldn't be able to become an Auror.

"At least my grades aren't bad enough to deserve some verbal ear punishment from Hermione's constant comments of disappointment." He said as he tried to look on the nonexistent bright side. Being a professional Quidditch player would be ok… But what if they wouldn't accept him? He could imagine it all vividly. Standing and smiling, having just won the Quidditch world cup. Youngest ever. But then Rita Skeeter would come over and snatch it off him in the middle off his glory. She then pulled out a copy the daily prophet which was titled "Pitiful Potter." And everyone would hate him because he failed.

"That's ridiculous." He thought once he came to his senses. "Rita is banned from attending the Quidditch world cup."

After putting down the letter and trying to take his mind of it, he turned to the one remaining owl. He could guess that it was going to be about the new school year and new books, although it didn't stop him sulking. He opened the envelope to find a piece or parchment and another smaller, slightly fatter envelope inside.

Dear Mr. Potter

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, platform 9 and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock. A list of books required for the next year is enclosed

Yours sincerely

Professor M. McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry looked down the list of books, which was shorter than in previous years. He was due to be starting his N.E.W.T's this year, which meant he dropped some subjects. He had dropped Divination's, which was good because, looking at his abysmal test results, there would be no point in doing anyway. He would hardly be the next great prophet by any standards.

He also dropped History of Magic, Astronomy and Herbology. This left him with five subjects, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts, Potions and Transfiguration. The Books He needed were:

The Dark Arts and How to Stop Them _by Quentin Trimble_

Transfiguration for the Advanced _by Emeric Switch_

Perfect Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Charming Charms _by Adalbert Waffling_

Magical Beasts and How to Tame Them _by Newt Scamander_

Harry then took out the smaller Envelope. This one didn't have a Hogwarts seal on it but displayed a similar looking one with a letter "D" on it. Harry tore it open carefully. Inside it read

_Dear Harry_

_I am writing to you to tell you that I have decided to appoint you as a new Gryffindor Prefect. I am aware that Gryffindor already has two prefects and that they are traditionally assigned at the start of your last school year, but it has come to my attention that there was unacceptable behaviour from a certain Slytherin Prefect last term. As a result, I have had to revoke from them their position as a Prefect. Unfortunately, I was unable to find another suitable Slytherin to fill this place, and so I am writing to tell you that, unless you reply stating otherwise, I have decided that we will have three Gryffindor prefects this year instead, and I would be honoured if you would accept this role. I hope I can rely on your high standard of behaviour and expect you to be a good role model to the new students. Prefects are expected to report to my office at the start of term for instructions. I look forward to seeing you there this September._

_From_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Ps. I thought that you might like to know, since I am the headmaster of Hogwarts I am entitled to review the grades of the students and whilst it is not within my power to give you an outstanding grade in potions, I am please to inform you that. due to a lack of interest from other students, in order to have enough people to run the class professor Severus Snape has agreed to lower his grade boundaries so that he will also agree to teach students whom obtained an Exceeds Expectations. I cannot, however, promise that he will alter his unique style of teaching, especially in regards to you. I hope you will continue your pursuit and not be deterred by the fact that you didn't achieve all the necessary grades that you would have needed. Congratulations on your grades. Pity about the divinations though. I would have thought you would get at least an acceptable._

Harry very happily put down the letter and just let himself sit there for a moment and reflect. Admittedly, that was what much of his time consisted of. Sitting, reflecting. But this was the good kind that usually involves self praise such as

"Congratulations supreme master Potter. You truly are a king of men." After he had literally given himself a pat on the back, he returned to the envelope and delicately extracted the shiny prefect badge. Whilst he had seen them everyday pinned to Ron and Hermione's uniform, he had to say, his looked shinier, and more impressive.

He held up the new badge to his old t-shirt and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Looking good Potter, The girls can't resist a man with power" Harry laughed to himself as he placed it back down on his bed. He wrote back to Ron and Hermione saying he would be ready for tomorrow. He carefully avoided mentioning the prefectism because he wanted to tell them when he could see them face to face. Once he had checked it over he tied it to Hedwig, who after a quick drink and some food flew off. He sat back down on his bed and thought; perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad birthday after all…

Whilst the day had started off quite nicely for him, (actually it was better than quite nice, it was probably the best day he had ever spent at privet drive), it didn't exactly get much better. However it wasn't bad. As far as Harry was concerned, when the Dursley's weren't shouting at him or threatening him, he should probably be thankful. He spent a good part of the day weeding out the garden. The Dursley's had decided that this was a form of punishment for making it rain.

"So you think a bit of rain will get you out of doing chores do you? It won't! You can go out there and do it in the rain. Looks like your plan has backfired lad!" His Uncle had said to him with a manic laugh.

In fact, it was actually better than working in the sun. Where the typical Privet Drive sun had baked the ground hard for the last two weeks, the rare occurrence of rain softened it, like stale bread in a pond. He did get very muddy, but there was always a personal satisfaction in having small amounts of fun when the Dursley's thought they were punishing him. There was also fun to be had from kicking off his muddy shoes by the back door, flicking mud everywhere in the process.

The remainder of his birthday went past most uneventfully, apart from being invited around Mrs. Figg's house for the second time in the week. She often had him round for dinner these days, whilst the Dursley's were under the pretence that he was going to "do hard work and have no fun what so ever" as she put it. Harry was glad of this. Rather than staying at home, doing nothing but gardening, he got to sit round Mrs. Figg's house and talk about the wizarding world. She didn't really know that much about the Order business, or if she did she didn't let on, but Dumbledore had apparently felt that Harry needed to be kept in touch with so that he didn't get disgruntled and run off, as Miss fig had politely put it.

On this particular occasion He was surprised to hear that she had to go out and do some emergency shopping, and because of this Tonks had to come around and keep an eye on him to avoid a repeat of last year. The good thing about Tonks, Harry found, is that because she wasn't as old as most of the adults, she still had a good sense of what is fun. Therefore, after a few minutes of gentle hinting, she asked Harry if they could order a Pizza. She said she had only ever gotten to do it once because it was the sort of thing her mother frowned upon, and since she left home she had never lived anywhere with muggle telephones.

He sometimes wondered to himself how such a (to put it frankly) weird and excitable girl like her could have strict parents. Half an hour later as they sat round half watching a film and eating pizza, she explained how they were going to be travelling tomorrow and accidentally let slip that Harry was going to have a late birthday party of some sort.

After about another half hour later, her shift finished and Remus turned up to come and keep watch. When Remus asked if Harry had eaten, he had the intelligence to say no, and so half an hour later another pizza was delivered by a vaguely puzzled looking delivery boy.

As they ate Harry decided to ask Remus something that had been on his mind for a long time.

"Last year I saw one of Snape's memories of you and my father just after your exams, and my father was very…unfair." Remus didn't respond to this, but just made a sort of coughing sound and excused himself to get a drink. Harry got the hint that Remus did not want to discuss it, and so did not approach the subject again.

For the remainder of the evening they both sat in silence watching the rest of the film. Just as it finished, there was a sound outside as the front door clicked. In an instant Remus was on his feet, wand in hand. He cast a quick warning glance towards Harry as he mouthed the word "Death eaters." Harry's heart skipped a beat, and then made up for it by beating lots in a short amount of time. He had always known that an attack was possible over the summer, but with Order supervision he didn't expect to have Death Eaters attacking him, let alone sneaking outside an old ladies house late at night.

Remus approached the door with caution, side stepping as he clung to the hall and tried to move in the shadows, so as not to be seen through the patterned glass of the front door. Harry stood behind him. He seemed to feel his senses heighten. He became aware of every sound he made, every movement, and he realised just how fluffy the carpet really was. He gingerly reached out to turn the hall light on when Remus quickly spun his head to face Harry, as if reading his mind.

"No! Don't turn the light on. This way we will be able to surprise them and catch them off guard." Harry carefully edged his way closer behind Remus. He dried his sweaty palms on his t shirt before taking hold of his wand again, bracing himself for the impending attack from the death eaters at the door.

In what seemed like slow motion, the door swung open and Remus sent an impedimenta curse flying toward the dark figure. Harry's mind seemed empty as of what to do, and he racked his brain for what curse he should try. Normally in circumstances like this he just ran whilst shooting spells over his shoulder. Lightning flashed for a convenient second, illuminating the scene. It was just long enough however to change everything. Instead of seeing a small army of highly trained killing machines, he saw Mrs. Figg looking petrified.

Harry flicked on the light so as to reveal to Remus a livid Mrs. Figg standing there with cat food on her head, and tins littered all over the floor, some of them still clattering as they tried to find a place to rest. Harry stood stone like for a moment, unsure what to do. Logic would suggest that he should lower his wand and apologise profusely. On the other hand, they had already started, and they might as well finish her off. Eventually he took the logical route, but rather than apologise he creased over laughing at the scene.

Remus stood routed to the spot, flabbergasted. His mouth opening and closing like a goldfish out of water, whilst saying no words. Mrs. Figg however, knew exactly what she would do, and she planned it all out very carefully in the few moments that she stood there in the doorway, her face steadily turning redder and redder whilst she tried to put her anger into words.

"You! You! Why you wait till I get…" she began. Remus finally gathered his senses and, in speed that could only be attributed to natural instinct, he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him through the doorway, past the livid old woman, in to the street. "Get back here, not running off until…" Mrs. Figg screamed in rage, but by then her voice had died out as Remus and Harry ran away from her. They didn't stop running for a long time in case she was chasing them. They didn't even check to see if she was, because the last thing you want to turn round and see is that she is, and that she is gaining on you!

"That was a close one," panted Remus, as he finally came to a standstill, unable to run any further. He stood hunched over, catching his breath for several moments before he spoke.

"I think she might have been worse than Death Eaters," said Harry, who would have still found the whole incident quiet amusing, had there not been several moment when he had feared for his life. Remus laughed.

"At least it will make a good story. Sirius would have loved to have seen that. He would have wet himself." The laughter stopped abruptly as they both remembered their good friend. They stood there for a moment, while Remus looked as if he was about to say something, but instead changed his mind and simply said. "We'd best get you home now Harry." They walked back along the street towards number four privet drive. As they passed Mrs. Figg's house, they saw she was still kneeling down picking up numerous cans of cat food.

Eventually, Harry reached the front door. Remus had the sense to wait by the corner so as not to be seen by the Dursley's. He gave a smile.

"Remember Harry, eleven o'clock tomorrow to pick you up." Harry didn't reply, but simply nodded his head happily before knocking on the front door and walking in. Uncle Vernon looked at him with a malicious grin on his face and said in the most smug way humanly possible:

"Had fun, did you boy?" Harry paused for a moment before replying.

"No, she made me work really hard. It was horrible." A wide smile spread across Vernon's big greasy face.

"We will have to send you round there more often then, wont we!" Harry smiled inwardly as he made his way to his room. Just before going to sleep, he thought to himself "That this wasn't such a bad birthday after all."

Harry awoke early next morning. The sun was still creeping across the lawn and the dew on the grass was sparkling in the sunlight. He got out of his bed and dressed quickly. Today was the day that he would be leaving, and that fact alone made him wide awake. As he cast a glance out at the early morning weather, it looked like it was going to turn out very sunny and bright. Perhaps if it was permitted, he could play a little bit of Quidditch in the garden with Ron later.

He pulled on a brown t-shirt and some big shorts which had once belonged to Dudley, and as a result came down to his shins. Harry packed away all his old robes and schoolbooks from which he had been revising over the holidays so far. Once he was packed and had managed to fasten the tie on his bulging trunk, he made sure he was prepared, meaning he wasn't naked, and his glasses were on the correct side of his face. The side with a nose.

He looked at his clock. It read six thirty-four, this along with the fact it was a weekend, meant it is unlikely any of the Dursley's would wake up before eight o'clock. He looked out of his window. Since he had woken up the sun had risen several more inches and now covered the entire lawn, and was starting to creep up the wall. The dew on the grass had evaporated and was now looking as dry as it ever did. Harry sat down on his bed and thought to himself, "Why couldn't it be this sunny yesterday?"

And with this thought there was a gentle tapping at the door downstairs.


	2. The Madness of Moody UPDATED

Harry jumped to his feet. A knock at the door? At six thirty four in the morning? With his reputation? He hastily descended the stairs, knowing that if any of the Dursley's awoke right now there would be trouble. As he approached the front door he could see a distorted figure through the frosted glass, and so drew out his wand in anticipation. He swung the door open and stared, as for some reason the figure remained distorted despite the fact there was no frosted glass in the way. The man who stood on the doorstep looked like he had been carved out of wood, and then something else, not exactly melted, but perhaps like a Picasso painting in the sense that all the facial features looked to be slightly off from the correct place.

"Moody, do you know what time it is?" Harry asked, as his mind returned to his original train of thought.

"It's six thirty, but I knew you would be awake" Moody replied in his barking voice, which matched his rough appearance. It was hard to imagine anything about this man being smooth. He probably shaved with a rock, and brushed his teeth with gravel.

"Its six thirty. I thought you might have been a Death Eater"

"Exactly, that's why we are here so early, you need to think like a Death Eater"

"But I'm not one"

"No but you think like one, and I need to think like a Death Eater too, which means I think like you, and so I knew you would be awake, Kapeesh?" Moody said in a way which implied this made perfect sense. At this point Remus appeared from up the driveway, and walked past Moody in to the house.

"Don't go confusing us, it's too early in the morning for that. Hey Harry, where are your bags?"

"They are just upstairs." He replied as he pointed.

"The real reason we are here early…" Said Tonks as she loitered about with her hands in her pockets. "Is that Moody gets self conscious about muggles always gawking at his magic eye."

"I do not get self conscious!" He snapped. "I just get impatient. All these muggles with their staring, you would think they have never seen a magical eye before. How's a man supposed to do his job with people lollygagging all over the scene." Five minutes later all of Harry's possessions had been removed from his bedroom and placed in the boot of the car.

Although to refer to it as a car was to downplay the extravagance of the transport. What was actually parked on the drive, or half on the drive, was a long black limo. The windows were blacked out, which suggested someone misunderstood the idea of travelling covertly. He wasn't exactly sure whose idea a limo was, but the whole thing reeked of Tonks. It would seem she could do with a few more lessons in muggle travel.

"What were you guys thinking?" Harry asked in dismay.

"If you travel it might as well be in style" replied Tonks, who was positively beaming whilst looking at the car. Once the boot had been shut Harry slid into the back. He would have called it the middle seat, but since it had been magically enlarged so much it was hard to be sure of exactly where the middle was.

"This is a little like the knight bus you know" Remus explained as he looked over at Harry. "It can't be seen by any muggles, and it can also travel a little faster than traditional muggle cars go. Now, if I may make a suggestion, you may wish to put your seatbelts on.

Picking up on the plural Harry looked at where he was sitting and noticed that strangely it seemed to be nothing but seatbelts. Never the less, he took Remus' advice and strapped in about ten or so seatbelts. There were still some unfastened, including one which looked like it should go over the forehead. However, it looked like they had all been summoned in a hurry, like a last minute addition to the car.

He looked to the other side of the car where Lupin was hastily buckling up and tightening straps. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if he had used some chains for extra strength and added some spellotape for a last precaution. Tonks, who was in the middle, only seemed to have three seat belts whilst Moody had but a single seatbelt. He wasn't entirely sure why but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach of impending doom. The same kind of feeling you had when you ate that chicken that tasted a bit funny, only to find out a moment later that they hadn't been serving chicken at all.

Suddenly Harry heard the engine roar and the car shuddered in a way that cars, in uncle Vernon's opinion, most certainly should not. He now understood the doom. The engine wasn't tickering away or making a gentle hum like cars should do. It was quite literally roaring, or doing a damn good impression for something without vocal chords. Harry decided that this never was a typical muggle limo. At least if you started with one of those you couldn't go too wrong. No. Harry decided that this was probably transfigured from some mice, a mouldy cabbage and an old front door.

As he cast his glance up away from Remus and straight forwards to Moody, he saw the ex-teacher leaning round the back of his seat. He gave everyone a quick glance to make sure they were strapped in; before he licked his lips in anticipation and tightened his grasp on the steering wheel. Moody pressed the accelerator and Harry suddenly found himself sinking in to the back of his seat several inches more than he would have expected. Remus was right when he said that this was like the knight bus. He did however neglect to tell Harry the fact that unlike the night bus, houses and lampposts didn't seem at all inclined to move.

As they went flying round the roads swerving all over the place, gravity seemed to have forgotten that it applied to Moody as well, as his body went flying from side to side if the front of the limo. Harry noted to himself the Moody must be commendably strong to be able to keep hold of the steering wheel when he could feel all the blood being pushed to one side of his body.

Once Harry was certain that he wasn't about to throw up, he managed to observe that Moody actually seemed to be accelerating. Harry felt the car bounce up and down on various unknown obstacles that he greatly hoped weren't muggles. During this time he chanced a glimpse to his left and saw Lupin with his eyes wide open in fear and his face a very strange shade of green. Tonks however was bouncing up and down in her seat and flying from side to side as far as her three seat belts would allow, all the time shouting

"Faster Moody Faster!!!"

Several minutes later after the remainder of the journey, which we shall not be recounting, the car came to a stop on the side of the road just outside Griminauld Place. With a broken window, a missing wheel, and a strange purple goo across the bonnet, Harry decided in the future he would confine himself to normal cars, or at the very most cars which could fly.

As they got out of the car Hermione came running out excitedly to meet them. Harry observed that Ron, who looked the same as usual, lanky ginger and too freckled for his own good, was leaning by the front door. It seemed he was at that age where it would be uncool to run out and hug a friend. Especially a guy friend. Hermione however did not seem concerned by such matters. In fact it could be said she was the exact same girl he had always known.

"Hey Harry, it's good to see you, have you lost weight?" she asked as she hugged him. "You feel thin, I bet the Dursleys weren't feeding you properly." She said in a way which made him feel like a pet dog.

"No I'm the same as normal." He replied before wondering what to say next. "Have you changed your hair Mione?" This was a safe question to ask. Girls take this sort of question as a compliment, where as if he said "You're face looks different." This might result in him being punched.

"Why yes I did Harry thanks for noticing." She blushed at this comment and looked away from Harry, and over at Moody who had climbed back into the car and was rummaging round for his other eye which had fallen out during the bumpy ride.

"Fancy helping us get your stuff in?" Remus called from the boot. "I'm not sure what you packed in this trunk of yours but I'm not willing to do my back in lifting this. Harry was reminded that this was a muggle street, unlike at the Burrow.

As they walked into the house Harry had to stop for a moment to make sure he had walked in to the right house, and not the one next door, since it appeared to be markedly different from the one he recalled. Gone was the screaming portrait of Sirius' mother, along with the grime on the walls, floors and ceilings. The only remnants of its existence was a sort of darkish spot on the wall that suggested someone had been burning something. Obviously creature hadn't been around when it happened or else he would probably have killed someone.

The old sticky carpet which had caked together into a sort of brown goo over the years had gone, and was now replaced by a springy new red one with swirly patterns. A smell of fresh paint hung in the air which revealed more than a good cleaning had been undertaken in his absence. The painting had clearly been done the muggle way because Harry could see the colour was much more solid in some areas than others. Presumably it was one of Mr. Weasley's latest projects.

"Drying paint! Fantastically fascinating subject." He could imagine the man saying. Mr Weasley was just about the only person in the entire multi-verse who thought that.

As Harry glanced at the window next to him he was surprised to see that it must have been cleaned a lot, because it was no longer so dark with filth that it stopped sunlight getting through. They now shone brightly and clearly in the morning sun and made the whole house seem a much brighter and cheerful place and even quite inviting. Either someone had devoted several hard hours of work to it or someone had just called it quits and bought brand new ones. As he caught a sight of Ron rubbing his wrist painfully he guessed the former was more likely.

"We managed to get loads cleaned out since Kreacher kicked it" Ron boasted after Harry had finally taken everything in. He suddenly remembering the note from Hermione he had received during the summer, mentioning the house elfs death. He turned to look up the wall, expecting to see Kreacher's ugly head staring down at him. Instead he just saw plain wall. Again there absence was noted with scorch marks.

"What you didn't expect us to keep them there? Mum said they gave her the creeps" Ron said very matter of factly. Harry was glad the Deceased House Elf Museum was no longer there because in his opinion they were kind of creepy. Anything that had the ability to stare at you for hours without blinking wasn't to be messed with. Moody was a good example of this.

Hermione did not comment during the discussion of the deceased house elf. Harry looked over to where she was standing, and could see that she had tears in her eyes but probably wasn't going to cry. Just then Moody hobbled in through the door and paused by the three by the door. His normal eye looked at Hermione whilst his magical one span round in all directions at a nauseating speed as if happy that it was finally back in its socket. There were a few stay bits of carpet fluff still stuck to it which gave it a strangely disturbing appearance. Moody, noticing that Hermione was sulking over the house elf again, leaned over to her.

"Hey little lady, why so melancholy?" He asked as he gave Hermione a friendly pat on the back. She looked in to Moody's face, which was not the most comforting of faces, and replied.

"Well I'm just sad that Kreacher is gone." Moody's Eye swivelled over to face through his head at the wall where the heads would have been. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Well you shouldn't be sad…" said Moody after a long pause. These were apparently not the comforting words she was expecting as more tears welled up in her eyes. "Because if you died, he sure as hell wouldn't be!" Harry had to stifle a laugh at Moody's brutality as he then walked off laughing in a way that sounded remarkably similar to hat, "hat hat hat hat hat." By the look on Ron's face he also found it amusing. If any of them had possessed a magic eye it was quite likely they would have seen a bottle of something named elf poison in his pocket.

Harry went to walk into the living room and was just about to open it when a head suddenly peered round it. It caused Harry to jump back and end up standing on Ron's toes. He instantly recognised this face as belonging to Mrs Weasley. She looked exactly the same as she usually did. Like a plump tired, and yet eternally working Weasley. She surveyed the people in the corridor and gave Ron a quick yet firm stare before turning to Harry.

"Sorry dear, you can't come in right now, we are discussing important things for the Order." She said in a motherly tone. Fred's head, or George (Harry wasn't sure), then appeared above Miss Weasley's and he said in a mocking voice. "Oh yes very important and interesting. Still, nothing to concern you." He finished of with a grin on his face whilst Miss Weasley was looking up trying to calculate the amount of sarcasm in his voice, before finally gave up trying to measure the immeasurable.

"So you're a member of the Order now?" asked Harry.

"Um, Yeah I sure am! But seriously we are discussing important stuff which shouldn't be overheard." One of then said. Ron seemed to take this as a cue to suggest going upstairs.

Harry wasn't exactly sure what was so interesting about upstairs that required such immediate investigation but by Ron's reaction it either involved gold or some sort of fountain of vitality. Ron, Harry and Hermione all went up in to Ron and Harry's room, or at least used to be Ron and Harry's room. For now it was just Ron's room. Where Harry's bed usually was, there was nothing.

Seeing the confused look on Harry's face he explained,

"Oh you don't need to worry; your not sleeping on the floor or anything, it's just that you won't be sleeping in here anymore. Well not unless you want to. We moved your stuff into Sirius' old room. It's bigger and nicer. And there is a double bed" Ron finished off enviously. Harry should have foreseen this. After all they wouldn't just leave the room empty and untouched. Sirius wasn't coming back. Still, Harry didn't feel comfortable about it.

Ron noticing this tried to change the subject.

"Hey you know dad put up some charms which mean we can play Quidditch without the neighbours seeing us!" His distraction seemed to work because Harry hadn't played Quidditch in a very long time thanks to a "life time Quidditch ban" from professor Umbridge, and the reminder that he could soon be back in the air was exciting.

"That will be cool. Maybe we can get some of the others, like Remus to join in."

Hermione, Ron and Harry sat chatting for the next hour, talking about what they did in the summer holidays, rr in Harry's case, what he hadn't done. Hermione had gone Skiing in Italy for the first two weeks of her holiday with her family, and then came to Grimmauld Place, whilst Ron had apparently spent the best part of his time cleaning, and therefore had many stories to tell about the strange creatures they found living in the basement while they were cleaning out mould.

After regaling then with a story about a flobberworm the topic of discussion turned to O.W.L's. What wasn't expected was that it had taken this long. Harry had been willing to bet it would come up within the first thirty seconds of Hermione opening her mouth. This talk lasted much longer than it should have. In Harry's opinion a quick accounting of grades followed by a brief review was all that was required. Hermione thought very differently however.

Of course she got outstanding on everything other than her Arithmacy where she only got an E. As Harry and Ron heard several times, this was due to a miscalibration in the school equipment rather than her making a mistake. She never made mistakes, apparently.

"And I double checked it" She went on for several very long, and exceedingly dull minutes. When Hermione stopped for an extra long breath Harry decided to quickly move the subject a little. Not too much because Hermione didn't let that sort of thing happen around her, but enough that he wouldn't grow a beard before the topic changed. He decided to mention his divinations result.

Ron, as Harry expected, found the "troll" Harry scored in divinations hilarious, and something to be proud of.

"We can be called the troll brothers" Ron joked. "Although I think that might be more appropriate for Fred and George." Hermione on the other hand was not amused, and made frowning faces at them to convey her disapproval. She seemed slighted that anyone could find it funny, even if it was a lesson taught by a crackpot teacher. Once Harry and Ron had exhausted the topic of the exams (Hermione would have happily gone on all year) they started talking about other things like Quidditch league and Lunch.

Harry was told that they would be going to Diagon Alley tomorrow because Hermione wanted to get all her books so that she could start revising early. For once Ron seemed to agree with the idea of revising.

"Well what's the point in staying if you're not going to bother trying, besides after the homework overload we got last year I don't want to risk a repeat performance." he said, when Harry questioned him.

This was good news to Harry, who was looking forward to the prospect of going to Diagon Alley. After the Dursley's anything would seem exciting. Even a detention with Snape wouldn't be entirely without fun by comparison.

He also wanted to visit "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" the shop that was set up in the later part of the last school year by Fred and George with the money Harry gave them from the Tri-Wizard Tournament. From the brief description Ron had said it sounded like their business was going well, which was nice to know. Harry didn't ask any follow up questions because he suspected it might be a sore point for Ron. With two misfit brothers Ron could never be judged, but now that they seemed to be business owners, He might feel he had to prove himself.

Ron excused himself to the bathroom whilst Hermione went to get a book from her room which would further illustrate how it was "impossible" to score outstanding on Aritmacy. Harry was left sitting alone. He was just about to get up and check out his new room when Ginny walked in and sat down on the bed. She was rearing a plain Red T-shirt that in Ron's opinion was to tight for her.

"Why would you buy clothes that don't fit?" He had asked

"You wouldn't understand Ronald." She had yelled back

"If you want small clothes you can wear my old school uniform." He replied.

She sulked.

She was also wearing a knee length faded denim skirt. With this she was wearing no socks or shoes. She had tied her hair back in some sort of plait, which reached down to the small of her back. She also had a strand of her loosely hanging down at the side of her face. Harry was not an expert on the matter but he supposed one might think she looked quite nice.

"So where have you been?" Harry asked, curious as to why he had not seen her sooner. Generally the youngest Weasley was quick to present herself upon his arrival.

"Oh I was…um…out in the garden" A minute of awkward silence followed, where Harry desperately tried to think of something to say. What did he know about Ginny that they could discuss?

"So…um…are you still going out with Dean?" He asked. He immediately wished he hadn't when she let out a high pitched giggle and blushed furiously. She then grinned at him and said,

"No I decided he was boring and I didn't know him very well." Ginny then got up off the bed and ran out of the room. A second later she stuck her head back in and said "Oh yeah, I hope you had a nice birthday" then ran back out again.

Ron and Hermione returned a moment later, She had her face in a book and was carrying an assortment of measuring devices. Harry looked to Ron who was staring in disbelief at Hermione's persistence.

"See" she exclaimed as she had drew a lot of random lines and came up with a number bearing no relevance to anything Harry could see.

"This is what the answer should have been. But it wasn't and it's all the schools fault. I'm telling you, I shall be having a few harsh words with professor Dumbledore."

As if by magic, which Harry reminded himself, it probably was, Dumbledore appeared, framed in the doorway and smiling down at them over his half moon spectacles. "Did somebody say my name?" The look on Hermione's face suggested that one of the last things she would want to do is moan about the test to him.

"I didn't think I would be seeing you till September. That is what you said in the letter that you sent me." Harry asked in pleasant surprise. It wasn't that Harry had forgiven Dumbledore for being stupid, but he was the sort of person you couldn't stay angry at, especially if he didn't want you to.

Dumbledore looked at Harry then looked at the bewilderment on Ron and Hermione's faces before asking,

"You haven't told them your news then?" Harry searched his memory for a moment for what Dumbledore may be referring, and then remembered. It had slipped his mind through all the excitement of being back with his friends, but now he thought about it this would be an ideal way to get Hermione to shut up about exams, short of gluing her mouth closed.

"Oh yeah I'm a prefect now." He said to Ron and Hermione. There was a moment silence before Ron started beaming.

"Wicked! We are gonna have so much fun…" He paused for a moment after seeing Dumbledore's questioning look. Ron thought fast, which was a rare occurrence

"So much fun helping the new first years…and stuff!" Ron looked happy with his lie, and nodded to himself about the idea. Just to be safe he added. "Learning is so darn fun." Dumbledore gave a small knowing chuckle.

"It certainly is." He then turned back to Hermione. "Now Miss Granger, I understand there is a matter of grave importance that we need to speak?"

Dumbledore kneeled down next to her. In an ideal world Hermione would have been able to get her point across without having to say a single word. However since it wasn't such a world, this wasn't the case. She eventually resigned to this and started saying the problem in a nervous voice.

"Um you see professor…" She began as Harry and Ron stated discussing what would be involved in him being a prefect. When Hermione had finished speaking, Dumbledore stood up, rubbing his head.

"I don't know how I didn't spot it. I clearly am becoming quite the old codger, not to spot these things. Yes I shall have to owl the examining body immediately." He stated. With that cleared up he turned to Harry and said "Oh yes Harry, one more thing. You were very dear to Sirius, and I know you do not wish for me to bring up unpleasant memories, but I should inform you that as written in his will, this house and his few belongings are now yours. I hope in time you will come to consider this your home, and have only one request, and that is that we continue to host the Order meetings here."

Harry went to say that he didn't want it. He wanted to say many things, one of them being how untactful Dumbledore was being. You don't just say "Your best friend died, here have his stuff." He wanted to say more but he was cut off in mid sentence by Ron.

"That will be cool, you could have parties and everything!" Dumbledore seemed to take this as an understanding from Harry, and so before he could make any further objections, he excused himsef.

"I have matters to attend to downstairs. I believe your presence will also be required so if you would care to join us in 5 minutes this would be of great help." Hermione was silenced by the happy prospect of getting perfect O.W.L results, something which according to her had only been achieved by seven people in the last century, whilst Harry was left wondering what he could possibly help with. Five minutes later Harry pulled himself to his feet and they made there way downstairs.


	3. The Birthday Extravaganza UPDATED

Harry made his way down the stairs. As he did so he became aware of two unusual happenings. Firstly, Ron and Hermione were walking behind him, rather than beside him, and secondly, neither of them was talking. He had thought there might be more to chat about given the time that had passed since they last spoke, but perhaps he was mistaken.

As he was still several feet away from the closed door to the living room, Ron suddenly blurted out.

"Surprise!" Harry paused for a moment.

"Ron, you are meant to wait till he walks in to the room" Hermione hissed at him. Harry raised an eyebrow and a smile began to spread across his face as he realised what had happened.

"I'm sorry, I got excited!" Ron explained.

Harry walked the remaining few steps towards the living room and opened the door.

"Surprise." Several people yellowed, as several flashes of bright lights and loud bangs erupted from every direction as muggle part poppers flew through the air. Harry recalled the surprise Party that Tonks had accidentally mentioned, which had subsequently slipped his mind.

A couple of Filibusters fireworks went flying past his head , whilst a few more Weasley made Fireworks were flying round the ceiling. Before him stood Mr. and Mrs Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny and Percy on one side, making up a ginger headed sea. On the other side he saw Remus and Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and Cho! "Who invited her?" Harry thought to himself as he blushed and started wondering why his clothes weren't slightly more fashionable.

"We had to befuddle them when we got to the end of the road". Ron whispered in his ear. "They think we are all round Tonks' house." He added. Harry thought to himself that his classmates clearly didn't know Tonks very well if they thought she could live anywhere as ordinary looking as here. She probably had a playground for a living room and a bouncy castle for a sofa.

On the far side of the room was a table with several presents, and a selection of cakes. As if following his gaze, everyone in the room seemed to turn to face the table as well. Harry abruptly felt himself being pushed toward the table and shortly thereafter presents were being shoved in his arms. He wasn't entirely sure who gave him each specific present since the whole affair seemed to happen rather fast.

He received some new T-shirts, probably from Dean, A Quidditch book of commentary from the last ten world cups, most likely from Ron. Hermione gave Harry some wand polish and a whole lot of school equipment. Neville intended to give Harry a Rememberall except he forgot where he put it. Remus gave Harry "Hogwarts: A History, Marauders edition." Which from a quick appraisal appeared to be a book detailing all of their great achievements at Hogwarts throughout the years.

"Don't get any ideas thought Harry." Remus had explained. "Some of those things were dangerous."

Ginny gave him some new swim shorts, which were blue with smoking fish on. Harry didn't really get the point in this present because with the exception of the fourth year, Harry had never been swimming. He got a pensieve from Dumbledore. Which in Harry opinion was great. It would also be very useful for his Occlumency lessons, which Harry was still meant to be learning. It was attached with a note from Dumbledore informing "I will tell you about your present later."

"Come look at the garden!" Ron ushered once the noise had died down a little bit and people weren't fighting for his attention. Harry made his way to the back door and out into the sunny back garden where everyone else seemed to gravitate.

"We have Quidditch hoops?" Harry asked in surprised as he stared up at the three fifty foot high hoops at either end of the garden. On one side of the garden was a large swimming pool that looked remarkably inviting, and Harry suddenly realised why Ginny had given him swim shorts. He was now quite thankful for the present.

"I didn't even know we had a pool" He professed.

There was still a couple of hours remaining until lunch so a game of Quidditch was organised. Harry rediscovered his passion for flying, whilst Ron got some practice in as one of the two goal keepers. Since the garden wasn't as large as a full Quidditch pitch, the snitch didn't prove as elusive. For this reason they changed the rules a little bit, so they had to catch it three times to win. It was a close match with Harry and Cho each having caught the snitch twice. When he spotted it for a third time he was tempted to let her win, but couldn't bring himself to do so, as the very notion fought against every fibre of his being.

After the match they all sat on the grass for some lunch whilst chatting in groups. Harry was in the middle of a conversation about what to do this afternoon when he spotted Cho over in the corner standing on her own. He decided he should speak to her, since she didn't really know anyone here that well, except perhaps Ron and Hemione, who had both spoken to her a bit when they used to be part of Dumbledores Army.

He made his way over to her and tried to think of the best way to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Look Cho, I…" He began before at the same time she spoke.

"Harry..."Cho began. They both fell in to silence for a moment unsure who should speak first. He wanted to explain, but didn't want his apology to merely seem like a reciprocated platitude.

"I'm sorry I blamed you for what happened with the D.A." Harry said as he stuck his hands in his pockets, but kept his gaze fixed on her. "I know she didn't mean badly, and it was wrong of me to blame you for her actions."

"Thanks, Harry," she answered with a smile. "To be honest, I was pretty miffed with her too. It's just that... I had to stand up for my friend, you know?" Harry tried to imagine Ron or Hermione doing something as awful as snitching on the D.A. to Umbridge. Neither of them could be that stupid, of this he was certain. Still he knew that unless he agreed then things would continue to be awkward, and she hadn't come to his Birthday with the intention of things remaining uncomfortable.

He felt Cho's eyes on him as he thought for a moment longer. "I suppose you did," he conceded.

"I'm glad you agree. I really would like it if we could be friends like before." She gave him a radiant smile, which left him wondering exactly what she meant. Did she mean friends like they sort of had been, or did she mean friends, like when they had been a bit more than that. As he contemplated this he began to notice a familiar feeling in his stomach, which he thought he had forgotten.

A cough came from behind them, causing Harry and Cho both jumped. He began to blush as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't be. He hadn't noticed Mrs Weasley during his conversation with Cho.

"Are you busy Harry? I think Dumbledore wanted to see you." She said as she smiled apologetically for interrupting them.

"See you around Harry" said Cho as she made her way back in to the house. Harry, now feeling a lot better than before since he had made up with Cho, headed in to find Dumbledore. He eventually found him alone in the kitchen, hunched over the work top. Harry walked over to him and saw that Dumbledore was doing something with a pizza.

He looked up at Harry and smiled whilst still continuing with the preparation of his lunch. "I hope your Birthday has so far been agreeable" Said Dumbledore in a knowledgeable tone. "I hope I didn't interrupt you, but I made the assumption that you would wish to speak to me about your present?" He went on whilst extracting several bags and boxes of sweets from his long robe, before placing them upon the pizza.

"Err yeah, that's right" Said Harry as he appraised the strange assortment of sweets now on the pizza, which included Bertie bots beans, fizzing wizzbees and even Humbugs. "If you don't mind me asking sir," he continued, "what are you doing?" Dumbledore's reply was quite simple.

"I am making a pizza. Have you not seen such a practice undertaken before?"

"I have, but I can't say I have seen someone putting sweets on a pizza. Are you sure you should?" He asked, not wanting to doubt the mans sanity. Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow at him, as though the answer was much simpler than it really was.

"If I may answer your querie, with a question of my own Harry. Why shouldn't you put sweets on a pizza?" A minute later, having been thoroughly defeated in logic by Dumbledore, they returned to the more serious topic.

"Now Harry, regarding the pensieve" he said thickly through a mouthful of food. "I do not know if you have had opportunity to observe, but the pensieve is not actually new. Now, whilst I generally try to avoid giving people second hand presents when possible, I felt that in this instance it would be acceptable, for you see Harry, this used to belong to your father."

Harry was surprised to hear that Dumbledore still had any of his fathers belongings in his possession. He supposed that there was a good reason he had not been given the pensieve till now, unless Dumbledore was just holding them back to give as thoughtful birthday presents. Dumbledore carefully passed the pensieve to Harry who took it and examined it carefully. Upon closer inspection he noticed there was a small amount of white mist sitting in the bottom. This was a memory.

"I have not seen the memory contained within," continued Dumbledore. "It isn't mine to see. I can not promise it will be remarkable. In fact it could consist of little more than compiling tax returns, a memory so dull one would surely wish to be rid of. However, you may wish to have Remus appraise it first, to gauge the contents."

"Excluding the memory, I'm giving it to you since I believe it may be useful to you, especially for your occlumency lessons. I'm sure you have a few memories you would rather Severus didn't see." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "By the looks of it, I'm guessing there is only one memory in there. I hear from Remus that it was given to your father whilst he was at Hogwarts, but for some reason he never used it much. And so when your Father died it came to be in my possession in the same way as your invisibility cloak. Add to it as much as you like, all you have to do is point your wand and think of the memory and then it should drag down when you take your wand away. Just a word of caution Harry. When you point your wand at your head, be careful not to set your hair on fire. I wasn't always bald you know." He finished off with a chuckle.

Harry sat the pensieve aside and made a mental note to have a good look at it later tonight when he was undisturbed. Dumbledore had returned to his lunch when Hermione came in to the kitchen.

"We were thinking of having a game of polo in the pool Harry if you wanted to join us?" She volunteered. "We are starting in about ten minutes if you wanted to get changed." Harry got changed quickly before heading back downstairs and out in to the garden. As he stepped out in to the blazing sun he had to squint as the sun reflected off the patio. After a few moments his eyes had adjusted, and he looked around at the pool and saw most of his friends were already in.

"Come on Harry, you can be on my team." Hermione called, who was busy trying to fix a net up across the middle of the pool. Remus was sat with his feet dangling in the water, which seemed as far in to the pool as he was inclined to go.

They played water games for the afternoon, which consisted of water polo, although no one was entirely sure of the rules and in the end, they ended up playing a game which could best be describes as table tennis." After that they played water tag, which was exactly the same as tag except that it involved water, and was therefore far slower than normal.

After a while it was discovered that Cho was at an advantage over everyone else because since she was 17, she was allowed to do magic. Whilst Ron hotly contested that this was tantamount to cheating, no one else was taking the game to seriously. Once she had been tagged, she spun round and spotted Harry, who was the closest. With a smile on her face she raised her wand and cast a summoning spell.

"Accio Harry." She said as she pointed her wand. Harry suddenly found himself being drawn through the water towards her at a surprising speed, as though he were caught in a current that everyone else was immune to. When he was close enough she tagged him and then swam away. Harry continued. After half an hour or so, people started to notice that when Cho magically summoned them if they turned round and swam very hard they could resist the magic force that was pulling them, and avoid being caught.

She tried this on Harry once more. "Accio Harry" she said with a flick of her wrist. Harry started swimming as fast as he could away from her, and after a brief moment began to gain distance. However, rather than accepting defeat, she raised her wand again and cast another summoning spell "Accio Harry" a second time. Harry suddenly felt the pull on him increase as though he were now swimming against a water fall. Harry glanced about him for help, maybe a friendly hand to grab hold of. Sadly it seemed today was every man for himself.

With no one to offer assistance Harry made one more attempt to swim away from Cho, before she cast one final summoning spell. As soon as this was done Harry knew it was over. Now feeling as if he were fighting a fully stretched bungee cord, he let his tired arms stop, turned round and resigned to loss.

It however, did not come in the way he expected. Since he was no longer resisting he shot forward like a rocket with ever increasing speed towards the source of the summoning, Cho. As first she lowered her wand, shortly followed by her eyes widening in shock and fear. Waves shot to the side as Harry was propelled through the water. At the last possible moment Cho had the sense to raise her wand, and with a flick of her wand managed to dispel her summons.

Harry began to slow down against the waters resistance, but still had considerable speed. Cho held her hands out in front of her to cushion the blow before harry crashed in to her. She closed her eyes as he flew in to her, and a second later she felt her back bump against the edge of the pool, but she didn't feel any more than this. After a moment of being still she opened her eyes.

Harry was right in front on her, with her hands placed upon his bare chest. He was so close the back of her hands were touching her own chest, and his face was only an inch away. He had his hands placed either side of her against the edge of the pool, which is probably what stopped her being crushed. His forearms were also grazing her shoulders. She swallowed as the moment conjured up memories of romance novels, and young girls being pushed up against lockers during the heat of the moment in a deserted school corridor.

His wet hair hung limp, and a drop of water teased on the tips, before dropping on to his nose. She was so close she could see the texture of his skin, and feel the warmth of his breath on her lips, heightened by the fact they were wet from the water in the pool. She could feel his heart beating beneath her fingers, as well as the rise and fall of his chest. The intimacy of the situation raised goosebumps down her arms.

Harry was the first one to speak.

"You caught me." He said in barely more than a whisper.

"I caught you." She echoed. It could not be known how long the two of them had been like that. It was perhaps a few seconds, or it could have been ten times that. Someone coughed from behind him. It seemed people had a bad habit of coughing at the wrong time, returning him to his senses, and to his current situation.

There was an audience, and to this end the two separated. He pushed away from the wall, at the same time she pushed gently against his chest. He let his arm drag along hers as they parted, with their hands sliding over each others, until finally their fingers parted, prolonging the touch for as long as possible, but still only a second.

Deciding that the game of tag was over, the group decided to have one more game of pool before heading in doors. Harry tried to participate but he was distracted and the ball seemed to have a strange habit of hitting into the side of his head. On the other hand Cho didn't seem subject to any such distractions, and was playing with the best of them. This left him confused.

Had he imagined it? He was sure he felt something, almost as sure as he wasn't the only one. It was new, but he knew that he wanted to explore it. He wanted more.

As the sun was low in the sky the game came to an end, and so they got out of the pool. Ron and Harry were the last two in the pool. He turned to Harry with a wide grin.

"You seem to be enjoying your birthday party then!" He laughed, which revealed that indeed the happening hadn't been that discreet.

By the time they had all dried themselves and changed it was near dinnertime. Harry came back down wearing the same clothes as earlier minus any socks and shoes. He sat down on one of the sofa's wondering what to do now. A minute later Hermione came back wearing a crisp white blouse and a pair of sandy coloured short shorts. She sat down on the seat beside him.

"What are they playing?" she asked as she nodded to the adults.

"I'm not sure." Harry confessed. "From what I understand its like poker, except there is an extra rule, so if you can make the opponent laugh you get to look at one of their cards. They call it Joker. It appeared to be Tonks turn. She was staring at Hagrid, who's cards had all but disappeared in his enormous hands. After a moment of though she morphed her face in to an exaggerated version of Snape. There was a great resemblance, the nose reached to the bottom of the chin and there was actually a lump of butter on the hair.

With a great roar of laughter the game of Joker continued. After that they had some dinner which Miss Weasley had prepared for them followed by watching a new movie about Toys which came to life when no one was in the room. During the film Harry stole occasional glances over at Cho, who he caught looking back at him on one occasion. He blushed and duickly diverted his attention back to the movie.

By this time it was quite late and people started going home by floo powder of by getting picked up by their parents (the later caused more difficulty since their current location was still a secret, and a few of those invivted still thought they were actually at Tonks' house). They thanked Tonks for a great party as they left.

"When will I see you again?" Cho asked as she hovered by the fireplace.

"At school I guess, unless you happen to be in Diagon Alley tomorrow?" He ventured.

"I don't know." She replied as she bit her lip. "I will see what I can do." She gave him a quick hug before leaving by the network.

Hagrid left with Dumbledore Whilst Percy made his excuses to not leave. Fred and George left for Diagon Alley as they apparently had a few things they were running low on stock on which they wanted to work on for the following day. The rest of the Weasley's, Hermione, Remus and Tonks stayed, as there was plenty of room in the old house and they had Order business most days now as well.

After they left Harry made his way upstairs and got ready for bed, in his new pyjamas he was given as a present today. He then said good night to Ron, Hermione and Ginny and went to have a good look at his new bedroom for the first time. He stood at the door as he anxiously turned the door handle before he opened it and stepped in. The Room was large and square. The carpet was a pale turquoise, a shade darker than the light blue walls Just to the left of the door was a double bed with a deep-sea blue colour sheets. It had a large window that faced out in to the back garden and, Harry guessed, allowed a spectacular view of the stars if it was a clear night, which it wasn't.

There was a large oak wardrobe with a full- length mirror on the front, in the opposite corner of the room from where Harry was standing. Other than that the furniture was minimal. It had a bedside cabinet and a shelf and a small desk for writing. This room also smelt of fresh paint, and gave the feeling that no one had ever really lived in it. Harry spotted his luggage at the end of the room, including Hedwig's cage, containing the owl.

Harry sat down on the edge of his bed, when he remembered the pensieve. He quickly got up and snuck downstairs. He opened the living room door to find Tonks and Remus sitting on a sofa. Tonks was playing with Remus' hair and looking quite friendly towards each other, whilst watching the TV. A split second later they noticed him and jumped apart as though they were electrified. Tonks was watching Harry while smiling as he walked over to pick up the pensieve, which was on the coffee table.

"Sorry, just came to get this." He said Harry as he brandished the pensieve.

Tonks continued to smile whilst Remus was looking anywhere but at Harry. His face was betraying a deep blush. Harry hastily made his exit whilst smiling. "Lupin deserves to be happy" he thought to himself as he went in to the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and wondered what sort of memory he would find. Weather it would be one of His father embarrassing Snape or something completely different. He had decided against Dumbledore's recommendation of having Remus view it first. What if it was something they decided he shouldn't see?

"Well there's one way to find out," he thought to himself as he placed it carefully on his bed. He touched the memory with one finger, and a moment later he felt himself falling forwards.


	4. The Pensieve

"Well there's one way to find out," he thought to himself as he placed it carefully on his bed and touched the memory, and felt himself falling forwards…

Harry felt himself spinning. Then turning a bit. Then spinning a bit more. The spinning seemed to go on forever (or for at least as long as your parents try to talk to your friend, which is by all means, much longer than the perfect amount of none) and just when Harry thought that it might not stop he felt himself slammed to the ground. It was several minutes before he had opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light.

Once his vision came to him however, Harry realised that he was standing just outside Gryffindor common room. The hallway looked the same as always, which was a surprise considering the memory was so old. But then the reason behind this is that with a building as old as Hogwarts, it goes through all the usual changes that come with time, like having flairs and a mullet, or having orange walls and smelling of your grandmother, before settling on the more comfortable and traditional castle look.

The floor was still floor like and the walls were still decorated with the suits of armour and the portrait of the fat lady and the statue of the one eyed wizard that concealed the passageway to the basement of Honeydukes. Harry looked around the hallway for any sign of life. No one was there. Harry puzzled on this, because unless someone was, then it was bound to be boring, and who ever put boring memories in a pensieve… except Snape, who's entire life consisted of those boring moments like family reunions.

Just then Harry heard a creak, and spun round to see the portrait of the fat lady open. He watched excitedly as out stepped James, closely followed by a young Sirius and Wormtail. They stood in the open space for a minute, as if trying to listen to the distant sounds of filch patrolling the corridors, or other teaches out to catch late night students. After confirming to themselves that the cost was clear, they cautiously set off down the corridors. They trod silently, their footsteps making no noise. Harry wondered if they had perhaps put a silencing charm on their shoes, or whether they had simply developed a kind of silent walk over years of sneaking, only rivalled by ninjas and assassins.

Harry followed them anxiously. Wondering what was so special about this memory, that made his father feel it ought to be stored in a pensieve. Surely it wasn't just going to be then sneaking down to the kitchen for some cakes or pies…

They were walking quickly down the dark corridor as they turned down some stairs and wafted silently onwards, like a ghost that is very determined to be alive. James was holding what appeared to be the Marauders map in his hand as he traced a dot.

"Filch patrolling upper left corner next floor." He said quietly. Harry watched as they continued un-phased. Harry would have gone a different way altogether, but his father and his friends had been said to know the castle so well that they could outrun Filch and be tucked up in bed by the time he came storming along with McGonagall as his side.

"Hello Filch. Why is it that you have graced us with your beauty so late into the night?" Sirius would ask to a fuming caretaker who swore angrily.

Harry walked along quickly beside his father. Feeling an oddly satisfying feeling that he was able to say that he had done so... They crept past a classroom that had a funny groaning coming form inside. Filch was obviously poking around inside. They advanced onwards nonchalantly and turned down another flight of stairs and then along another dark corridor. It was draughty, despite a lack of windows, and as they walked forwards Harry shuddered slightly at the sensation of being watched. He couldn't place what it was but he had the impression someone was watching him, and it wasn't the statue of Oscar the Obese Observer, although his piercing gaze was enough to make young maidens blush.

Suddenly they made a right turn and walked straight in to the solid stone wall. Or at least what appeared to be one. Harry  expected them to all fall over, or squash their noses comically before they started literally throbbing thrice their normal size in a cartoon like manner. They didn't fall over however, nor did they injure themselves, they simply passed through it. Harry hesitated for a moment as he looked at the wall sceptically. Logic suggested that you shouldn't make a habit of walking through walls. You never knew when it was going to turn solid, and if it did then you were well and truly buggered.

He took a step closer and reached out gingerly towards the wall. When his hand was a few centimetres from the wall he made a swing, and was half surprised to see his hand pass straight through it. Harry concluded the obvious, that it was not a normal wall. Not wanting to be left behind Harry hurriedly stepped through the wall. You never knew when these things would try and play a trick on you and so he dashed on as fast as he could. He took a few more steps into the  in a passageway with his eyes closed. He opened them and let out a breath that he had subconsciously been holding.

At the end of the dark tunnel he saw a light coming from a wand that silhouetted the holder of it. They turned a corner and the light faded, leaving Harry standing on his own in the increasing dark. As it occurred to him that he might loose them, he quickly sped up and dashed toward where they had been, and then round the corner. He quickly caught up with the three marauders and fell back into a normal walking pace. The passageway was only wide enough for two people so Harry walked behind his father and next to Wormtail.

Harry couldn't help noticing that he was several inches taller than the man responsible of his parent's death, and in fact about the same height as his father. Harry was shocked at this, since he had always seen his father as a big person, but then considering Harry was now sixteen, it wasn't surprising that he had grown. As he leant round and looked in to the face of Wormtail, he didn't see the snivelling servant of Voldemort that he had expected to see. Instead he saw an excited face of someone who looked rather helpless. Rather like Neville.

Suddenly the dimly lit passage way came to an end in the same way it had started, and they walked through it. Harry didn't hesitate this time and simply walked straight through the wall in front of him. Upon stepping out Harry looked around and found himself in the entrance hall, which was a surprise. He expected it to lead into some other seldom used corridor. The fact it lead into the entrance hall made him wonder why more students hadn't discovered it. All they would need to do is lean against the wall and they would get an interesting surprise. Harry felt where he had just stepped out of and to his surprise the wall was solid. "Maybe it is a one way thing," he thought to himself. The secret passage must have saved about two minutes journey time.

Harry ran out of the castle to where the Marauders were standing on the dew frosted grass. It shimmered in the moonlight to make it look as if millions of tiny lights decorated the vast expanse of Hogwarts ground that stretched out before him. A mist hung loosely on the lower ground and by the great lake, making it look like a simmering cauldron set into the earth. James carefully folded the map away, after clearing it of it's picture. He handed it to Sirius who slipped it into his pocket.

Harry wished they wouldn't have put the map away because if they had then maybe they would see the shadowy figure running across the Hogwarts grounds towards the whomping willow tree.

"Ready for some fun?" James asked with a grin. Sirius and Peter merely nodded, and Harry watched as all three of them transfigured into their Animagus form. This was the first time Harry had seen his father transform, and was very surprised at how similar his Patronus was. They were the same size, and they even walked in the same way. One leg lagging slightly.

Seeing his father as a stag gave Harry a warm feeling inside which he couldn't quite describe. He knew it sounded stupid, but as he thought about the time in his third year when he they had been surrounded by Dementors and the time when he and Dudley were down the alley between wisteria walk and magnolia crescent he had used a Patronus. Up until now it had just been a spell and nothing more, but seeing it and recognising it to be like his father, it seemed almost like it had been James that had saved him. Or at least a form of him.

Harry was now looking at a rat, a dog and a stag. "Hey snuffles." Said Harry feeling a pang of guilt over the death of his godfather. Sirius always had an uncanny ability to look happy when he was a dog, and seeing him happy just made his death harder on Harry. He pushed the thoughts of his godfather out of his mind and turned his attention back to the situation at hand. The four of them slowly made there way to the tree that had attacked Harry so savagely in his second year. As they approached it began moving restlessly, as if woken up from a deep sleep and was now angry at whoever dared disturb it from its peaceful slumber.

At this point Wormtail ran forward towards the base of the tree was. Nestled in between two roots which intertwined along the surface of the soil, was a knot. Harry waited for Wormtail to press it and cause the tree to freeze, but instead he ran back away from the tree and transfigured back in to a human. James and Sirius also transformed.

"What's wrong Wormtail?" asked Sirius worriedly as he raised his eyebrows.

"Well it's just that there is a stick lying there next to the knot." Wormtail began nervously. He hated having to explain when there was a problem. Everyone always acted as if it was his fault. "I was thinking someone else might already be there." He finished.

Sirius and James looked at each other questioningly but didn't say anything. It was one of those moments where an awkward silence falls. They stayed like that for a moment. Harry had the impression that they were the kind of people could have a conversation without actually having to say anything.

"It could just be from a branch or something" said Sirius as he tried to convince himself that it was true.

"Or some kid had a dare, you know how it is." His father added,  also not believing his own words. No one in the school knew how the tree worked besides them and Dumbledore. Wormtail seemed to consider this and eventually came back with the only answer that wouldn't result in more discussion. "Yeah, your probably right." With that they transfigured back, then continued.

 Peter slipped up to the tree again, to small to be threatened by its waving branches. Once he was close enough and the knot was pressed the tree froze. Harry looked round. Not even the wind was blowing, and since there was a distinct lack of noise it gave the impression that time itself had stopped. The dog and the stag carefully trotted over to the entrance at the base of the trunk, and jumped down, although Harry had to say that a stag wasn't quite as graceful as a dog at such a manoeuvre. Once they were safely out of harms way Wormtail followed.

Harry quickly followed them. He didn't want to be near the Whomping Willow when it started back up again, even if it didn't know he was there. It was quite difficult managing to get past the branches and down in to the secret passage, which is probably why Sirius and James transformed before going down, Harry thought to himself. Once he  was inside the passage he looked around. It was quite dark, and Harry had trouble telling where the wall stopped and the floor started. Further up ahead Harry could see a dim light coming from a wand. Harry spotted them transforming back as Sirius stood lighting the way fro James and Peter.

They walked along laughing and joking about what they were going to do that night.

"Oooh we could try and chase that fat man outside that all hours food place again. I bet he will be there." There was much talk which followed this. Harry had to admit it did sound fun, even he was thinking of chasing the fat man.

"Do you think we could try and get into that shop again? They sell all the cool stuff when you growl at them."

Further along the conversation turned to James' love life, much to his annoyance. He could never seem to understand how Sirius and the others couldn't understand. Remus could, but then that is perhaps because he was a little more academically inclined that the others, as they always put it.

"So James." Said Sirius as he grinned stupidly. "Tell me, are you coming to Hogsmead with us this weekend, or are you still planning on going with Lily?" as he finished he made a hugging motion and started kissing the air. "I love you Lilly. You make me feel like I'm worth something. My loins are throbbing for you! Marry me!" Sirius said as Wormtail howled with laughter and James looked at the floor blushing.

"Yeah I'm still going with her" said James as he gave a sigh of defeat. They would never let it rest. They walked on for a moment more, trying to think of a way to make fun of James, or in James' case, try and appear as small as possible.

"What do you see in her anyway? You should go out with a girl like Sarah" Said Sirius as he recalled his latest one night fling. James grinned at this, and replied. "What I see is much more than you will ever see, in the girls you like, Sirius. When I look at Lily I see a girl who wont take off her bra just because someone says they love her. I see everything good and honest. What I don't see is Sarah."

Sirius snorted at this. "But a girl who is willing to take her bra off is the foundation for any good relationship!" There was a moments silence as they exchanged thoughts. Sirius and James had fundamentally different opinions on what was important in a woman. What James wanted was someone who loved you and, if she did take her clothes off, which was by no means necessary, then she wouldn't take them off for other people. Sirius couldn't be buggered if his latest girl took her clothes off for ten other guys that night. As long as she did it for him as well.

"No Sirius, my good friend." Said James as he shook his head in disappointment. "I used to think a bit like you. You know that. But what I realised is that love is important in the end."

"James in love? It will never last… I give it three weeks. The odds are up. Care to place a bet anyone?" Sirius joked as he turned to Peter, who seemed to be fumbling in his pocket for some money. James cast Sirius a disapproving look.

"Fine. Whatever you say mate, you keep falling yourself, but I think I know which is the most fun." He said as he swaggered about laughing.

James looked at Sirius in a way that you may pity someone who is naïve. Wormtail leant forward and said cautiously.

"Well I thought it was very poetic. The whole thing about the bra's especially!" he added as he blushed a deep crimson at the mention of a ladies undergarments. James looked at his other friend and said in appreciation.

"Thank you Peter, I'm glad one of you understands. Sirius can stay as he is for now, but in time I think that he will realise he is just a lost sheep." Sirius laughed.

"I'm not lost! I know exactly where I am."

"And where is that?"

"The sexual oasis of life." Sirius grinned. James gave a sigh of defeat.

Harry had a warm feeling inside as he thought about what had been said. He was pleased with his fathers' wise words, and started seeing that he wasn't just the school show off he saw in Snapes memory.

After a minute or so of pressing silence in which neither Sirius or James would admit defeat, the dank passage started to rise and Harry realised that they must be nearing the end of the tunnel. Peter made sure that he had been walking between them, just incase things turned ugly. You could never be to careful, he had learned. Everything except the girls Sirius dated tended to turn ugly. You only needed to look at his transfiguration essay. Some steps appeared  ahead of them, showing they were now close to the Shrieking Shack. As Harry approached the end he could see Sirius muttering to himself about the unimportance of love.

The four of them walked up the creaking steps, and into the decaying house. Mist hung around the building like a thick fog, as well as a bit of real fog. It was a full moon after all, and there was a werewolf about. It just wouldn't be proper without fog.  The floor was coated in dust, except for a few paths leading upstairs, and to a large collapsed sofa which, looked as though once it had enjoyed quite a few heavy sessions of bouncing from Peter, until one day there was a loud crack sound, and everyone threw him angry glances.

"Ready to see our good friend Moody?" asked James as he stepped towards the bottom of the stairs and was about to transform into his stag form. He stopped however, when they heard a loud thud form the ceiling above them.

"Wow, Moony must be having fun by the sound of it." Said Sirius as he glanced up at the ceiling above them. It became apparent that this wasn't the case when suddenly they heard a yell from upstairs.

"Help! Somebody!" In an instant everyone's head snapped towards the sound of the yell from above. They stood there  at the base of the stairs for a moment, as if awaiting further instructions from the voice. "Preferably as soon as is convenient!" The voice responded, as though in reply to their thoughts. Then they charged up the stairs bounding up three at a time. They stood on the landing for a moment before James turned to Peter and said.

"Looks like you were right to worry about that stick after all"  He then turned to his right and stepped into the bedroom.

He disappeared for a moment, before stepping back out of the room. He quickly looked back round, his face pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.

"It's Snape." James informed. "Damn, that greasy haired git never could keep his big nose out of things. What are we gonna do?" he asked as he looked backwards and forwards between Sirius and Peter. Not the two most people on the planet.

"Go back home?" Sirius volunteered. James ran this through his mind for a moment, which was longer than he would have liked to think we would have allowed himself.

"No. We can't just leave him here with Remus." James said as he risked a quick glance to see how the situation was going with Severus. It wasn't exactly a picnic.

"That's funny." Said Sirius with a frown. "I think we are doing a pretty good job as it is, truth be told." James sighed. Sometimes it was tiring to have such a lack of basic human morals from Sirius. It had on occasion from certain women been commented that Sirius had the respect towards women of a bunch of grapes. Sirius had ignored this and accepted the slap with a grin. It was worth it.

"We have to save him. He may be a git but being a werewolf is something I wouldn't wish on anyone, not even him." James said this in a voice that wasn't convincing even to himself, much less Sirius who really was starting to unwrap a long lost sweet from the recesses of his pocket. All he needed now was a newspaper and the picture was perfect.

Peter was looking between them nervously.

"If he sees us we are gonna be in so much trouble. Maybe we should just leave it. I'm sure Snape can take care of himself." Peter said as he suddenly looked a lot more like the twitchy little snivelling person Harry new him as. There was a sudden growling that came from Remus in the next room and this was followed by a moment of relative silence, in which they debated over the outcome. Perhaps Severus had managed to land a sharp blow and was winning, or maybe he had managed to jab Remus in the eye with his astronomical nose.

Sirius and James looked at each other whilst considering this. If Severus was winning then they could just leave him, and indeed they would. However Snape's voice came from the room and changed their minds.

"I still require help. Also my arms are weakening now and I will undoubtedly loose when they give out." Then Sirius spoke.

"No James is right, we have to help him." Although he said this he didn't actually made any movement in the direction of the ongoing struggle. Harry squeezed past them to see what was actually happening in the room. When he look what he saw was Snape, and he was scared.

He was down on the ground holding the torso of a werewolf Harry recognised as Remus Lupin, above him whilst it continually swung its claws at his face and missing by just centimetres. Remus was snarling viciouslt and several dollops of thick saliva had landed on snapes face, which seemed ot be causing more displeasure to him than anything else about the whole situation. James stepped forward into the room and over to Remus. Harry was glad he was witnessing this, for he thought to himself that his father would be quite heroic, after all he was in Gryffindor. However, seeing an actually act of courage and heroism made the whole thing seem much more real to Harry. He smiled to himself.

"Wow my dad's a hero!" (He was a hero is the strictest sense, but he didn't have some of the more non essential qualities. He didn't have a costume and he lacked super strength. Also, to date he has not rescued a single young virgin from mortal peril, and as a reward been allowed to indulge in her qualities.)

"Remus, no!" James yelled. The human part of Remus' brain seemed to understand because he stopped and looked up. So did Snape. Upon seeing who is saviour was, his lip curled in a way that would suggest he would rather continue his chances against the werewolf than be saved by James.

"Please help. Anyone else than him." Snape said with a sigh. He knew he was pushing his luck wanting a second rescuer, but when the first one was James Potter, and you were Severus Snape, it meant your life was about to get complicated. Sirius stuck his head round the door.

"I'm not saving you so make do with James." He snapped before disappearing again.

The werewolf part of Remus' brain then decided that perhaps it would go for these new person rather than the greasy weasel beneath it. It lunged at James who just in time managed to grab its arms as its teeth snapped together just centimetres from his neck. If James had lacked the reflexes essential to be a seeker, then Harry would have had a rather hairy father.

"Make sure not to hurt him" said worm tail nervously, as he had crept into the room, along with Sirius, to watch the fight go on. They knew well enough than on a Friday night there were few things better than a good fight. Sirius knew of the few things, but always maintained the saying that variety is the spice of life.

James was struggling against the vicious attack from Remus who was biting anything within his reach, and even a few things out of his reach! James quickly turned to see where Sirius was.

"Give me a hand will y' I know your standing there laughing your arse off but I am actually in a lot of danger you know!" He said with a smile, which quickly vanished as one of Remus' teeth managed to scrape the tip of James' nose. Sirius gave a sigh as he got up from leaning against the wall and strode over to where the struggle was going on.

James tightened his hold on Remus' wrists. Then with one hard shove and an animalistic grunt, he rolled on to his back and hurled the enormous body of the werewolf over him and through the air. Remus slammed down onto the ground behind them. He jumped to his feet and was about to leap through the air and sink his teeth into the flesh of James's shoulder, but at this instant Sirius shot magical binds from  his wand, which darted through the air before latching onto the werewolf's legs and coiling around the body of the now struggling friend.

Harry observed this with amazement at their heroics and thought to himself, that they weren't in Gryffindor for nothing. Well… Peter had yet to do anything brave, unless you counted that bit where he picked his nose in the dark when he thought they couldn't see him. Snape by now had managed to regain his composure and greasiness that extended beyond the locks of his hair, and to the very edge of his personality and soul.

"Sooooo, Black, Potter! You planned this all along did you. Yes… I can see it in your eyes. Lure me here where I would find an angry half breed monster and end up a little bit hairier than when I left. Only you chickened out at the last moment. Yes you're a failure at this like you are at everything else. If you are going to pull a prank you might as well do it right!" He spat, literally, as he raised his wand to point at Harry's father and his two human friends who had not expected this from the person they just saved. Snape noticed the wand in Sirius' hand and yelled "Expelliarmus!" The wand instantly shot out of his hand as he made swinging gestures with his arms, hoping to catch it in its mid air flight.

"Damn you, you big nosed moron!" said James as he cursed to himself. "I'm astonished an idiot such as yourself ever managed to live to your age. Everyone hates you so much I'm surprised someone hasn't killed you by now! Looks like her was going to correct that little problem wasn't he." Sirius laughed silently as he looked t the floor. For some reason when you were laughing at someone who was threatening you, not making eye contact seemed like a good idea.

"You know you should really wash your hair, you slime ball" Said Peter with a little chuckle at his own daring, as he now started to catch on to what they were doing. Harry's mind flashed back to his third year where he sat and watched Snape be insulted in the same way by the marauders map. This wasn't quite as funny due to the fact that it was said, in the middle of a very tense situation, although it was certainly close. Harry would no doubt have made a mess on the floor in laughter as well if Snape hadn't been threatening to expel him.

Also because being insulted by a piece of parchment is so unbelievable, that just added to the whole humour of it all. If Snape had had his way then the marauders map would probably be sitting in detention all year writing lines, on itself.

"So you think this is funny do you?" snapped Snape, now angry that they were laughing at him even while he was threatening them with a wand. Sirius looked at Remus and Peter before turning back and smiling.

"Well" he said hesitantly. "To tell the truth, I think it's bloody hilarious" He said as he roared out in laughter. By this point they were all hunched over laughing, except Snape, who looked thoroughly flustered that he was not exerting the strict authority over them that he had hoped for.

"May I remind you that I hate you and I have a wand in my hand and I'm threatening you!" he said as he gave his wand a little wiggle to show it was really there, and that he had the intelligence to hold a piece of wood without dropping it. Harry was laughing at it. He could even have sworn that Remus was laughing, despite being a werewolf. Snape looked from one person to the other disheartened. Harry didn't know what had been going through his mind at that point, but it couldn't have been anything that Snape had hoped for. "STOP LAUGHING" he yelled as flecks of spit rained from his mouth.

At this point there laughing doubled over, as the humour of the situation increased, now that they knew about how much it annoyed Snape. There was nothing better than seeing a small greasy person jump up and down in rage, and Snape was beginning to bounce on his feet. It would only be a matter of moments before he reached enough momentum to break earths gravitational pull. Harry had wondered what would happen if he tried insulting Snape and laughing about it to his face. Now that Snape was a teacher matters would probably be a bit different, sadly. Harry however,  decided that he would try a replications of his fathers antics if he survived Voldemort's current reign of terror.

"WHATS SO FUNNY?" Snape screamed. Harry now watched as Sirius managed to look up at Snape, and say between great big dog like laughs.

"You see it's funny... because you're a GIT!" At this point the laughter increased once again. Harry found himself wondering if he had ever laughed as much as they were now, and if they were always like this. It made Harry sad to know that he could never be part of the Marauders. With two of them dead and the third one a snivelling scumbag the chances were about as high as professor McGonagall going tobogganing.

Peter was on the floor, and James was hunched against the wall to stop from falling over. He managed to wipe away a fear tears that had crept into his eyes.

"I haven't laughed this hard since Snape said he washed his hair." Exclaimed Sirius as he slapped his thigh heartily. Harry had to admit that they certainly knew how to have fun. Maybe this memory was chosen was the pensieve because of its pure comedy value. It certainly seemed like the sort of thing they would enjoy looking back on years from now. Sirius would have loved it. In fact it probably would have inspired him to wage a whole new war of practical jokes against Severus.

"EXCUSE ME," said Snape not at all assertively, as he tried to regain control of the situation that could best be described as a snowball. He had not only let it spiral out of control, but had also given it a push start and cheered it on.

"Who is the one with the wands here?" asked Snape through gritted teeth whilst trying to remain calm, after finally picking up on the fact that yelling only made them laugh more. The laughter subsided a little, and James took the opportunity to advance forwards. Whilst he wasn't concentrating his muscles on not wetting himself he managed to do something to further the laughter.

He looked Severus in the eye, before a small grin crept across his face, and he gave an enormous spit, which landed just under Snape's eye, and started to run down and threatened to invade his mouth.

"Now this is ridiculous." Snape said as he bunched up his sleeve and wiped it away with revolt and disgust.

"Yeah…" James said, as the other two were indisposed with laughter. "It was ridiculous to think that such a small amount of spit could make you cleaner."

Snape's blood was boiling by this point. In fact if you had licked your finger and put it on his skin there would have been a hissing sound like a sausage in a frying pan. Not that anyone wanted to try this. They generally found it in their best interests not to touch Snape at all. Not unless they wanted to miss lessons and sit around in the hospital wing.

"Now that's enough. This was gone on far enough. I'm big and intimidating and you will do as I say!" Snape yelled angrily.

Sirius now, took a deep breath and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"My dear friend Severus, how long have we known each other?" he asked heartily. Snape did not reply to the rhetorical question but remained scowling. Sirius continued. "To long, and yet you still haven't learned a thing have you. Look. You may have wands whilst we don't…but if you look you are standing just feet away from us. And there are three of us! It would only take a second for us to be standing next to you and it would take even less time for us to hit you." Sirius finished slyly, making his point.

Harry could see Snape's brain processing this, and eventually coming to the fact that they were right. He did however think some more and also came to another conclusion, one that presented itself as a big smile on his face.

"Moving speech, Black, but what you don't realise is that whilst you may have the power, you do not have the strategy. And power without strategy is just an empty threat." Sirius said as though savouring every word. It was a rare occasion that Snape would win in an argument, at least against the Marauders, and he liked it. Sirius hesitated, looking at James and then at Peter to see if either of them knew what Snape was talking about. The blank expressions on their faces revealed they did not.

"What are you talking about Snape?" Questioned James, in a steady and confident tone. Snape however, chuckled ruthlessly in an entirely non to convincing fashion, that never the less communicated his glee.

"Ok let me put it this way. I know that you have been sneaking round out of school, late at night, and I also know that you also set me up in the hope of me being attacked, which I might add, actually happened!" he said as he turned sour at the end of this. "What do you think professor Dumbledore would say about it all?"

Peter looked at Snape questioningly.

"Did you not hear what Sirius said?" he asked as he looked between Sirius and James to gauge their reactions.

Snape looked back at him and replied smugly.

"Did you not think about what I said?" With an emphasis on think.

"What are you talking about" asked Sirius, now totally bewildered. Snape turned away from Peter who was standing looked stupid, and toward Sirius, who whilst being a bit of a hooligan, still had the ability to appreciate trouble when he saw it.

"What I am talking about, my dear friend, is that even if, as you put it, came over here and hit me, what good would it do you. For then I would just have one more thing to add to my list of complaints to Dumbledore. For unless you are willing to kill me, then it would just add to your trouble." Snape said with an idiots grin. "So come on Sirius. As you put it, there are three of you and you are very big and powerful. Why don't you just come over here and bring it on?"

Sirius went to take a step forward but James put out his arm to stop him.

"No Sirius." He said solemnly. "I'm afraid we have been outsmarted on this one. I think our best bet is just to go along quietly. Let's not cause any trouble. It is in our best interest. You never know if were lucky we might only get suspended." He added. Sirius looked in shock and repulse, that his best friend would give up so easily and admit defeat. Snape on the other hand looked as if his birthday, Christmas, and Friday afternoon (which is when he got set potions homework), had all come at once. He was practically salivating at the mental image of James and Sirius being expelled.

"That's disgusting," said Peter who noticed this.

"That's sick," added Sirius.

"That's Snape," said James. At hearing this Snape seemed to snap out of his mental dream, and was looking angrily at them again, for a change. In Harry's opinion Snape probably should have thanked them, because if he had been left standing there any longer, it is quite possible he would have died of dehydration from all his drooling.

"Right you three walk this way." Said Snape whilst nodding his head in the general area of the stairs. He then looked back at the werewolf that was still magically bound up. "What about him?" He asked unsurely. He wasn't really certain how you transported a werewolf.

"Oh they will come and get him in the morning." Said James, whilst plodding down the stairs with his hands in his pockets. With a sigh of defeat Sirius and Peter followed as they started making there way back in to the underground passage and back towards Hogwarts.

After a few minutes of walking, as an after thought Snape added, "And if you at the front Potter, were thinking of running off then by all means do. You wont suffer. It will be your friend here who gets a spell in the back." He sneered as he poked Peter in the spine which caused him to walk a bit faster.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of running from someone as cowardly as you" Said James from the front.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spat Snape in inquisition. He had to be careful. The last thing he needed was another round of laughing on his hands. There was no strategy to deal with that.

"Well I'm just saying…" Said Sirius as he chuckled to himself, that he had gotten under Snape's skin, "…that you must be pretty cowardly, if after James saves your life the only thing you can do is send him to professor Dumbledore's office." Peter giggled a little bit as he started enjoying himself. He wasn't sure how they would get out of the situation, but Sirius and James were both bright, and more than adept at getting them out of trouble.

"Yeah you must be a pretty big man to be able to do that." He added.

Snape considered this for a moment. Was it big and manly to threaten the person who just saved your life? He would be damned if he cared.

"Yes. I suppose your right. But I however, am not obliged to let James off for saving my life because it was his fault that it was in danger in the first place." He said simply.

Sirius turned round and started walking backwards.

"What are you talking about? All the grease must have affected your brain. If you choose to go round snooping in other people's business then you get what you deserve." He said as though it was simple human morals. Sirius was a firm believer in human morals. He knew they existed but he had yet to see what all the fuss was about.

"Stop talking Black." Snape instructed as he gave his wand a twirl to quickly draw attention to the fact it was still there, in case it had been forgotten. "James lured me here with the sole purpose of getting me bitten by a werewolf." Snape said in a manner that sounded like he was right, although he in fact fantastically wrong. As they stopped talking the tunnel began to rise, and a minute later they climbed out in to the cool night air.

Snape insisted on going first so they couldn't run off. He used the stick to push the knot as he carefully crawled out from under the deadly tree. The others three made their way out and eventually stretched out in the open space, breathing in the fresh as though it was freedom itself. The sky was cloudless and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. The full moon glared down upon them and reflected off the surface of the lake where the giant squid lived.

Suddenly, With a great groan, James started choking and staggering backwards and forwards clasping at his own throat.

"What's wrong with him?" Asked Snape suspiciously as his lip curled in anger. Sirius turned to him his face pale and his eyes wide with fear.

"Oh my. I should have remembered… Damn! How could I have forgotten." He cursed as he turned to Severus with a deadly stern expression. "It's a Thursday and it's a full moon. Severus, there is something you ought to know. James is a Were Bear!"

Harry searching his brain could never remember anyone mentioning his father turning in to a giant teddy bear, nor could he remember it ever being mentioned in any of his lessons. He feared for his father's safety, as he stumbled form side-to-side making strange rasping and choking sounds. Wormtail and Sirius just seemed to be watching mildly interested as though this was the sort of thing that happened during meal times, or when it rains. Suddenly James stumbled into Snape who instantly pushed him off his shoulder. James then stumbled a couple of meters and fell to the ground with his eyes closed and his mouth hanging open.

Harry was concerned, but knew that no matter what it was couldn't have been to bad since he lived to deposit this memory and go on in life. Suddenly Harry thought that maybe this memory was so grotesque and horrible, that that is why it was deposited in the pensieve. So that he would never need to think about it! Harry squinted his eyes just as a precaution in case something turned nasty.

A few moments later Snape said in a panicky voice

"What's a Were Bear? What's wrong with him?" Fear was oozing out of Snape's skin as he watched with bated breath in dread of what might happen. He considered himself somewhat of an expert on dark arts, yet he had never heard of a Were Bear. It must have been so disgustingly dangerous it wasn't even mentioned to newt level students.

Sirius shook his head and said

"I'm afraid He's suffering from terminal happiness. He's just stolen your wand!" There was a moment of silence that followed this as Snape looked down to the hand that he was holding his and Sirius' wand in, it was empty. Snape suddenly caught on to what happened and with that he looked down at James who was now propped up on one arm. Smiling at him and in the other arm brandishing the two newly acquired wands.

"Why YOU…!!!" Snape yelled as James jumped to his feet. A round of laughter filled the night sky and with that the three Marauders Ran off across the grounds, into the night, towards the school where no one would know they had ever gone. Harry went to run after them but suddenly felt the ground around him move. Things began to go blurry and spiral, and suddenly he was slammed back onto his bed. He sat for a moment and thought about what he had seen, before placing the pensieve on his bedside table. He got into bed and as he shut his eyes he thought to himself

"My dad wasn't such a bad guy after all." And with that comforting thought, Harry relaxed his mind and fell in to a deep and peaceful sleep.


	5. Diagon Alley UPDATED

Harry closed his eyes and fell in to a deep peaceful sleep.

The next morning Harry awoke. He looked out in to the back garden. The sun was already up and was shining in through his window. It looked like today was going to be another good day. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as there was a knock at the door.

"You up mate?". Ron asked as he poked his head round the door. "I think breakfast is ready."

"Yeah I'm up; I will just be a minute." Harry replied as he pulled on a pair of socks that Dobby gave him for Christmas. He made his way downstairs and took a seat next to Ron who was already dressed. "You are up early today."

"Yeah." Ron replied. "I heard a rumour from George that there is a new broom out, and I thought we could check it out. I hope it's true. They do tend to lie about some things." He contemplated.

Harry was about to reply when Hermione joined them at the breakfast table. She was still in her pyjamas, which consisted of navy bottoms, and a long red top with a picture of a teddy on the front. She sat down opposite the boys and took some toast, which she began spreading with marmalade.

"That's interesting" Harry remarked, as he looked from Ron to Hermione. "Ron is up and ready first which must mean he likes Quidditch more than you like learning Hermione." She finished her mouthful of toast before replying.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that. Ron absolutely loves Quidditch, but whilst I do like learning a lot, that's not all there is to me" she explained.

They didn't speak much further until Tonks came in. she was wearing her hair shoulder length blond today.

"Hi guys." She said as she bounced towards the table and sat down. "Are you going out today?" Harry paused from his corn flakes and replied.

"Yeah we are going to Diagon Alley to get our books today. Maybe have a look at a new broom" He added. Tonks face fell a little.

"Oh that's a shame. I was going to say that since its nice and sunny we could go to a theme park or something. There is once quite near here you know. What about you Molly, would you care to join me?"

Ten minutes later they had finished and Mrs Weasley started cleaning away there plates. Harry went upstairs to wash and get ready. Half an hour later, at just after nine o'clock, Hermione and Ginny were making there way downstairs. Today Ginny was wearing some medium length blue denim shorts and had a pale yellow strap top. Hermione was wearing a bright green T- shirt and some jeans.

"Great." Said Harry as the four of them assembled in the living room, ready to go. Remus joined then in the living room.

"Are you all ready?" He asked. There was a round of replies.

"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.

"Well we would normally take the floo network, but since that is being monitored I think it best that we avoid it. Therefore, since it's not far away we have decided to drive." Harry thought back to the maniac driving of Moody.

"Please tell me Moody isn't driving." Harry asked hopefully.

"Well if he was then I certainly wouldn't be going." said Remus who seemed to have gone pale just thinking about it. "No I will be driving us there today, and you needn't worry because I have actually driven many times before. Normal cars as well."

"I can't believe I have to go with you guys." Tonks grumbled as she made her way over to the door way. "No one wants to go to the theme park with me so I have to go to rubbishy old Diagon Alley with you lot." She sulked

Rather than seeing the Limo Harry had arrived in the day before, instead all he saw was a normal looking estate car. It was entirely unremarkable, which much better suited the need of travelling unnoticed. Harry briefly wondered how four of them would squeeze into the back before he realised that it was certain to be at least a bit magical.

Remus and Tonks sat in the front, whilst the four children sat in the back. As Harry had predicted, as he opened the one of the back doors the space inside seemed to be a good couple of feet wider than the outside of the car would suggest possible. As they set off it seemed, that true to Remus' word the car was not magically bouncing off buildings. In fact, Remus pretty much stayed on the road for the whole time, even if on occasion it was the wrong side.

A short while later they arrived outside the run down building that Harry recognised as the Leakey Cauldron. They stepped out of the car, or in Tonks' case, jumped out. They opened the door to the building and stepped in. As usual they were confronted with the unrelenting shabbiness of the establishment. It was filled with old woman drinking glasses of sherry and noisy men drinking at the bar.

Harry waved as Tom the innkeeper gave a nod of recognition in their direction.

"Well," Began Remus, "I Imagine you want to go off and do your own shopping without us. Besides, I have better things to do than spend an hour staring at broomsticks. Lets meet back here shall we for some lunch, at about one o'clock? You have your book lists haven't you?" They all nodded silently, waiting for Remus to excuse them so they could go and get their books and then have some fun.

"Ok well if you need anything me and Tonks are going to go and pick up a few things in Sematic Alley." Harry figured that Sematic Alley must be one of the turnings off from the wizarding high street.

"What? I'm not going to Sematic alley with you! It's boring there." Tonks whined. "I want to visit Weasley-Wizard Wheezes." Lupin took a deep breath sighed to himself, a sigh which eventually became a laugh.

"Ok then you can go off as well. But remember we should all be back here for one o'clock. We can go shopping afterwards as well. That gives you all three and a bit hours." And with that they all ran off to Diagon alley to get their things.

First of all they went to Flourish and Blotts. Harry stepped into the old looking shop. Shelves filled the walls and reached to the ceiling, each packed with books. The air inside felt old and dry and seemed to literally crackle with magic. Harry went over to one of the neatly stacked piles of books and examined it. It was a book about magical creatures entitled "Tame the Untameable. He thought that it would probably be of interest to Hagrid; still, he didn't need to be getting any ideas.

During their appraisals, a woman walked up to him and asked if he was here for Hogwarts. Harry handed over the list of books he needed for the year.

"So Mr. Potter, would I be right in assuming that you are planning a career as an Auror or as a Doctor for Flobberworms?" she enquired as she examined his combination of subjects.

"Yes, an Auror." He replied, surprised at how she knew this. "How did you know?" She looked at him and said in a voice that Harry could only assume was meant to sound knowledgeable, but sounded more like a strange wheezing sound.

"It is a strange combination of subjects." She then proceeded to pick up his books and wrap them in a brown paper bag. She rung it all up on the till, and he handed over six galleons and seven sickles.

After that they went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry bought several new sets of robes. He figured if he was continuing with potions it would be good to have spares. He could already recall a number of times when a bubbling potion had splashed over him, and either left a stain on his uniform, or even burnt through it entirely.

He was just about finished being measured up when the bell above the door rang. Harry glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see that it was Cho who had just walked in. She appeared on her own, so he hailed her own.

"Hi Harry" She said happily. "I was hoping to bump in to you guys today, have you been in the alley long?"

"Not very long, probably about forty minutes, we went and got our school books, and then came here for our robes. We are nearly done here." Harry explained.

"That's cool." She said as Madam Malkin started taking her measurements. "Would you mind if I join you guys. I didn't have anyone to come with today. I was originally going to go with Marietta but she is on holiday at the moment, and I decided it would be better to get my books sooner rather than wait till the end of the holiday. It's nice to get a head start on these things don't you think."

"I do!" Hermione beamed, having found a kindred spirit.

"It means when Quidditch season starts I can get in enough practice without falling behind." She went on.

"That's not a bad idea." Ron said with realisation that buckling under a crippling pile of homework in a month's time was not the only way to live.

"We are just going to pop next door Harry, since we are finished in here." Hermione said as she nudged Ron and Ginny. "I need to get some things for Arithmacy anyway, so it will save you standing round. I will meet you outside afterwards." She said with an odd tone. Harry thought he might have even seen her giving him quick wink, but he couldn't be sure as a moment later she had spun on her heel, her hair flowing behind her, and left the shop, leaving nothing but the jingling of the bell where they had been.

Harry suddenly felt very alone, or rather, very alone with Cho, despite the fact Madam Malkin was currently on her knees measuring Cho's knee to ankle length. Harry waited nervously for Cho, unsure what to speak about. Was she here because of him? Were things going to fast, or was he just imaging things? It was known by Harry's close friends that he liked Cho. It was also known by them that Cho and Harry had once kissed. He didn't however; wish to make his friends feel like a third wheel.

Ten minutes later Cho's robes were all ready and she had paid up.

"Thanks again for inviting me to your party yesterday Harry."

"That's ok, thanks for coming. You know the more the merrier. I'm glad you could make it." He said as he held the door open for her. "Who invited you any way out of curiosity?" Last time Cho and he parted it had not been on particularly good terms. It had been a risk to invite her. Thankfully it paid off, and it seemed like things could be going somewhere, but it could just have easily made yesterday quite uncomfortable.

"I think it was Remus' idea, the party and everything. He said that it would be good for you to have a normal birthday party. He seems like a pretty cool guy. I mean he taught me in fourth year, and he was a good teacher, so I kind of knew him, but he wasn't as chatty, I think he was pretty busy with homework and everything." She explained. Harry couldn't recall having ever mentioned Cho to Remus, so figured he must have got help, probably from Ron or Hermione on who to invite.

The sun was now out high in the sky and in the last half an hour itself the temperature had risen steadily. Harry raised a hand to his eyes as he glanced at the street around them.

"Where did they get to?" He muttered to himself, "I'm sure they should be around here somewhere." His eyes raked the street one more time before concluding that the other three were not in sight.

"Perhaps they are still next door getting the Arithmacy materials?" She volunteered. Harry had a look through the window, but other than a couple of fourth year students he couldn't see anyone else in the shop. A thought struck him, that perhaps, if Hermione had indeed given him a wink, then maybe she didn't have any intention of meeting back up with him yet. Giving them time alone.

"I think they might have got tired of waiting for us." Harry said as he turned to Cho. "Ron can be pretty impatient, they could be anywhere now. Rather than waste our time looking for them, maybe we should just continue with our shopping? You said you still needed to get your school books. Let's do that first and then decide where to go from there" He suggested to a smile.

"That sounds like a good idea." She said as she walked beside him in the direction of Flourish and Blotts, and Obscurus Books.

"Still no sign of them." Cho said once her bag was loaded with books. "Would you like to go and get an ice-cream?"

"Yeah I think that's a nice idea." Harry said. This business of being alone with a girl was tough work. It was slightly more comfortable than the maybe date he had been on at Hogsmeade, but probably only because they had a clear list of shops they needed to go to. Without the topic of shopping what would they discuss?

They took a seat under one of the parasols on one of the few empty tables outside Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream parlour.

"Why don't you stay here and save the table whilst I go in and order for us?" He suggested. "What flavour would you like?"

"Surprise me." She replied. Harry hesitated. How do you surprise a girl? Take them to a Quidditch match? Wash regularly? Display good table manners? He was sure these things could be surprising, but he wasn't sure when it came to ice cream.

As he stepped in to the store he was hit by a wall of cool air. It was no doubt air conditioned, in part to keep the ice-cream from melting. He looked around at the store and noted that despite it being crowded outside there were very few people sitting indoors. He supposed everyone else must share his opinion that it was a nice day, and should be spent outdoors. He stood before the glass counter and considered the dozens of different flavoured ice creams.

He heard footsteps walk over to him and pause.

"Yes" Harry began, whilst staring at the ice cream "May I have some chocolate ice cream and…" He was interrupted.

"I'm sorry my dear. The clairvoyant vibrations in the air have foretold that we have sold out of chocolate on this occasion"

Harry's head snapped up at the sound of the voice. There standing behind the counter, wearing an apron and a white jacket and hat was Professor Trelawney, one of the few people more insane that Dobby.

"What are you doing here professor?" Harry asked. She blinked twice behind her enormous glasses which magnified her eyes to the point where they took up a large part of her face. "Well it would appear I'm working. After all I am not a professor. Had you progressed further in the sacred art of divinations you would have foreseen that I would be here. Now what was it you would like?"

Harry thought about it and decided that she probably did need a job, and there wasn't much demand for a psychic fraud.

"Yeah can I have some chocolate ice cream please?" He repeated.

"I'm sorry but my crystal ball says we are all sold out of chocolate."

"But you haven't sold out of chocolate. I can see it right there. It's in the big tub containing chocolate ice cream." He said as he jabbed at the glass with his finger.

"No. I'm sorry my child. The inner eye can see these things. We have sold out of chocolate." Harry was once again bludgeoned by the reason she got the sack in the first place.

"I don't care what you say. There is chocolate right there," He pointed to it. "See it is the one with a label on it that says chocolate ice cream. In order to sell out, you actually need to sell it in the first place you know!"

"I'm sorry." She went on. "But if the future were that easy to predict I think we would all be doing it. Now why don't you listen to someone with a gift for these things, like me" Harry couldn't believe she was so utterly obtuse. It was literally under her nose. She could practically smell it and all she needed to do was look at it and see the truth, yet she adamantly refused to do so.

"Oh well." Harry thought to himself "There are plenty of other flavours in the sea. They will just have to make do."

"Ok then some tutti-frutti then" He said between gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry the clairvoyant vibrations predict…"

"Just give me whatever you have." He snapped. Clearly there were unseen forces at work here, forces of stupidity.

Ten minutes later Harry managed to leave with two cones containing considerably less desirable flavours than he had designed.

"Which one do you want?" He offered as he sat down opposite Cho and held out the two cones to her. "We have peanut butter or we ready salted. Cho's smile was replaced by a question look. The sad expression he wore revealed that this was indeed the flavours he was not presenting.

"I guess I will try peanut butter." Cho said as her hand reached reluctantly forward towards the cone in his left hand. They sat in silence for a minute, licking the ice-creams, and decided that things hadn't turned out as they had hoped. "Swap with me Harry." She said once the peanut butter flavour had proved to be too dislikeable for her to continue. Harry wordlessly exchanged cones with her. Surely peanut butter would be an improvement.

A further thirty seconds of silence transpired before finally Cho gave up.

"Look Harry, I know I said surprise me, but god you really suck at choosing ice cream, they are horrible!"

"I know." He agreed forlornly. "I'm sorry, I tried to get good flavours but I couldn't. Go in and look for yourself and you might understand why." Cho stared at him with confusion, before slowly rising from her seat, and making her way over to the window. She cupped her hands round her eyes as she stared through the glass.

"You have got to be kidding me…"

A little while later, at bout half past eleven Harry and Cho decided to take a trip to visit Fred and George. Despite the fact that the streets themselves weren't that busy, the shop certainly was. It was a quaint shop on the corner, with windows paced with a colourful array of items, and signs promising spectacular, and often repulsive results. It was here that they found Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

"Hey guys, how was it?" Asked Hermione, forgetting that it was meant to appear an accident that they had ended up separated for an hour.

"Ready Salted." Harry replied, causing Cho to smile at what would probably become a fond memory. "Ron, you will never guess who I saw." He continued, knowing that Ron would love to hear about the new employee at Fortescue's.

The store was full of children and teenagers milling about, as well as a few shifty looking adults, who feared they might be caught indulging in a side society demanded they grow out of. The walls were lined with shelves and boxes of things Harry didn't recognised. "Fred and George must have been hard at work; they seem to have a lot of stuff I don't think I have seen" he remarked.

"Oh yeah," Ron said in a tone which suggested that a lot of work had gone in to filling the shelves. "They spend hours every day thinking up new things."

Harry spotted George over by the counter talking to Tonks, who was laughing, probably at the prospect of using some of the new range, and no doubt at someone else's expense. Harry looked at a box of lollies which apparently changed the colour of your face to match the flavour for an hour. He imagined giving one to uncle Vernon, but realised that if it was raspberry or strawberry then it wouldn't really make any difference.

Tonks who had a large paper bag put a few of the lollies in the top, before giving George a couple of galleons for the large selection of items she had purchased. She spotted Harry as she turned for the door.

"Hi Harry. Hi Chi"

"Cho" She corrected.

"That's what I said." Tonks lied. She couldn't be expected to remember all of Harry's friends. "Hey, you should join us for lunch."

"Sorry, I would like to but I have to meet my parent back in the Leaky Cauldron at one o'clock." Said Cho, sounding genuinely sorry that she wouldn't be able to join them.

"Did you say coincidence o'clock?" Tonks asked. "Because that is where we are meeting."

Cho brightened at this.

"Yeah ok then. I don't think my parents should mind. Is it alright if they join us as well?" "I think that would be hunky-dory." Tonks said as she considered some of her new purchases. The more victims the better. With this thought in mind she left the shop. Seldom had she looked forward to a lunch as much as this one.

As she left Harry turned back to the counter where George seemed to notice Harry and his friends. "Hey Harry, can I interest you in a Farting Fairy cake? The consumer of this innocent looking cake is guaranteed to be plagued with no less than half an hour of farts loud enough to be heard next door."

Harry visualised giving one to Snape and having a good laugh before realising that it would also be disgusting. If Harry did ever give one to someone he would definitely make sure they were outside.

"I think I will pass this time." Harry said unsurely.

"If you are sure. This little beauty is going to make us a fortune. Not that we haven't already made one." Said George with a wink. If the sparking suit he was wearing was anything to go buy, then they had certainly made some serious money, as well as developed some very poor fashion sense.

A few minutes later Ron had managed to narrow what he wanted to purchase down to a small selection that was within his price range.

"That will be 9 Sickles Ronny boy. You get a special 50% discount."

"What special discount?" Asked Ron who was very happy to hear his purchase was going to come to half of what he had originally expected.

"The freckly nit-wit discount. It is very exclusive. You are the only person to qualify so far."

"Hey I may be a nit-wit but I most certainly am not freckly!" said Ron indignantly.

"Yeah of course you're not freckly." Said George more to himself than anyone else.

"No I'm not," Said Ron, who had realised how stupid this sounded, due to the fact he had a face full of freckles. However, he was not about to admit he was wrong in front of one of his brothers. He tried to think up something plausible. "Its not freckles, its just dirt" If Ron had thought this would make things better then he was sadly mistaken. George seemed to disappear behind the counter as he fell to the floor laughing. Eventually George heaved himself up on to the counter and caught his breath.

"I must thank you for the laugh Ron. You always did have the knack. It has really made my day a lot more enjoyable, and for that you can have the items free of charge. Ron accepted, although he was unsure being ridiculed was worth the money he saved. As they made to leave George suddenly grabbed Harry by the arm

"Oh Harry, I normally cant stand to ruin a good joke, but since you helped us set up shop I owe you, so I am going to give you a bit of advice. Watch out for Tonks! She is one big spender. Especially, make sure you don't go near the toilet seat…"

He left his sentence to trail off; implying that sometimes knowing all of the details was a bad thing. According to Hermione's Watch they still had fifteen minutes left before they needed to meet back at the Leaky cauldron. They slowly meandered their way along the street.

"So did you get to check out Quidditch Supplies." Harry asked as he turned to Ron. "Was it true about the new broom?"

"It flipping wasn't." Ron huffed as he remembered the disappointment. "Fred and George were having us on. There was a new broom alright, but it was only some rubbish new Blue Bottle model designed for the heavy set wizard to ride with greater comfort. What a waste, no one was asking for that!"

If Harry was hones it was a disappointment, he had been hoping for a new broom. Anything which could quench his thirst for speed would be worth it. Still, he supposed that the Firebolt was still in perfect working order, and it was also a gift from Sirius.

"We don't need a new broom anyway Ron." Harry explained matter of factly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Absolutely. We could win at Quidditch with shooting star models if we needed. After all, you know the saying. It's not the broom that makes the player." With this thought in mind they stepped in to the Leaky Cauldron, ready for some lunch.


	6. Attack UPDATED

As they stepped in to the dark pub it took several seconds for Harry's eyes to adjust following the brightness of outside. Against one wall he spotted Remus, Tonks and Mr. and Mrs Chang all seated around the large table. Harry wondered briefly how Tonks had known who Cho's parents were, and if she had perhaps simply seen a couple of Asian heritage, and of the right age and made the assumption.

Upon close inspection Remus appeared slightly different from normal, and it was only as Harry drew closer that he was able to conclude what the difference was. Remus' face was yellow with pink spots. Harry gave a laugh and turned his attention to Tonks.

"What flavour was it?" He enquired.

"Rhubarb and custard." She exclaimed excitedly. As this brief exchange transpired Remus blushed, though given his current complexion this would go unnoticed to all but the most observant.

The five teenagers took the remaining seats at the table, with Cho sitting on the left of her parents and on the right of Harry. Ginny sat on Harry's left and Hermione's right. Ron took the one remaining seat, next to Remus. After Tom came over and took their drinks orders a general round of introductions was made. Harry was overcome with a seldom level of nervousness. What if he didn't make a good impression? His scruff of hair could be seen as quite disagreeable perhaps.

"So I understand you used to be a teacher at Hogwarts, you must be very learned." Mr Chang said politely. "Was this how you came to know Harry?

"Well it is true that I taught Harry, and that was where we first became properly acquainted, but his father was a very dear friend of mine and so I have actually known Harry from birth. Since I knew his father so well, I just sort of look after him, in a sense." Said Remus, whilst carefully avoiding mentioning the Order.

"Yes, I suppose Remus is like an uncle, or perhaps an older brother." Harry added, for he felt that to simply refer to their relationship as Remus had done was to downplay his importance. "He is quite young at heart."

"Not as young as some." Muttered Remus darkly as he glanced at Tonks.

"So anyway Harry its nice to finally meet you at last. We've heard so much about you." Said Cho's mother as she cast him a smile.

"You have?" Asked Harry as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, Cho's has spoken of you on a number of occasions." Said Mr. Chang. "Oh but don't worry, it has all been good things." He added. Cho looked ready to drop off the face of the earth, as her parents continued to embarrass her.

The talk eventually turned to Voldemort.

"Well it's not a surprise that it is quieter than normal. With the return of You- know-who people have been afraid to leave their home. Silly if you ask me." Said Mr. Chang. "Not that I don't believe him to be dangerous." He added, as he flashed a look towards Harry. "But I can't imagine sitting at home alone is going to be any safer than being in a busy street. If we thought it was dangerous we wouldn't have let Cho go off shopping without us."

Harry wondered how true this was. He couldn't imagine that a few adults, a lot of students and a high street would deter Voldemort. Still, the order hadn't felt the need to watch over him for every minute, had they? As they ate Ron discovered that Mr Chang was also a fan of the Chudley Cannons, so the topic turned to Quidditch, which revealed where Cho got her love of the sport from. Hermione found this train of discussion rather tedious, so she managed to strike up a conversation with Cho about school work, and what they might expect for their 6th year.

They finished their lunch with some more ice cream (thankfully this time in more appetising flavours), or coffee for those so inclined.

"So what are you kids going to do this afternoon?" asked Tonks. By now the yellow and pink was mostly disappeared from Lupin's face. "Well," Said Cho, "I need to get some more potions ingredients."

"And I need to get some new Dragon hide gloves. My old ones have worn out." Added Harry. He didn't actually need new gloves yet but now that he was taking care of magical creatures at Newt level he suspected it wouldn't be long before he did. Heck, in a single lesson with Hagrid one could go through several pairs of gloves if one was not careful.

The five of them left, leaving the four adults to discuss boring adult matters, such as mortgages, electricity bills (though most of them used electricity for little besides a television), and the weather. They had to meet back in the main square in an hour. First of all they went to the apothecary. Cho bought some beetle eyes for five knuts a scoop and some powdered newt wart for six sickles a jar. Harry and Hermione, who would be doing potions, also bought the potion ingredients that he would need for the year. He handed over three galleons to the woman behind the counter.

Next they went to Eeylops Owl Emporium where Ron and Harry each bought some owl treats and some seed for Pig and Hedwig. Ron complained about wasting his money on a feathery git as he reluctantly handed over his money. With forty minutes remaining Harry stepped outside the shop and cast a cursory glance along the street. He hesitated as his eyes ran over the shop known as "Ollivander's." It was a small grubby shop. The peeling gold letters above the door read Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.

He had not been in the shop for a few years. After all when one has a wand there is little that could be purchased from the shop, other than wand polish, or a spare wand. The thought stuck Harry as poignant. He thought to himself about the times when he would face Voldemort, and about the times he didn't have his wand when he needed it.

"Maybe," he thought to himself, "I should get a second wand for such emergencies." After thinking for a moment more on the matter he could see no reason why he should not take such precautions. After all he was quite certain that Moody had a spare wand. In fact he probably had a whole coat full of spare wands. If someone were to say "Accio wand." In his presence it would probably knock him off his feet.

"I just need to go in Olivanders for a minute and buy some wand polish. You go ahead and I will catch up with you in a minute." He lied. Not that he didn't trust his friends, but in the eventuality that he did find him wanting of his main wand, having a friend loudly whisper "Psssst, what about your spare wand Harry?" Was unlikely to improve the situation. He made his way to the shop while the others waited outside on a bench in the sun.

A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. Harry's mind flashed back to last time he was here. Everything was exactly the same. Except he was a lot smaller back then. He pushed the door open and heard a tinkling bell ring in the depths of the shop. He could see particles of dust floating through the air as the sun shone in through the window.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter" said the voice Harry recognised as Mr. Ollivander's. "I didn't expect to be seeing you today. What can I get you? Some wand polish?" Questioned the man whilst staring at Harry curiously. "Eleven inch holly, phoenix feather, might I recommend this polish." He recommended as he displayed a small tin from a shelf behind him. Harry looked uncertainly, debating whether he should actually get another Wand or not, but in the end decided to continue with his original plan.

"Actually I was wondering if it is possible for me to buy another wand?" Ollivander's eyes widened as Harry said this, and then narrowed again in a calculating look.

"You haven't lost, or broken yours have you?" Asked Ollivander suspiciously. Such behaviour was frowned upon.

"No" Harry relied. "I just thought it might be useful to have a spare wand. In case I ever have my first one taken from me" The old man glared at Harry silently for a moment before he began to nod.

"Well yes, I suppose you may find yourself in such a situation, though I must say no one has ever bought a spare wand! Only do they buy a second if they break their first. It would seem that is about to change."

Harry felt a little strange knowing that he was the first person to ever have attempted to buy a spare wand.

"It will not work as well as your original, you understand; they never do" Ollivander explained as he started measuring Harry's arms, fingers and all sorts of other measurements involving the hand.

Ollivander now put down the tape measure and started pacing backwards and forwards behind the counter, every few seconds, glancing in the direction of the window. .

"Curious." He said quizzically. Harry, from past experience had learned that when this was said, it in fact meant, "I have an interesting tale that I am willing to tell to you, when you ask me what indeed is curious." And so he did just this. "Every wand we make has a powerful core consisting of unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, or dragon heart strings. However, when this shop opened over two thousand years ago this was not the case. Wand lore was in its early stages back then and we experimented with different cores. Few worked with any consistent results, except one core. It is a core that has never since been used, as it does not find use in today's society. However one such wand remains."

With that Ollivander walked over to the window and picked the old wand of the dusty purple cushion. He held it out to Harry with a look which asked if the boy was certain of what he was about to commit to. As Harry took hold of the wand he felt a cold shiver run down his spine as if he had been submerged under water. A feeling similar to what one would feel when a Dementor approaches, though not so markedly unpleasant.

Harry felt his skin tingle, followed by an acute awareness of every sound around him. He could hear the wind blowing outside, the footsteps of someone passing by, the ticking of the clock in the back room or the shop, and a bird which landed somewhere on the roof. A moment later the sounds had faded.

That is the only remaining wand of that type." Ollivander explained as he stared deeply at Harry. "Ten and a half inches, Shanks wood, Thestral hair." Harry was surprised by the last part. Thestrals were the creatures used to pull the School coaches every year. They were skeletal beings that could only be seen by someone who had witnessed death. The wand itself was thin and in some way seemed different from the wands of today.

Ollivander waited for a moment whilst Harry weighed it off.

"This wand is good for curses, and dark magic. However you may find it wanting if you intend to undertake high levels of transfiguration." Harry shuddered a little as he considered a wand with an affinity for dark magic. "Yes that's right Mr. Potter, it seems that perhaps you fate is not as obvious as you thought. Still I should say that back when this wand was created the magic in question was not viewed negatively as it is now. It is only as the dark arts have fallen from favour that Thestral Hair has not been used."

"I will take it," said Harry as he finally made up his mind. He knew that somehow, no matter where fate took him, that he was destined to buy the wand.

"No you won't. Remember it is the wand that chooses you. Not the other way round." With that he leaned back behind his counter. "A galleon for the polish, the wand will be nothing. A wand like that should not be valued. Take it and keep it. I had to look after it for many years, for it would be a crime to destroy a wand. Still I feel that you can be trusted with the wand, and it seems the wand feels this too."

Harry handed over a galleon from his bag and made his way out of the shop. He spotted his friends sat on a bench on the other side of the street.

"What took you so long?" Hermione asked as he walked over.

"Oh, I just couldn't choose which type of polish to get." He lied. "Anyway, I think we have twenty minutes left, Ron and I still need to buy your new dragon hide gloves."

They made their way towards a new shop just opposite the main square. It was medium sized. The walls were painted custard yellow, and it had a Red door. In the two large windows either side of the door Harry could see various clothes all made out of animal skins or hides. Upon entering the store he noted that the shop was divided in to two parts, on one side they had clothes which came from magical animals, like dragon hide boots and unicorn horn rimmed glasses, and on the other side they had clothes made of non- magical animals. Like Hagrid's moleskin coat or Rita Skeeta's crocodile handbag.

Harry went over to the magical side and had a look round. Eventually he found a section with dragon hide gloves. He searched until he found a pair that fitted. It was a black pair with scales of red in random places. They were three galleons a pair. Harry picked up his and continued to have a look round the store. He pondered on if he should get some new shoes, since the soles on his were wearing thin, but decided that since he couldn't see his socks yet, they were fine.

.

Harry made his way to the counter just as Ron was paying for his pair of gloves. He was in the process of counting out lots of Sickles, but began rummaging in the depths of his pockets when it became apparent he might not have enough. Harry leaned over him and placed his gloves on the counter as well.

"Don't worry Ron, I'll pay for that, you forgot your special discount." He explained. Ron thought about the special discount his brothers had given him for being a freckled nitwit, and hoped this discount was different from that.

"100% off for friends who need to borrow some money."

"That's three galleons for gloves per so six galleons in total." Said a nasal woman behind the counter. Harry handed over six coins from his wallet and the woman put their things in a bag. Ron muttered something about paying Harry back.

"Don't worry about the money, I can just get you a rubbish Christmas present." He said with a smile. According to Hermione's watch they now had about 5 minutes left until they had to be back in the main square which was just across from them.

The five friends, now carrying the bags of shopping that they had bought, made there way over to the fountain where they would meet Remus, Tonks and Cho's parents. They put their bags down and cast about a look. Just as they did, they heard several loud popping noises to one side, which one could not miss was the result of someone apparating. Harry scanned the streets for the source of noise, before to his horror he suddenly realised that several Death Eaters had just apparated in to Diagon Alley.

Harry quickly stepped forwards with his wand in hand. Ginny screamed.

"Go!" Harry said to his friends as he urged them to run from the Death Eaters across from them. Cho and Ginny fled round the corner. Ron was more reluctant to take flight, but Hermione had the sense to heed Harry's advice.

"You don't need to stand here Harry, you should run too." Ron rushed.

"Don't worry, if I need to run I will, but I don't want to go running along with you because they will only chase me, now go!" He repeated.

"We will be over there if you need up." Hermione said as she managed to drag Ron away. Harry was happy with this. It was nice to know his friends were to ready to help protect him against danger. However, as he turned his attention to The Death Eaters he realised that they weren't after him at all, or at least not at that moment. They had their backs turned to him, and were actually walking away. Harry knelt down by the side of the fountain as he watched them. They made their way over to the shop Ollivander's.

Harry hesitated for a moment before running closer, and diving in to a bush. He wondered briefly if he needed to use magic, would he still get in trouble for being under age? Perhaps not serious trouble since there were no muggles in Diagon Alley. Two of the Death Eaters entered the shop, whilst the remaining four took station outside the shop. This prevented him getting any closer, so he instead stayed rooted. Hermione and the others would find help. They only needed to tell Tonks and she would be able to alert the Ministry.

"Who was in here?" One of the Death Eaters from in the shop demanded. Harry strained his ears to hear what was being said. Some extendable ears would have done just the job. He managed to peer between two branches and could now see what Mr Ollivander was pinned up against one wall in his shop whilst a Death Eater demanded information from him.

"No one was in here." He pleaded. "I was just tidying the shelves, I promise you I don't know what you are talking about."

"You lie." The Death Eater snapped. "We placed sensors on your shop. We know when someone capable of dark magic enters your building. We can't allow anyone to rise against the Dark Lord. If you don't tell us what we want to know we will torture it out of you." There was silence for a few seconds as Ollivander said nothing, before his torture began.

"Crucio." He said as the wandmaker fell to the floor writhing in agony, his cries echoing across the town square. Harry looked at the wand he had purchased and the words echoed in his ears. "…good for curses, and dark magic." Was it him they were after, even if they didn't know it? What he had felt when he picked up the wand was so markedly different from what he had felt when he got his true wand all those years ago. Still, it was only fifteen minutes ago that he had been in the shop. Who else could have been in since?

Harry made a rash decision, as he jumped up from the bush. Before he could blink he found four wands pointed at him.

"Don't move." One of them shouted.

"It's Harry Potter." Said a greasy drawl, which Harry recognised almost certainly as belonging to Snape. Whilst Harry could do little more than stand there it seemed he had achieved his goal. The two wizards in the shop had stopped torturing Ollivander.

"Well this is pleasant luck." Said a Death Eater on the left, who had a gruff voice Harry, was unfamiliar with.

"It was me. I was the one in the shop. You are here looking for someone. I am that person." Harry said with a confidence that built as he spoke. Voldemort would want to kill Harry himself wouldn't he? Besides, help must be on its way. Mustn't it?

"I find that hard to believe, but regardless, you are going to have to come with us." They began advancing on him.

"Ah now that might be a problem. You seem to be under the impression that I am going to come along peacefully, as it were." Harry replied as he recalled Dumbledore's words from the year before, shortly before he had been forced to flee Hogwarts. Unfortunately this time there wasn't the same impact, because Harry wasn't dealing with a few incompetent ministry officials, and because he wasn't Dumbledore, the greatest wizard alive.

"You think how willing you are will make a difference to how easy it is for us to take you?" Snape said as he stepped ahead of the other Death Eaters. By this point the two who were in the shop had also joined the street, so Snape was now being flanked by five others. "Maybe a little bit of pain will make you more willing. Crucio!"

Harry fell to the floor shaking as his body erupted in to a violent pain, like burning fire splintering his body. He couldn't concentrate on what was going on around him, or where help might be. All he could think about was the pain, and when it would end. However it didn't. It wasn't like a normal pain which flared brightly for a few seconds before becoming something more manageable. The cruciatus curse was a constant, unrelenting, barrage of pain.

"Are you willing yet?" Snape asked as he paused only for the briefest of moments. Before he had the chance to reply the pain had started again, as unbearable as it was the first time. A short way away Hermione was watching. She couldn't hear what was being said, but she could see the way Harry was in pain, and she could hear him. Probably everyone in Diagon Alley could hear him scream in pain. It was the kind of scream which was scarier than the pain itself.

"We have to help him." Hermione pleaded. "We can't just sit and watch him."

"We must." Replied Remus, who had seen people running from the square, and known instantly what was wrong. He had found Ron and Hermione where they now stood. "With only four of us we can't do anything. If we go over there we will only end up getting ourselves killed, or panic them in to killing Harry. He isn't dead yet, and Tonks has gone for help." Hermione didn't like it, and judging by Ron's face he didn't any better.

"That's quite a lot of pain." One of the Death Eaters eventually said to Snape. "That's at least fifty percent more pain that the handbook recommends. We don't want Potter pulling a Longbottom on us do we?"

"He can take it." Snape said simply. He had been torturing Harry for two minutes now, though to the boy it felt like a lifetime. Harry could barely even remember a time before the pain began. He had hoped he would black out. That would be the easy way. The pain would become too much, and then his brain would save him. Unfortunately the reprieve of unconsciousness had failed to come.

Instead he now summoned what little concentration he had on trying to separate his mind from his body. If he could do that then perhaps he could think clearly, and think of a way out of the desperate situation. Thankfully before Harry was able to continue with this train of thought, a series of loud cracks echoed across the street, and a populous of Aurors appeared, with Tonks and Moody being two of them.

Harry didn't know what happened next. He knew that the pain was fading, but his senses were not quick to come back. There were some sounds, but it was distant, as though he had been submerged under water. He could feel that his body had moved. Did he do it himself, or was someone moving him? Of this he couldn't be sure of either. Had he thrown up? It seemed like a possibility.

Suddenly there was a coolness which began in his mind, and spread its way out, until it enveloped his body. His brain was finally able to process what was going on. Tonks was kneeling before him with her wand drawn.

"It's ok Harry." She said slowly, as though he were slightly simple. "I have used a healing charm on you; you should be feeling better now?" She asked with concern.

"I can think. Yes Tonks, thank you. What happened?"

She began relaying to him the events that had transpired since he parted from his friends. She had heard the screams and seen the people running past and so she and Remus had made straight for the source of fear, where they met Hermione and Ron. Remus had stayed whilst she had ported to the Ministry for help. It had taken longer than she hoped, for when she returned Harry was being tortured, and was so far gone that it looked like it might be too late.

They had arrived with power easily great enough to overpower the Death Eaters, who had fled as soon as it became apparent that it wasn't a battle they would win. They had hardly managed to get off a single Hex before the streets were once again empty of Death Eaters. They had managed to take down one however, one who was slower to apparate away than the others. He was currently being restrained.

"For the record Harry." Tonks began, now that it seemed he would be alright. "If you do find yourself being tortured again, don't try and get away from the pain, that's how people go crazy from the curse, when they managed to disconnect their minds from the world. We thought you had done that for a minute. Good job you didn't, I would have been in big trouble." She said in a joke. Tonks was probably the only person besides a Weasley who could make a joke in such a situation.

"It was Snape." Harry started as he suddenly remembered the very important detail. "It was him who was torturing me."

"We will need to discuss that later then." Remus said with a tone which he understood to mean not now, whilst there were ministry officials about. Harry's friends rejoined him, all pleased to see that he would be fine.

"What were you thinking?" Hermione asked as she berated him. "You are lucky you didn't get yourself get killed."

"I had to do something. They were torturing Ollivander."

At this everyone looked to where the shop was. Ollivander was on his feet, but he bore a grim expression unlike one which had been seen upon his face before. Moody was currently questioning the man, in much the same way as a muggle detective would.

"And what do you believe their motive was? Do you know anyone who would want to hurt you? Did you have any reason to suspect you might be in danger?"

Harry listened as best he could with the others fussing over him, and from what he could tell it seemed that the wand maker wasn't making any mention of Harry having been in the shop only shortly before.

"Where is Ron?" Harry asked as he tore his attention away.

"He has gone looking for Ginny." Hermione explained. "Whilst we took cover round the corner I think her and Cho ran a little bit further. I think they should be back in a minute."

They stopped their discussion as the captured Death Eater was being unmasked. Harry let out a sigh as he looked in to the face of Peter Pettigrew.


	7. The Order Assembles UPDATED

Wormtail was as mousy and jumpy as he had ever been. He possessed a unique ability to make one feel guilty, as though his heinous actions were not his own fault. He didn't meet harry gaze, but spent his time staring at his feet. Hopefully he would be able to provide some valuable information to the ministry and the Order. It would be nice if something good could be taken from the attack here.

Harry recalled that the fact Wormtail was an Animagus was little known to the Ministry.

"Don't forget to tell them that he can transform into a rat. Make sure he doesn't escape." He instructed, as Moody oversaw the man being taken away. With Moody on the case one could rest easy. He was capable of taking even the most elusive of criminals. He could arrest lightning if he wanted to.

With a small amount of hope it occurred to Harry that perhaps now Sirius will have his innocence proven, and even though he wouldn't be around to see it, people would be able to start honouring his memory, and not thinking ill of him. Harry glanced over his shoulder when he heard the voice of Cho's mother. Ginny and Cho had reappeared and Cho was hugging her mother; apparently she found the whole thing quite frightening.

Mr. Chang, who was not one for heartfelt embraces made his way over to Harry.

"I wanted to say thank you Harry, for protecting my daughter from those Death Eaters. It was very brave of you to do what you did. You are a decent kid."

"Through and through." Remus added. Harry never felt very comfortable with people thanking him. Especially not when the whole thing was his fault in the first place.

"I didn't really do anything. Most of the time I was just hiding in the bushes."

"But you didn't run, and you could have. I respect a man who looks out for others."

"Well thank you then, sir."

"Call me William." He said as he took the opportunity to shake Harry's hand, as though they were finally only not meeting. "Tell you what, why don't you come round for dinner tonight? It's the least we can do." Harry was about to reply, when Remus, who had apparently been listening, decided to pitch in.

"I'm afraid Harry has a prior engagement tonight that can't be avoided." This was news to him. In the holidays he rarely planned further ahead than ten minutes.

"Or tomorrow night would be fine. In fact why not make it the whole of tomorrow. We are going out and Cho gets lonely by herself." William glanced at his daughter before he steered Harry a small distance away. "If I'm honest I think it would be a big help. Cho feels guilty that she didn't stay and help you. Perhaps if she gets a chance to see there wasn't any lasting harm then she will calm down? You are alright aren't you?" He asked hastily as he realised he hadn't actually enquired as to Harry's state of well being.

"I will be fine yes. You know how these things are." He replied, before realising that William probably didn't. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. "But yes I would love to come round tomorrow, if you are sure I can. Remus, will I be able to?"

"Yes, I think that should be alright." Came the reply, along with the unspoken understanding that certain safety measures would have to be taken.

"Would you like me to drop him off tomorrow?" Remus enquired.

"There won't be a need for that, you can just use the floo network, we are connected.

"I'm afraid that probably wouldn't be possible. With Harry we are trying to avoid using the floo network at the moment. It isn't particularly safe, and as you have seen today, we do need to consider these things."

"Very well we can stop by to pick him up then." Said William with a nod of his head. "What's the address again?"

Remus wrote the address down on a spare piece of parchment.

"Harry is staying with Tonks and I, so it is the same address as when Cho was round. Harry noted with interest the way Remus said "Tonks and I". Clearly in this cover story there was something going on.

"Ok then I will see you tomorrow about ten o'clock." Cho, who up to this point had not been involved in the conversation, gave Harry a parting smile as she left with her parents.

As Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry made then made their way back down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron, and where they had parked, Harry turned to Remus.

"So, what am I doing tonight then?"

"A meeting with the Order of course." Remus explained. "They will of course be summoned. Harry didn't press the conversation further, but mulled over it on the journey home. Was Harry going to become a member of the Order? Or were they just going to ask him some questions about things and then shoo him upstairs whilst they talked there "grown up" talk.

Harry was only sixteen and he remembered being told you needed to be seventeen, but didn't it seem stupid that he wouldn't be included since he was so central to Voldemort's defeat? As Harry sat back in the seat of the car deep in thought, Ron turned to him.

"That was pretty brave today buddy, It's a good job no one died, it could have been much worse. I can't believe the Snape would torture you like that though."

"Can't you? I think that's Snape all over." He wondered if Snape would be at the order. How would it feel to sit and stare at Snape who had been using the cruciatus curse on him only an hour before? He knew Snape was an arse, but this was a whole new level.

Eventually the car pulled up to the drive. Whilst it was only turning to late afternoon it still felt like a long day. Harry imagined that he could sleep for a long time, and was grateful that he didn't need to be up too early in the morning. He turned his attention back to what remained of the day, He felt a building anticipation as he thought about the Order and what he might hear. To know the full details would be novel to him. He was so used to grasping in the dark for information as Dumbledore only gave him to smallest of clues.

As they stepped in to the house and closed the door behind them the aroma of fresh baking assaulted them. The smell seemed to catch Ron's attention as well, because the next thing Harry knew, they were both in the kitchen staring at several cakes and pies. Mrs Weasley was just putting an apple pie down when she spotted the two boys.

"Don't get your hopes up because they're not all for you." Harry had noticed over the past few days that Mrs Weasley spent most of her time in a perpetual state of cooking, as though she were feeding a small army. In some ways she was.

Remus stepped into the kitchen with a grave look on his face which removed the initial need for an explanation. As Molly stared at him she knew with a mother's instinct that something was wrong.

"There were Death Eaters at Diagon Alley today." He said gravely. A shattering sound followed this announcement as Mrs Weasley dropped the freshly baked apple pie she had been holding. The dish hit the floor and glass cascaded in all directions. Mrs Weasley comprehended the sentence before looking round and observing only two out of the four expected children.

Panic rose in her face as she quickly bustled past them and in to the hallway where Ginny and Hermione were in the process of removing their shoes, whilst Tonks was currently applying a fake moustache for her own amusement. Molly let out a sigh of relief as she counted the number of people who left and the number who returned and concluded that there were no fatalities.

"Don't tell me bad new like that Remus, wait till I can see all the children first, otherwise I will assume the worst." She scolded as she threw an oven glove at him.

"The members of the Order have been contacted by Alastor. They will be here shortly." Mrs Weasley considered this for a moment.

"It's a good job I baked lots then." She remarked. "What happened?" Harry was surprised this was not the first thing that was asked but thought about how in times of worry peoples minds don't always work properly. Maybe that is why Neville always failed at potions.

"The Death Eaters staged an attack on Ollivander's. We aren't quite sure what they were after yet, I think hopefully when Alastor returns he will have more information, but it is a bit of a mystery to us.

"Honestly, those Death Eaters are despicable, attacking such a lovely old man." Molly tutted, as though harassing an old man were a much graver crime than the mass murders they were normally associated with. Remus proceeded to relay the events to her.

Harry felt a little awkward sitting at the kitchen table whilst he was being discussed so he got up and made his way for the living room. As he plonked down on one of the many squashy sofas facing the window he contemplated the last twenty four hours. He sat staring out at the long garden and the swimming pool to one side. Things had seemed much less complicated this time yesterday when he was just playing with friends out on a sunny afternoon. Today was a stark reminder of what was going on in the real world.

The wizarding world was at war, and he was in the middle of it, unable to defend himself, and reliant on others. Was he meant to stay within the confinements of the house for the remainder of the summer holidays? He had hardly been back fifteen minutes and already he was feeling like a prisoner in his own home. This must have been how Sirius felt, stuck here for months at a time, not being able to see things for him self.

As he sat in silence Tonks walked into the room. She spotted Harry, contemplated leaving before finally sitting down next to him. She didn't say anything; she just sat there, staring at the carpet.

"I think this is the bit where you talk?" Harry suggested. She gave an uncomfortable laugh. Harry didn't know what to do. He had never had anyone just start crying in front of him, "I'm sorry Harry, when we went out today I was meant to be protecting you. I was meant to make sure nothing bad happened, and I failed. Because I let you down you ended up getting tortured half to death. Please forgive me Harry."

He understood now why she seemed uncomfortable. She had been blaming herself for what happened.

"There is nothing to forgive Tonks. It wasn't your fault the Death Eaters turned up. You didn't invite them. It was me who chose to get involved. I could have just stayed hidden, so it was all my choice. You didn't do anything wrong. You did however get help when I needed it, so I don't accept your apology, but I hope you will accept my thanks."

Tonks gave a small laugh and wiped away a tear which Harry hadn't seen form.

"You are older than your years you know Harry." She said as she gave him a hug, but thumped him on the back at the same time in much the same way that Ron or one of his other guy friends might.

"And you are younger than your years." He said as returned her hug, and gently rubbed her back in much the same way that Molly or one of her other girl friends might.

"I do try." She said as she returned to her bouncier self. "No point missing the fun stuff." Any further discussion was cut short by a loud commotion going on in the corridor. Harry and Tonks both exchanged a glance before making there way to find out what was going on.

"What do you think you were doing?" Remus shouted as he shoved Snape up against the wall. It seemed Snape had finally turned up, and understandably things had turned quite tense. "How dare you hurt Harry like that!"

"Unhand me you mongrel." Snape spat as he raised his wand. Whilst Remus had him pressed against the wall, Snape had his wand pointed at the formers chest. There was a sort of stalemate, though the two did not stop shouting.

"Not until you explain yourself. You had better have a dam good explanation because last time I checked using the Crucio curse on other members of the order was not one of your missions."

"If you stopped being such am imbecile for long enough perhaps you would see fit to thank me, for I surely saved the boys life, as much as it may have pained me to do so."

"Gentlemen." Spoke a voice from the doorway that caused the sworn enemies to fall silent. "As anxious as we are for information, may we please conduct ourselves with a little more restraint?" Dumbledore had arrived.

"But he…"

"Indeed, I'm sure Severus will see fit to explain, but I don't believe being restrained against a wall is quite the way in which our meetings normally take place." Remus very reluctantly let go of Snape, who for the sole purpose of irritating Remus further, permitted a smirk to arrive upon his face.

"As I was saying, it is my actions alone that saved Harry Potter. It was unfortunate that the boy so recklessly involved himself in the matter." As he said this he scowled in Harry's direction. "Lacking protection as he did, it would have been the simplest of matters to either kill Harry, or take him alive, as was being proposed. By torturing him as I did, it permitted me to stall for time without raising suspicion and revealing my allegiances. If Remus hadn't been off in Diagon Alley buying dog food, he would have observed that three minutes had passed, whilst Harry remained…" And here he hesitated. "Unharmed."

There was a few seconds silence that passed as everyone absorbed what was being said. "Now if anyone would care to propose a better way I may have prevented Potter from being killed or kidnapped, without blowing my cover then I would be more than welcome to hear it." Whilst Remus didn't like the method he struggled to meet Snape's challenge.

"Very well, that sounds like acceptable reasoning." Albus concluded. "However if you could please refrain from using any further unforgivable curses on members of the Order, this would be appreciated."

"I make no promises." Snape replied in a manner which left Harry suspecting this might not be the last time he felt pain at Snape's hand.

As the argument was settled the remaining members of the Order began to arrive. Professor McGonagall and Moody arrived, followed by Arthur Weasley, Bill and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Molly seemed to have a worried expression on her face as she approached Dumbledore.

"Albus you wouldn't believe what Remus has been suggesting. He thinks Harry should be initiated in to the Order." She said as though she had been overwhelmed by the incredulity of it all. She then turned to Harry and said in the voice she only used when trying to sound kind. "Its nothing- personal dear, but it is very dangerous."

Something happened on Moody's face, which Harry assumed was a grin.

"From what I hear, Potter here laughs in the face of danger."

"Actually it was more like screaming in pain in the face of danger." Harry corrected.

"Screaming in pain, laughing. It's a damn thin line. Damn thin."

Dumbledore turned his attentions to Remus.

"Yes I thought you might think so. It is of course not our decision at all but rather entirely Harry's." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes as though he were the only one who knew the inside joke. Harry was confused by this. What did he mean it was Harry's decision? Yes, he could say he wanted to join but it was up to them whether they agreed. "Sorry sir, but what do you mean it is up to me?" Harry asked as he furrowed his brow.

Dumbledore smiled as offered the answer.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. This is now your house as you remember me telling you yesterday. Now tell me if I am wrong," Dumbledore then lowered his voice and leaned closer to Harry and said "which I rarely am!" He then returned to his normal volume. "But the dining room is also part of this house, and if Harry was so inclined, and I think he is, he may choose to sit in the dining room while we are in there discussing Order related matters. He may choose to add comments or opinions to what was being said, if the fancy took him. After all it is his house and he is free to be present at any given time."

Harry now caught on to what Dumbledore meant. He supposed that when Dumbledore asked yesterday, if they may continue to hold the Order meetings here, he was entirely away such a situation as this would arise. Ron, Ginny and Hermione who were now on the stairs and being ushered up by Arthur Weasley looked to Dumbledore.

"So that would also mean that if Harry wanted his friends to sit with him then that would have to be accepted as well would it?" Ron asked hopefully.

"They catch on fast don't they?" Tonks laughed.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"If it is Harry's wish that you accompany him in the dining room at a time which may or may not be now, then that is how it shall be. Do you want them to stay Harry?" He thought about what Mrs Weasley had said, about the dangers involved in being a member of the Order. Harry didn't want to lose Hermione or any of his friends. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if any harm were to come to them

"No." Harry said finally. Ginny looked surprised. Ron looked Flabbergasted and outraged. Hermione offered a curious expression, as if calculating Harry's decision. She tugged Ron by his sleeve and the three teenagers reluctantly made their way upstairs.

"A wise decision." Said Kingsley, whom Harry had seldom heard speak before. "You would not want to have friends or loved ones get involved in dangerous matters." Bill turned to Kingsley and said,

"So then, shall we commence?" Harry was confused. This wasn't all of the members of the Order. What about Mundungus Fletcher and Arabella Figg? What about Fred and George? "What about others? Isn't Mundungus Fletcher? Isn't he coming?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, He isn't invited to the meetings. You know what he is like Harry. We thought it best not to tell him anything important in case he accidentally lets it slip into the wrong hands." Molly explained.

Remus seemed to answer Harry's follow up question before he even asked it. "Arabella was invited but she seemed not to want to. It was a bit inconvenient anyway. She would have had trouble getting here anyway. It takes a long time on muggle transport"

"Any more questions before we start, young Potter?" Questioned Moody.

"Yes actually. What about Fred and George? Why aren't they here?" The members of the Order seemed slightly confused with this one. Harry decided to help them out. "At my party they said they had become members." This didn't seem to help them, until Tonks cottoned on.

"Yes." She said as she clicked her fingers. "Fred and George were just lying about that to get you to go away while we prepared."

Harry felt a little silly for having believed them. Fred and George were nothing if not liars. (Technically one may refer to them as jokesters, but the jokes or pranks they played did have a common theme of someone being lied to). Dumbledore smiled as they walked towards the dining room.

"Good. Now that all outstanding questions have been answered, let us commence with the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

They all took a seat at the table, except for Molly, who made a few trips back to the kitchen to bring in the cakes and pies she had spent the day baking. They all helped themselves to something, as the meeting started. It seemed that the fruit slice was very popular because the three remaining slices went very quickly leaving Dumbledore looking somewhat disappointed.

"Alas, the last fruit slice has once again been snatched away by fates cruel hand."

"My hand isn't cruel!" Said Tonks indignantly.

Surely this couldn't all they did in the meetings, just sit around and eat cake? "Still," Harry thought to himself, "It won't be bad if it is."

"Very well." Dumbledore began. "The first matter to attend to should be the initialisation. This however may take a long time, and I understand that since you have been called on such short notice some of you have matters you will wish to get back to. For this reason if no one has any objections, I felt that perhaps we may complete the initialisation at the end."

Harry wondered exactly what the initiation test involved. "Hopefully not some sort of written exam." He felt like he should have prepared for whatever it would be. No one objected to it being delayed until afterwards, and so Dumbledore continued.

"Anyway let's get down to business. A little over an hour ago the Death Eaters made an appearance in Diagon Alley. Whilst they appear to have some unknown business with the wand maker, Ollivander, and we managed to capture Peter Pettigrew, It would seem that this may have been merely a diversion."

"Those tricky bastards." Moody exclaimed as he punched his fist down on the table.

"Yes" Dumbledore continued. "It would appear that Lord Voldemort sent some Death Eaters to interrogate Ollivander whilst the remainder of his forces made a full-scale attack on the prison of Azkaban." Harry glanced at his watch. Less than a minute in and already things were going to pot. At this rate the world would burn to the ground by dinner time.

"Unfortunately, although the ministry had acknowledged the return of Voldemort the prison was not properly guarded."

"Why wasn't it guarded?" Asked Mrs Weasley as she glanced around the table, to see if this had been common knowledge, or if everyone was as surprised as she was.

"Well with the return of Voldemort now public knowledge, the Ministry is having trouble finding any alternate guard to the Dementors." Explained Kingsley.

"No one wants to be near the prison." Added Moody. "The place has loads of Voldemort's followers in there. People would rather give Voldemort his followers back than risk a job where they think they are certain to be killed."

"Yes, it is as they say Molly." Dumbledore said gravely. "No one would risk the job. The Ministry just couldn't find enough people to provide the level of security needed. The prison was attacked, and with the capture of twenty followers from the prison today, in addition to the ten that escaped last year, we now estimate Voldemort's forces to be about one hundred and growing. It would seem we will be hard pushed to stop him regaining the power he had the last time. The alliance with the giants has also not progressed from the last meeting, so things are not looking promising there." Dumbledore finished off as he began to eat some of his pecan pie.

Professor McGonagall now stood up and spoke to the group. She spoke in a calm voice that was meant to be cheery.

"On a brighter note perhaps, the captured Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew, We have managed to obtain a small amount of information, using a powerful Veritaserum draught. It would appear that he was not actually told Voldemort's plans directly. But what we did manage to get out of him was that Voldemort is looking for something, something more to further his power."

"Well that's hardly news is it?" Moody interjected. "That's all these dark lords think about.

"It would appear that Voldemort is looking for not something but someone." Professor McGonagall continued. "This seems to coincide with the actions of the Death Eaters at Diagon Alley who are understood to have been searching for someone. Now how the individual could help Voldemort or further his power even more is a mystery to us." Professor McGonagall gave Harry a quick glance. "But from the information we received from Peter it seems that, the person he wants to aid him in his search for power, is Harry Potter."

Harry experienced the familiar sensation of all eyes in the room turning to look at him. Most people would say you couldn't hear a stare. They would be wrong. He would have believed he hadn't heard correctly, had he not currently been received the aforementioned looks. As a few moments passed Harry's heart sunk as he realised that McGonagall hadn't made a mistake, and that she had indeed intended to say his name.

Voldemort really did want Harry to aid him. Well, it was different if nothing else. As he sat waiting for someone to speak he could feel there gaze burning into him, as if somehow he would know the answer. He risked a brief look up from the table that he had been pretending to find great interest in.

"Why would he want Harry? What is so special about him that he could want?" Tonks spoke up. "He is a good magician but he certainly wouldn't prove an enormous help to Voldemort?" Harry was grateful to note that the attention was not squarely fixed on him anymore.

Dumbledore, who was slicing a large slab of chocolate cake, had perhaps missed the point where he normally imparted his sagely speculations. He caught Harry's gaze and offered him a slice. Harry was happy to accept as it gave him something else to do rather than just sit there being embarrassed. McGonagall answered Tonks' question.

"We don't know. That is all the information we managed to obtain from the Death Eater. It seems even he didn't know." She finished off with a resigned look on her face. So far this meeting hadn't gone how Harry had expected. He walked in expecting answers but all he found so far was more questions.

Remus stood up briskly and turned to him.

"Harry, do you know why Voldemort might want you? Can you ever recollect him saying something to you about it?"

"No." It came out quiet and raspy. Harry needed a drink. Mrs Weasley seemed to read his mind as she stepped out of the room and returned ten seconds later with a tray of drinks. Harry took a glass of pure orange juice and drank it quickly. He put it down on the table, and realised that it didn't really help at all. Several people seemed to take this opportunity to contemplate, and also help themselves to a drink and some more cake.

Harry thought about what was being said. He knew that he had been wanted in connection with the wand he purchased at Ollivander's, but it seemed that even before this Voldemort was for some reason seeking his help. He wasn't able to draw any conclusions before the meeting continued. Kingsley stood up and cleared his throat.

"The reports of attacks coming in are rising exponentially. Last night alone the dark mark was sighted in four different locations. The attacks are getting out of hand. We at the Ministry fear it will only be a matter of time before they stop attacking by the stealth of night and start swarming over towns during daylight, killing any who stand in their way. As a result we are taking action. All the Aurors we can spare are now going to be patrolling the streets of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. With the recent information obtained from Peter Pettigrew, the Ministry feels that Harry's life is now valuable to Voldemort and they have therefore assigned us to protect him."

Harry looked at the three Aurors at the end of the table. Moody seemed mildly interested as his magical eye turned to face him. Tonks however, was positively beaming at the idea. Harry thought about the fact he was going to have personal bodyguards. It was going to be a bit strange. Kingsley finished his report and sat back down. Dumbledore looked round the table and asked.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" No one spoke." Good then, now that we have discussed the latest problems we shall go about stopping them or minimising the danger caused by them."

"As to the first problem, it seems there is little we can do against Lord Voldemort's followers. Have you had any leads Severus?" Harry looked over across the table at Snape who Harry realised had said nothing at all so far. He got the impression that for the majority of the meeting he had just been wallowing in his hatred of those around him.

"No further leads, I'm afraid to report." Said Snape in his oily voice. "The Dark lord has said very little. It may be that he suspects something of my intentions in the group."

Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement to this statement.

"Yes Severus it is a possibility we must always consider. If you feel you life is in jeopardy I will not ask you to continue."

"No, I shall continue with my line of work. Even if my allegiances have been made, whilst the Dark Lord does not kill me, he will seek to have me feed you false information. We may use this for our advantage." Dumbledore did not reply to this, but merely smiled.

"As I was saying, it therefore seems that we are at a dead end with what to do against the new followers. After consulting with Minerva it has been decided we will be educating the students in extra Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. One might suppose this is too little too late, but I believe for those willing to learn, there is no such thing as too late."

Harry was excited by the prospect of extra lessons. It was definitely his best subject. He only hoped the new teacher wouldn't turn out to be Snape. Having extra lessons with a greasy git every week certainly would certainly not be something to celebrate. "Now as for the attacks on the wizarding world." We can try and do something about it. It will be very dangerous and very illegal. Still, I don't imagine that should bother any of you."

"What I propose we do is stand back and let the attacks happen." A silence followed this as the table considered that perhaps they had misheard him. What was Dumbledore talking about? His suggestions could only be considered a terrible idea. If this idea was described as poor, then it was even poorer than the Weasley's. However it became apparent that there was more to the plan than they had initially supposed, when a moment later he picked up a picnic basket and sat it on the table. It had a white and red handkerchief sitting on the top, covering up the contents within.

Everyone now leaned over towards the basket (everyone except Snape who sat in back in his chair, staring at the basket with a look of great distain. That could however have just been his normal face). Dumbledore pulled the cover off revealing a dozen or so time turners. Several people gasped as the plan now made sense. They were to find out about Death Eater attacks and then travel back a few hours to prevent it.

Harry also now understood why this was thoroughly illegal. It was against wizarding laws to use time turners and alter the events of time. To abuse a time turner was a great crime, which could have some serious consequences.

"What I intend we do, is travel back a few hours every time there is an attack. That way we may prevent it from happening and possibly capture some Death Eaters. I do not make this suggestion lightly for I know of the dangers too much time distortion can have, but I believe the potential risk in this case is outweighed by the benefits."

"The ministry does not know about these Time turners as they have been in my possession for a long time. We will use these only for Order business and nothing else. To make sure that everyone abides by this rule I shall be holding on to these until we need them. And after they are used they shall be returned back to me for safekeeping. Does everyone understand?" There was a round of concurrences. "In that case I believe that is all." Dumbledore turned to professor McGonagall and asked, "Have I forgotten anything?" McGonagall thought for a minute before replying.

"No, not that I can think of."

"Ok then in that case this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix is now over. You can go home or to wherever you would usually be at this time."

Everyone got up from the table except Dumbledore. Harry watched carefully as Snape left. Harry would have sworn a hand shot out from under his cape because one minute there was a large chocolate cake sitting on the table and a moment later the cake and dish were gone, leaving Snape with a slightly lumpier looking cloak than before. Harry was just about to get up when Dumbledore turned to him.

"If you don't mind waiting Harry, there are still a few things I still wish to discuss." Harry sat back down as the other members made their way out of the room.

Tonks stayed in the room and sat down on the sofa facing the window. Harry looked at her questioningly. She noticed and gave a laugh.

"Oh I'm meant to be at work protecting you at the moment. I don't really need to do it while we are here, but I want to get in the practice so I don't let you down like I did today" She explained, showing that she still felt at least partially guilty, despite what Harry had said to her.

Just as Dumbledore was about to start speaking Mrs Weasley walked back in.

"Will you be staying for dinner Albus?" She asked. Dumbledore seemed to think about this carefully for several moments before he finally replied.

"No thank you Molly. I think I should probably be getting back to school. Whilst there are no students, we still have timetables to draw up."

"I am making some more fruit slice?" she volunteered. At the mention of some fruit slice Dumbledore's eyes seemed to widen just the smallest of amounts.

"I suppose one evening won't do any harm.""

Once Molly had left Dumbledore turned his attentions back to Harry.

"Well Harry, We have about an hour or so before dinner time. Would you like to do the initiation test?" Harry had completely forgotten the initiation test that had been mentioned at the start of the meeting. He felt his nervousness come back to him. This sense of foreboding increased as Tonks stopped staring out of the window and came over to where Harry was sat.

"I'm going to watch." She stated eagerly.

Dumbledore reached into his cloak and pulled out a small grey plastic container with a screw on lid.

"What's that?" Harry asked with trepidation.

"It's really exciting." Tonks volunteered enthusiastically. Dumbledore looked at her through his glasses.

"I suppose one may find it exciting, thought I personally find it to be quite dull." He returned his attentions to Harry.

"Harry you know what a Dementor does. It feeds off the happiness in someone. Dementors are not unique in the way they live on emotions." He began unscrewing the lid to the grey contained whilst Harry stared at it intently, waiting to see what it was that was held within. "In this container is another creature. This is a lot less dangerous. Rather than feeding on your happiness it feed on the evil within you". With that he reached in to the container and pulled out something that could only be described as a very small snake.

Dumbledore held up a very thin red creature. It was about four inches in length and was wiggling quite a bit. On one end it had a clear head, with a double jaw, though it seemed to lack any form of eyes. The other end tailed away into nothing. Dumbledore continued to explain while Harry was glaring at the creature which was wriggling slightly.

"This is a Goulad. It is commonly found in the intestines of a Chimera. It feeds and grows on the evil inside. Once removed from the Chimera we are able to sustain its life by storing it in bats blood." He explained.

"Harry, this is the initiation test. You will consume this. If you are of a good heart and have honest intentions. The Goulad will starve and die, causing you no harm whatsoever. If however, you have evil living deep within you and you are the sort of person who thrives on others misfortune, then this will find a home in you and feed upon your anger growing larger…" At this point Tonks interrupted him.

"And it will grow really big until your organs burst and you die!" she said with excitement.

Dumbledore smiled curiously at Tonks

"Thank you Tonks, I see the art of subtlety has once again eluded you." Tonks blushed and quietened down. "Yes Harry, it is true. If you have an evil heart then it will grow and you will die." Dumbledore re-emphasised. Harry gulped. It was certainly easier than a written test he supposed. It's was just a pity it involved eating such a disgusting creature, and of course the danger. He wasn't keen on the danger part.

Dumbledore, upon seeing the look of doubt in Harry's face explained,

"Harry if I believed you would be in any danger I wouldn't have let you sit in the meeting in the first place. But now that you have been in one of the meetings I must ask you to take the test. It is not that I need verification of the results, but rather that it is a test we have all taken, and equality is an important part of the Order. I can hardly ask one person to take the test and let another not."

Harry looked at the wriggling creature clasped between Dumbledore's long white fingers.

"All of the members of the Order have taken the test?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Even Snape!" Replied Dumbledore. This settled the matter. If Snape had taken it and lived then Harry wouldn't have anything to worry about.

But there was still one thought that niggled at Harry's mind, which were the things that had been said when he was standing in Ollivander's.

"Yes that's right Mr. Potter, it seems that perhaps you fate is not as obvious as you thought." They were the words that stuck in Harry's mind. "What did he mean about my fate? Why did a wand good for Dark magic choose me as its owner? What does Voldemort want me for?" Harry's head was swimming in questions. He couldn't be sure about himself. But then if Dumbledore had faith in him who was he to question? After all Snape had been a death eater and he had survived. You couldn't get much more evil than that.

With this in mind Harry reached out tentatively and took the Goulad between his thumb and forefinger. He had to hold it tighter than he expected for it was more slippery than he would have though.

"I would recommend the head end first." Dumbledore said as he guessed what Harry was thinking. He raised it to his mouth, the whole time acutely aware of the fact that Tonks was perched on the edge of her seat staring excitedly. He closed his eyes and with a measurable amount of repulsion, swallowed the creature.

It was an unpleasant sensation that Harry would not hope to repeat any time soon. Perhaps the most uncomfortable part was that whilst he was swallowing he got the distinct impression it was also crawling down his throat, as though it wanted to be inside him. It left a nasty taste in his mouth, though this was probably the bats blood that it had been living in.

"Might I perhaps offer you a beverage?" Dumbledore asked as he proceeded to pour out a glass of water. Harry took the glass gratefully, and made sure to swill the water round his mouth thoroughly before finishing the glass. If possible he would hope to remove all memories of the event from his mind.

Harry could feel it wiggling inside him for a moment before it stopped.

"Is it dead?" He asked hopefully.

"No." Replied Dumbledore shortly. "It will take a while for that to happen. It has just stopped moving because it has found a place that it is willing to stay." Harry hoped it wasn't too willing to stay in whatever crevice of his body it had found, as he didn't enjoy the feeling of a parasite living in his body. "So how long before I know whether I have passed?" Harry asked eagerly.

Dumbledore peered at Harry before replying in a knowing voice.

"If you're still alive for the next meeting then you have passed. But please I would ask you don't give it any further thought, for I feel that the mind can be better engaged than fretting about that which will not happen. Maybe even potions revision might prove useful?" Harry reddened. If Dumbledore felt he should revise his potions before the new school year then it was probably advice that should be heeded.

"Now Harry there is still the matter of how we contact each other. We use a system which is rather like that of the Death Eaters. I however don't feel that you should be given the mark of the Order of the Phoenix, due to the fact that you live in the house of the Order and also when Hogwarts starts we do often host the meetings there." Harry didn't know this. He always thought it was held here. He supposed though that if a few members of the order were already at Hogwarts it might make sense.

"From September until the summer they meetings will mostly be held in Hogwarts. My office to be precise. It seems there is little point having the meeting outside when several of the members are there already; the only exception to this rule is when we need to contact a few of the more exceptional members, such as Arabella. She has quite the difficulty making it all the way to Hogwarts."

"Now, I think that just about covers everything and by the smell it would seem dinner is nearly ready. I wouldn't want to keep you, as I'm sure you may wish to convey some of what you have learned to your friends." Dumbledore spoke slowly, so that no part of what he was saying would be missed. "But Harry, I will ask you please not to repeat what you hear in the meetings, outside this house. You may be familiar with the phrase "The walls have ears"? In the wizarding world this is often literally true. Especially since those extendable ears have proved so popular."

Now that business was concluded the three of them left the room, whilst Harry made his way upstairs to find everyone sitting around Ron's room playing a Quidditch board game. As he walked in they looked up. Even before he could sit down they immediately began asking him questions about it. Ron still seemed slightly offended that Harry hadn't invited him to be a member, though this didn't stop him asking questions.

"What happened?" Ron asked. Harry told them all about it, or at least as much as he could without mentioning the revelation that Voldemort somehow felt Harry could further his powers. Ron replied with a series of well timed, "Wicked" and "Bloody hell's." Hermione meanwhile started talking about Goulad's and anything one could want to know about them, or not know. It seemed she was as knowledgeable as ever.

Just as Dumbledore predicted, about ten minutes later Mrs Weasley called then down for Dinner. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went and sat down at the table. Dumbledore was sitting at the opposite side of the table, next to Arthur Weasley who had just returned home from work. Tonks and Remus came and sat next to Mr. Weasley. Molly came in levitating behind her several large dishes of Food.

"Arthur, I hope you will be able to help." Dumbledore began as he rummaged in his pockets. "I had this article confiscated from a student during one of their lessons, but he never saw to collect it at the end of term. Anyway as you are an authority on muggle devices, I felt perhaps you may be able to impart your knowledge as to what exactly it is." He finished as he pulled out a hand held gaming device.

"Oh my, that truly is a fantastic specimen." Arthur said as he picked it up with glee. He proceeded to tell anyone with an ear exactly what it was, and even completed the first level. Harry had a suspicion that Dumbledore knew exactly what he had been holding.

The meal went by uneventfully, followed by dessert, which as promised, was fruit slice, though there were a few other items of cake the order hadn't eaten. After they had finished they had some butter beer, and spoke of fond memories or extraordinary adventured. Dumbledore recalled a particularly long and exciting story about a friend he had, called Marcus Pennywhistle, who lived in another realm, and the trouble they used to get in some one hundred years ago.

By the time they had finishing telling tales and adventures, it was nearly ten o'clock. The children excused themselves upstairs whilst the adults talked about the "disastrous effects of foot path erosion" and other similarly boring subjects. Ron, Hermione and Ginny all sat round in Harry's room, which was the largest, telling them the remainder of what happened in the Order meeting, including that it was going to be held in Hogwarts.

"Does that mean you won't be able to go then since it isn't your dining room?" asked Ron.

"No I think Dumbledore just wanted an excuse to let me in." Said Harry, who knew the headmaster well enough to have his suspicions.

Half an hour later they heard Albus being shown to the door.

Now that it was half past ten they decided to return to their bedrooms. Harry sat for a moment wondering what he should do next. In the end he decided that he would sort out the things he had purchased today. He took his new gloves and books and put them in his case. Then he picked the wand from his pocket. As he touched it he felt the same cold shudder he had felt when he held it in the shop. He put that in his trunk as well before tidying his potion ingredients.

Once this was completed the clock on the wall read that it was just gone eleven o'clock. As he rose from the floor where he had been kneeling over his things his knees clicked. After finishing in the bathroom he collapsed into his bed, feeling exhausted and aching. He would go round the Chang's tomorrow, which would be nice. He briefly wondered if the rest of his days would continue to be so eventful. He hoped not, otherwise it would be a hundred chapters before he even made it back to Hogwarts.


	8. A Day At The Changs UPDATED

Harry awoke the next morning to the sound of rain drumming against the window. He suspected that it was this which had awoken him. Because the sky was overcast it was not immediately obvious what time it was. As he glanced at the clock he read that it was just gone half past eight. There was a cough beside him, and it was only now that She realised why he had awoken. Remus was perched on the edge of the bed.

"Hey Harry. You should get up now. You don't want to be late for Cho's do you?" There was a moment's pause as Harry mind, still slow from having just woken up, churned over this information.

"Oh yeah." He said as his mind suddenly spring into action. He was meant to be going round Cho's today. He sat up and put on his glasses which were on his bedside cabinet.

"Well they will be here around ten so you still have a bit of time to get ready." Remus informed. "Breakfast will be ready in half an hour if you want."

As Harry showered he wondered what they would do for the day. He hadn't given it any great consideration yesterday, but a whole day was a long time. He had only ever spent a couple of hours with just Cho in one go. Once was yesterday and the other was the date they had. One of the times she has ended up crying and the other time Death Eaters showed up. He didn't have a very good track record. Perhaps today he would get mauled by a bear.

Harry only realised how distracted he was when he began washing his hair for a third time, and then looked down and noticed he was still wearing his socks in the shower. With a towel wrapped round his waist he exited the bathroom and made his way towards his bedroom to get dressed. At this moment a bedroom door to one side opened and out stepped Ginny. She had apparently just woken up as she was brushing her messy red hair out of her eyes with her hand.

"Hi" said Harry as he became very aware he didn't have anything on other than a towel around his waist. He wasn't used to girls being in the area when he showered. Ginny looked up in surprise to see Harry standing there. She let out a short squeak of shock as she stood dumfounded. Harry checked that his towel was securely fastened: It was. No cause for alarm. He heard some footsteps running up the stairs and Tonks appeared a moment later to see what the commotion was.

"Someone screamed?" She asked as she looked at Ginny, then to Harry, then back at Ginny. She nodded as a look of understanding spread across her face. "Ooooh the old accidentally dropping your towel trick. Oldest one in the book," she said with a wink to Harry, as she completely misunderstood the situation. He quickly scampered into his room, feeling far more naked than he had any right to feel.

Once he had calmed down and pulled on a pair of faded jeans that over time had lost their denim like quality and a plain black T-shirt. He made his way downstairs to the breakfast table where Tonks, Mrs Weasley and Ginny were sat. Ginny blushed as Harry sat down opposite her. He decided he wasn't going to be able to face Tonks for the rest of the summer unless she understood that whatever it looked like, he hadn't done anything. "About outside the bathroom…." He began, before Tonks cut him off mid sentence.

"That's all right. You don't need to explain. Boys used to do that all the time when I was younger." She said knowingly. Harry considered the meaning of this, before he realised that to try and correct her would most likely be futile.

He ate some Marmite on toast and had some fruit juice for breakfast. He then got up and went to brush his teeth and make sure that he looked as presentable as he could. Once this was done he had little to do but wait for Mr. Chang to arrive. As Harry sat in the living room reading the daily prophet sports section Tonks joined him.

"Harry you know we are going to have to be guarding you today while you're out?" He hadn't really considered it but he supposed following what was said at the Order meeting yesterday this should have been obvious.

He thought about what Cho would say when he turned up with an assortment of strange Aurors.

"That might be a bit weird you know. Will you be really obvious?"

"No, don't worry you wont see any of us. We will be as silent as a fish. Remember I am an Auror, I can be pretty much invisible when I want to be." Harry considered that despite the impression she gave off, she had completed Auror training, so knew a reasonable amount about being undercover. He sat thinking about this. It was for his own safety, and as long as they weren't actually walking round with Harry then he supposed it would be ok.

The rain was still coming down heavily. It was relaxing to listen to it hitting the glass doors that led out to the back garden. "This must be to make up for the great sun we had the last two days." He thought to himself. Glancing at his watch he could see that it was almost time, so he picked up his jacket and pocketed his wand. Harry thought that there was a good chance of them going out to some shops, (That's what people did on dates?). Therefore Harry made sure that he had £50 in muggle cash that he had from trading in ten galleons at Gringott's last time he went there. He also pocketed 10 galleons just in case they did go somewhere interesting. He didn't know if Cho knew how to do side along apparition, but he didn't want to take chances by turning up with empty pockets.

"Now Harry," Remus explained. "You will have to walk out to the car because William won't be able to see the house when he does turn up. It was a lot of work getting people in here for your Birthday, so if you don't mind you can just meet him on the street." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Quick he is here." Tonks said as she ran in to the room. "Get out into the rain." She said as she started pushing Harry in the back, urging him towards the door.

Harry drew his jacket around him as he found himself in the rain. He spotted Mr Chang in a silvery grey estate car; who was staring down at a piece of parchment he had with the address written on. He was wearing a mildly confused expression. Harry ran down to the car and tapped lightly on the window, causing William to jump out of his skin.

"Harry! I didn't see you there." He said as he opened the passenger side door.

Harry climbed in, and tried not to drip water all over the car.

"That's alright, I saw you parked outside and I didn't want you to get wet by coming out, so I walked over." He lied.

"Well that's very considerate of you." William said genuinely "I was just looking; I couldn't quite see number twelve." He confessed as he looked up to the row of houses, where all he could see was number eleven and thirteen beside each other.

"This is a very nice neighbourhood." He continued as he turned the car around. "Remus and Tonks must be doing quite well for themselves." And though he didn't say it, he was surprised, for the fact Remus exuded a threadbare appearance led most to believe he was fairing only marginally better financially than the Weasley's.

The inside of the car seemed of usual size and the engine didn't sound like it was about to explode. For all purposes it could have been a normal muggle car, that the Dursley's might own except for the way the rain didn't actually hit the front window, but rather seemed to change its mind and head in a different direction once it was a few inches away. Harry looked over his shoulder expecting to see Cho sitting in one of the back seats. She wasn't. Harry's heart raced and he suddenly felt that the car had gotten a lot smaller. It was just him and Mr. Chang sitting there.

After they had been driving for a few minutes with neither one of them speaking, William gave Harry a choice.

"Would you like to make small talk, or would you prefer to talk about proper things?"

"Er, proper things?" Harry suggested. Anyone who announced that they would be commencing small talk was a little to one side of normal.

"Very well then, what are your intentions concerning my daughter." Harry's face twitched as he died a little bit right there. The rest of the journey, we shall not be recounting, for it was so decidedly uncomfortable, that even to read about it would be unpleasant.

However, we may resume as the car pulled up into the drive about forty minutes later and in Harry's opinion about forty minutes too long. Thankfully William didn't seem to threatening, though Harry didn't care to speculate on his proficiency with a wand. It was quite a large house, smaller than Grimmauld Place, but benefiting from a quieter neighbourhood and a pleasant front garden, which looked particularly well kept.

This house itself looked very modern from the outside. It was a nice red brick colour and very clean looking. as if it had not actually been built that long ago. Harry and William (as Mr. Chang had insisted upon being called) walked in. He found himself in a very large hall which unsurprisingly had a sort of minimalist aura. It reminded Harry of a hospital in a way. William led him towards the living room. As they passed the kitchen, they paused.

"What are you doing Cho? You are supposed to be ready." He scolded. Cho was sitting on a chair with her feet pulled up. She was eating some toast, and her hair looked messier than Harry had seen it before.

She jumped at the sound of her father's voice, before she noted Harry standing there, looked down at her watch and then quickly ran past them up the stairs with the toast hanging out of her mouth. "Honestly," William exclaimed. "She would forget which day of the week it is if it was left to her." Harry didn't remark that he didn't actually have a clue what day it was. He knew it wasn't a weekend.

I will have to be going off to work in twenty minutes, so you two will have most of the day to do what you want. It's a pity about the weather; otherwise you could have gone into town. There is a lot to do there you know." Harry nodded. They stood in silence for a minute before Cho returned, looking embarrassed. She had finished her toast, and looked to have sorted her hair. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a long sleeved white top with the sleeves rolled up. She had her hands in her back pockets, and was staring daggers at her father. The look was easy to interpret. "What are you doing? Are you trying to talk to my friends? Go away your embarrassing!" Harry pretended not to see this. William picked up on his daughter's unsubtle stares.

"Oh yes I need to go and get ready for work!" And with that he walked off.

"Sorry Harry, I lost track of the time," Cho said, as she began to give Harry a tour of the house, which he had to admit was very nice. Then they sat down and watched TV for fifteen minutes, before William announced that he was leaving. Cho's mother had already left earlier, and wasn't expected back till early evening. When the door closed Cho jumped up from the chair and turned the TV off. "Great now we can start doing fun things!" She exclaimed.

"Fun things? What fun things?" Harry thought as his heart started racing. Questions flooded his mind as he sat there.

"What sort of fun things? He asked casually.

"Well we can go into town and do stuff. It is a lot more fun when you have a friend to go with you." He wasn't sure about this.

"Um it's raining isn't it?" Cho looked at him curiously.

"So what if it's raining? You're not going to get very wet, and if you did it wouldn't be the end of the world. Rain can be fun you know." Cho walked out of the room. Harry happened to turn round and see the face of Tonks outside in the rain. She must have been charmed like the car because the water seemed to be avoiding her. She was waving her hand at Harry and mouthing "Go on."

Harry sighed as he turned back to the empty room. It was going to be a difficult day. The only saving grace was that Snape wasn't one of the ones protecting Harry. Cho ran back in and grabbed Harry's hand.

"Come on," She said as she led him out of the living room. She led him over to the kitchen and started rummaging in what appeared to be her mother's handbag, before pulling out an envelope with her name on the front. It contained some money and had a note that Harry didn't read.

She threw on a waterproof and they left the house. Harry was dry enough, except his jacket didn't have a hood, so his hair got very wet. They made there way down the streets that were deserted of all pedestrians except those who were far too enthusiastic to walk somewhere. They got to the town centre about fifteen minutes later. They were both a little wet, but it was still the summer, so they weren't cold. He supposed with the right point of view Cho was correct that rain could be fun.

The town was quite a likely place. Far more so than Little Winging: which consisted of a post office and little else. Here however, there was enough to keep them entertained. There was a small Cinema with an old bowling alley, a few streets of shops, four or five places to eat, and a library.

"Do you want to go bowling?" Cho asked as she looked up at him. Harry had never been bowling before but had a good understanding of what was involved. He had once heard Uncle Vernon describe it as the sport of a real man. It turned out he said this because it involved virtually no physical movement other than swinging ones arm every two minutes or so.

However, it turned out to be quite difficult. Harry rolled twenty times and only six of them weren't gutter balls. He was still pleased that despite this he managed to score forty-eight points. Cho tried to cheer him up by blaming it on the lane itself.

"Don't worry I think its probably just the lane is a bit wonky." She said, glossing over the fact she didn't seem to be experiencing any difficulties.

On the second game they decided to have the barriers up blocking off the gutter. This made it more fun for Harry and the game was pretty close, since whilst Cho could throw in a straight line, Harry wasn't hindered by his inability to do so. He lost the second game as well, but consoled himself with the fact he was a better Quidditch player. He noted during the course of their two games, that a few lanes down Kingsley was attempting to understand bowling, and failing amazingly. Ultimately he ran down the lane and started kicking over the pins.

"What shall we do now?" Harry asked? "We could do a bit of shopping, I think I saw a book store?"

"Yeah ok," Said Cho as they made their way out of the bowling alley. The rain had let up a bit and was now only a light drizzle. It was relaxing to walk in the damp summer air, absorbing the relative quietness of the street compared to the bowling alley. It seemed that people constantly knocking over wooden pins didn't make enough noise, and so the management had saw fit to install computer screens which blared out words of encouragement and congratulations during the game. It came together to form a mildly unpleasant cacophony.

They stood in the dvd section looking at the various fantasy movies, and debating which one was the most realistic, and in which ones the magic simply made no sense.

"This one has Merlin in it." She said as she help up a box set.

"It's just a shame they all made a mistake of thinking Merlin was a man." Harry said with a smile. "Now this one, not only does it have broomsticks, it also has goblins." After they had tired of making fun of the muggles ideas, they headed for some lunch.

"Let's go and get something to eat." Said Cho. Harry saw a fast food restaurant just across the street, but it seemed Cho hadn't noticed this, whether it be accidental or on purpose. Instead they continued walking until the reached what Harry thought was the end of the high street.

"There is a nice Japanese restraint just up here." Said cho as she pointed to just a short way further up.

The building was one nice in appearance, with full length windows making up one side of the shop. It seemed quite quiet inside, but Harry supposed this was due to it being a weekday lunch time, and that the restraint itself wasn't in a great location. Unfortunately as Harry was shown to his seat the experience turned worse.

It was one of those restaurants. The ridiculously upmarket ones that make you feel inadequate for your lack of fine table manners. The first clue was that the waitress proceeded to lay the napkins across their laps, rather than permitting them to do it themselves. The second clue was that a very intimate couple were the only other patrons of the restraint, and they were partially obscured by one of those huge fishtanks built in to a wall. Harry had seen them on tv, but never in real life.

Further to this there were also small subtle clues, like the fact he wouldn't be offered cutlery, and there appeared to be an individual behind the bar, whose only job was to stand polishing glassware, whilst staring at Harry, so that he could be over to offer help before Harry could so much as fart. Also the prices were extortionate.

"Cho!" Harry mouthed urgently. Despite the fact she was sitting opposite him the restaurant was so devoid of any noise besides the quiet background music, that everyone in the restaurant would be able to hear him. It wasn't just intimate in here; it was so upmarket he found himself being intimate with everyone else in the building aswell.

"Yes Harry?" She replied at a normal volume, which to him seemed like shouting.

"I don't know how to use chopsticks!" He hissed.

"Oh, well don't worry, I'm sure you can learn, just hold them like this, and give it a wiggle." She explained as she proceeded to show him her fingers were contortionists, and could do things he didn't know fingers could do,

He did eventually manage to move some food from his plate to his mouth, but it took such effort that his hands were shaking, and he was breaking out into a sweat with the intensity of the concentration.

"May I perhaps 'elp you with the offer of some cutlery." Said a distinctly French accent. Harry looked up to see a waiter had appeared to his side, holding some very shiny looking cutlery. However, this waiter bore a resemblance to Remus that was worthy of note, though he did have the addition of a thin waxed moustache. Furthermore, He was a Frenchman, in a Japanese restraint full of Asian staff, many of whom now bore mildly confused expressions, as they wondered how they could have possibly forgotten their colleague Christophe, who had worked here since the restaurant opened.

"Thank you, sir…" Harry said as he reached out and took the cutlery." Cho was staring at the waiter as well.

"Have I met you before?" she asked with a vague smile, as she searched her memory. "You look very familiar."

"Ah, but that is impossible, I arrived only 'zis very morning on the boat from Calais. Before 'zis day I have never set foot in…England!" With that he turned on his heel, and stormed away in a way Harry had to confess was certainly similar to that of an arrogant Frenchman.

During lunch they debated the various films which were out, that they may wish to view. Cho had torn out a section from the local paper, detailing the films and times, and so it was in this manner, that after lunch they set off in this direction. Harry had failed to convince Cho of the benefits of a film about space cowboys, and as a result ended up sitting through a particularly long, particularly boring film about a boat sinking. Harry had little to distract himself during the three hour tedium that ensued, other than looking at the back of the heads of various audience members, and speculating as to what sort of person they may be.

Whilst he couldn't say with certainty it seemed Christophe the Frenchman had tired of life at the Japanese restaurant and had decided to embark on a life of being an usher at a cinema. It also seemed he had grown an afro in the last thirty minutes, and developed a Texan accept. Besides the usher and the terrible movie, the one thing that did occupy his mind was that a cinema was perhaps an intimate setting, which may be used to his advantage.

He was familiar with the clichés of reaching for the popcorn and brushing hands, or having a yawn and a stretch as he put his arm around her. They had to be based on some truth though didn't they? Much to Harry's annoyance by the time he was finally able to summon the courage to do either of these the film had ended. He scolded himself for letting down the Gryffindor name, and vowed he would put in an application to be transferred to Hufflepuff at the soonest opportunity.

As they walked back in silence, the rain seemed to have picked up again, and was now as heavy as it was this morning. After walking in silence for what may have been five minutes, Cho turned to Harry.

"Harry, we need to talk." She said seriously.

"Yeah I know it is really awkward just walking back in silence." He replied, relieved that the silence was broken.

"No I mean specifically about us. There is an us isn't there? I haven't just imagined it have I?" She asked as a shade of crimson graced her cheeks." Harry, now understanding what Cho meant, became equally awkward in her presence.

"Well I would like there to be an us." He replied earnestly. "I mean I think you're pretty great, though you don't have a very good choice of films." Cho relaxed and offered a gentle smile, now that the threat of rejection had passed.

"Well I like you too Harry. What does that make us now then?"

"More than friends." Harry said, suddenly embaressed to put a name to it. "I suppose some might say you are my girlfriend, if that's alright with you?"

"Yeah I think I can manage with that!" Cho said as she turned her attention back to the walk ahead. She let her arm swing down beside her, brushing against Harry's. Her fingers interwove with his.

"Thank you." He said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You don't need to thank me for holding your hand. I wanted to."

"I wasn't thanking you for that, I mean it's great, but thanks for making this easy for me. I haven't really got much practice at understanding girls. Especially when it comes to emotions and things…"

"I had noticed." She interjected.

"What I mean to say, is thanks for making it clearer for me. And I'm sorry if I make mistakes, I don't know exactly what I'm meant to be."

"You are meant to be yourself."

"Yes, but I mean if I do things at the wrong speed, or I miss something, let me know. Maybe for now we can just take it slow whilst I get used to things."

"I think that's a good idea. I would be glad to take it slow." Harry didn't come across as the most complex person, or at least not to those who didn't know him very well. Cho was happy that it seemed she understood him. Even if she was wrong.

As they neared the house the weather once again took a turn for the worse, and this time the heavens opened and the intensity of the rain seemed to double. It wasn't long before Harry's jacket was soaked through. He held her hand tighter and pulled her forward as they ran the last part of the journey back to Cho's home. As they stood on the doorstep fumbling with the keys which were wet in her hand she gave a laugh.

"We are absolutely soaked! I don't think we could get much wetter if we just stood in the rain for the next hour"

One she got the door open they stepped inside catching their breath. Harry removed his coat and looked round for a suitable place to hang it that wouldn't make everything else wet. Cho took it from him and hung it on one of the empty coat pegs, where it proceeded to create a puddle on the floor.

"We have some towels upstairs. Let's get dry. She led him upstairs, and rummaged in the cupboard for a moment before pulling out a blue towel. Harry gave his hair a quick rub and dried his face and arms, but couldn't do much more than this at present. The towel was coarse, as though it had been starched.

"Hmm, I'm not sure what to do about your clothes." She said as she gave him a shrewd look. "I'm not sure that any of my father's things would actually fit you, since you are a bit taller and broader shouldered than him. "I guess you could just wear a large towel for a while, if that wouldn't make you too uncomfortable." Harry debated this with himself. Whilst it wasn't an ideal situation, he didn't fancy wearing a wet t shift for the next hour. At the moment he could probably wring water from it if he tried. "Actually I might have something. My aunt gave me a sweater once, but it was huge. Normally I only wear it for lounging round the house. It's possible that might work." She suggested as she led him in to her room.

When she had given him a tour earlier, he hadn't seen in her bedroom, but it was exactly what he had expected. A large bookcase lined one wall, which revealed her to be the studious Ravenclaw girl she was. A small rug sat upon the pale carpet, just behind her desk, and at the foot of her bed.

"Let's see, it should be in here." Cho mused to herself as she rummaged in a wardrobe, which was to the left of the door. "Here it is." She held out a jumped for Harry, which whilst big for Cho, was possibly still a bit small. "Try it on."

Harry wondered if he should excuse himself to get changed, but decided that this probably wasn't necessary. After all Cho had seen him with just swim shorts before, and he would be no less clothed than he was then. Harry pulled the wet t-shirt over his head, and handed it to Cho, before trying on the jumper. As he had suspected it seemed to come up too small. He had managed to get it over his head, but his arms were stuck up, and he couldn't lower them since the jumper was too tight around the back.

"I don't think this is working." He concluded.

"Wow I really thought it would fit. It swamps me." Cho said in surprise.

"Well you are only small. Help me take it back off."

Cho grabbed the jumper round the collar and managed to remove it, freeing Harry. It was then that they both found themselves in a closer proximity than they were expecting.

"Any more ideas?" He asked as he stood straight in front of her. They were only a few inches apart, and so she had to look up in order to meet his gaze. A drop of water fell from his hair, which was still quite wet, as was his chest.

"You could stay as you are." Cho said as she turned a deep crimson, unable to hold his gaze. Harry gave her a questioning look, though he had an idea of what she meant.

"Ok." He said as she took his hand and led him toward the bed. Harry hoped that she wouldn't notice his hand was shaking slightly because of his nerves. "Maybe the bed sheets will keep you warm?" She lied. Whilst they both knew that they weren't talking about keeping warm, or finding him something to wear, they were both to shy to drop this masquerade. She gently pushed him down onto the bed, before climbing in after him. It was only a single bed, so there wasn't much room. Cho pulled the bed sheets up over their head, which made things seem much more private than before, even though they were the only two in the house.

As the afternoon sun came through the window, and leaked through the cotton bed sheets it felt like they were contained in a bubble, cut off from the world around them, just Harry and Cho; a boy and a girl. He let his nerves calm, and though he had no intention to rush things, being so close to her was tantalising. He wanted more, even if he was scared of it at the same time.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked. She could feel his breath against her as he said these words. They were only inches apart, and whilst it was this distance that separated them, she could still feel his warmth beside her.

"Yes please. You don't need to ask though. I will never say no."

He reached his arm around her, pulling her closer and closing the distance. A thrill of pleasure passed through her as he removed the sitance, his body pressed against hers. This in itself might be intoxicating, but then there was the kiss to consider. He was hesitant, he had asked if he could, but bringing himself to was another matter. Cho didn't notice this though, since she was equally nervous. Eventually he did summon the courage, ands his lips brushed against hers.

Harry found his mind awash with questions he hadn't considered a moment before. What was he supposed to do with his arms? He currently had one rested against her lower back, and the other he was resting his head on. Should he run his hand through her hair? Should he caress her cheek? Was he supposed to lean forward in to the kiss? Should he be moving his mouth more? He suddenly felt like he was very stationary, and cursed himself for not having given this greater thought before hand.

Despite all this though, it was still pretty fantastic, as far as he could tell from his limited experience. As he tried not to think so much, he concentrated on immersing himself in his senses, the softness of her body, the gentle way her hand caressed the back of his neck, the taste of her lips upon his, unidentifiable, and yet seemingly imperative to his life. As they came apart their foreheads rested together and they both smiled, young lovers intoxicated.

"We are making the bed wet." Harry noted, as he remembered his jeans which were still soaked.

"What are you suggesting?" Cho asked as in surprised. She hadn't believed he could be so forward.

"No, I don't mean like that, I want to take things slowly. I just mean I don't want to make all of your bed sheets wet."

"Well we can sort that out then." She replied with a grin and a mild relief. She lifted the bed sheet off of her head so she could briefly see, before picking up her wand from the nightstand, and going back under the covers. She gave her wand a wave, and cast the hot air charm, which set about drying their jeans.

"Why didn't we just do that to start with?" He enquired as a heat engulfed his legs. "Did you forget about the spell?"

"Maybe, or maybe I might have just wanted you to take your top off." She confessed as she bit her bottom lip.

She lay the wand down amongst the bedsheets, before doing something which surprised Harry, and possibly herself. She pulled her top over her head, and pushed it to one side. Apart from the white bra they were both now naked from the waist up.

"Um, I think we might be going too fast." He suggested. He had been hoping for a kiss and it looked like he was getting more than that.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on doing anything more. My underwear is definitely staying on, and there is no need for your hands to go wondering. I just wanted to be able to enjoy the feeling of your skin against me, is that alright?"

"I think that's great." He said as he held her close, and she relaxed against his chest, each warm in the others arms comforted when they needed it, and reminded that despite the war going on outside, they were still able to find pleasure in the company of another, that they were not alone.

Half an hour later after lying in embrace, they sat up in bed, deciding that they should probably get dressed. Cho's mother was due home soon, and Harry found the thought of being caught in a state of semi nakedness to be deeply unsettling.

"I think my mother is home." Cho said with a trace of panic in her voice.

"How do you know, did you hear anything?" He asked as he followed suite in panicking. He noted her eyes seemed to be locked upon something, and so followed her gaze. On her nightstand was a hot cup of tea.

"That tea wasn't there when we walked in to the room." She explained as she finally turned to look at him. Unfortunately upon realisation of what she was saying he found himself rendered speechless.

They dressed in a hurry, which resulted in Harry putting on his t shirt back to front. Cho finished drying their tops, before they gingerly made their way downstairs. As had been predicted Mrs Chang was now home, and was presently stationed in the living room, reviewing the newspaper.

"Hello darling, hello Harry. Did you two have a nice day?" She asked as she put the paper down.

"It was good." Cho said as she proceeded to list all of their activities outside of the house in much detail. Harry stood unspeaking and uncomfortable. As Cho finished reviewing the day she lapsed in to silence for a moment before adding, "Thanks for the tea."

"That's alright. I'm sorry I didn't offer you one Harry, but I wasn't sure if you wanted sugar, and I didn't want to interrupt." She said tactfully. Harry blushed and in the process several new shades of red previously unknown to man were discovered.

"I didn't think you would be home till later?" Cho asked, as she tried to keep the question from being an accusation.

"No, I'm always back at this time, I think maybe you just lost track of time." More silence followed this as Cho and Harry both stood in equal discomfort, before Cho had the sense to excuse them from the room.

"We will be in the kitchen."

The rest of the evening passed with little cause for remark. They ate an unspectacular meal, and made typical small talk. Just as the meal was ending there was a knock at the door. "None too soon" Harry thought to himself. This is not to say he didn't enjoy his day, for he did very much, but rather that a meal with your new girlfriends parents was an event he would seldom wish to repeat. At least in a battle with Voldemort he knew what to do: run of fight. Here he was clueless.

William excused himself to answer the door. A few moments later he reappeared, this time with the addition of Remus.

"Good evening Remus." Said Mrs Chang as she rose from her seat to greet him. He nodded and replied

"Good evening. So are you just about ready Harry?" He was ready but he wasn't sure that they thought he was ready. He didn't want to seem too eager to flee.

"Yes I believe Harry is ready." Said William, answering his question. "Thank you for coming round today Harry. I know Cho would have only complained she was bored otherwise"

"Not at all, Thank you for having Harry around today." said Remus with gratitude.

"Hang on, I will show Harry to the door." Cho said as she jumped from her seat. She, Harry and Remus walked to the front door, where they stopped.

"Can you give us a minute Remus?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Sure thing, but don't get carried away, I'm going to be over by the car watching." Once they were alone again Harry was free to speak freely.

"I had a really good time today." He said as he tried not to stare at her mouth, and think of kissing her again.

"I did too, I'm glad I got to spend some time with you. Hopefully I will get to see you more this summer, but my dad is really trying to make me get down to studying since it's my N.E.W.T year. You will still write to me though wont you?"

"Of course I will." He lingered, unsure if he was meant to make some sort of confession of his feelings. He decided against this, since it was all too early, and he wanted to be sure before he took things further. Instead he gave her a gentle kiss goodnight, and they parted."

"Well your day seems to have been productive." Remus praised.

"It was good thanks."

"You like her?"

"I think I do. I will see where it goes, but I think it's somewhere good."

"Well Harry, I'm pleased for you.

"Thanks, though I must say one thing Remus, before I forget."

"Oh what would that be?"

"You really suck at being in disguise. I mean I didn't mind that you were following me, I knew that would be in the case, but in the restaurant and the cinema, you weren't very subtle. I think Cho almost realised it was you." There was a few seconds as Remus digested this.

"Well Harry, I can honestly say I don't know what you are talking about. I have been at home all day. Tonks and Kingsley are the ones who have been keeping an eye on you."

Harry was left thoroughly confused by this, and it caused him to ponder for much of the journey home. If it wasn't Remus then maybe there really was a French waiter named Christophe?


	9. All Aboard UPDATED

The remaining few weeks of summer seemed to pass in a flash. Thanks in part to Hermione they had all knuckled down to do some serious studying. She had lectured them more than once on the importance of getting off to a good start on their N.E.W.T.S. Harry was interested in doing well in Care of Magical creatures. He had heard that Hagrid had not had many students wish to continue with his subject, and so wanted to show everyone, that actually despite common opinion, Hagrid was only a mildly incompetent teacher.

Other than this very little had happened. Harry and the others had eventually gone to a theme park with Tonks. Remus had won her a stuffed turtle named Lesa, which had subsequently become charmed to be as life like as any real turtle, much to the annoyance of Mrs Weasley. Harry had written to Cho but hadn't seen her since their date. As she had predicted she was swamped with summer projects, and whilst they were able to write down their thoughts in the evening, it seemed she didn't have the time to spare for him to visit her again.

There had been little in the way of Death Eater attacks, though there had also been very little in the way of progress regarding what Voldemort wanted. The Order hadn't convened since the day after his birthday, and Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore since then either. When Harry wasn't studying he was making sure to get some Quidditch practice in. Since he had been banned last year he wanted to make up for it, and ensure he was in top form for the forthcoming school year.

It was after four weeks of learning and Quidditch, that Harry was awoken early on the morning of September the first. Mrs Weasley was bustling around Harry's room making sure he had everything packed before he left. Whilst he was quite certain, having checked all his belongings twice, it seemed she found the idea that he might forget to pack all of his socks to be most unsettling. As she then left his room she proceeded to wake up the rest of the house. Harry slowly clambered out of bed and stood up, swaying as he brushed the sleep out of his eyes.

He looked at the clock which revealed it was a few minutes after six o'clock. Harry quickly ran to the bathroom before someone else did. He walked in and had a relatively cold shower to wake himself up, as well as wash. Over the summer he and Ron had gotten in to the practice of staying up late, and waking up even later, so Harry felt especially exhausted to be up at such an hour. As he pulled on some jeans and a grey T-shirt he noted that even the sky outside seemed darker than normal.

He joined the others at the breakfast table where they were already sat. Ron had already started breakfast, whilst Harry helped himself to some toast. Lesa walked over to Harry and started nudging his leg.

"No Lesa you can't have my breakfast. You're not supposed to eat." He said as he rubbed its furry head. After breakfast he went to his bedroom and began to bring his trunk and other possessions downstairs in anticipation for the journey. By the time ten o'clock had rolled round Harry was very anxious to see his friends at school. He wondered who the new teachers were going to be this year. Thankfully professor Umbridge had run away and Professor Trelawney had been fired and was now working in an ice cream parlour. All he needed now was a well times sacking for Snape and all would be well.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny made their way outside after Remus, Molly, Tonks, Kingsley, Arthur and Moody. They looked to see the magical Limo that Harry Moody had driven before. He was licking his lips in anticipation as he pulled on some leather driving gloves. Remus saw the worry in Harry's face, who looked back to see terror in Remus' eyes.

"Um Alastor, Perhaps I should drive today? The luggage might not appreciate getting thrown around all over the place." Remus suggested hopefully. He looked around him begging for some help on the matter. He didn't need any however, as Moody relented.

"Ok. I suppose your right." He said in a way which suggested disappointment. "As long as you make sure to go via France to throw off any Death Eaters who might be following."

Once the car was loaded up they all climbed in to the back, which as you will recall was somewhat larger than would be permitted for a non magical vehicle. The journey wasn't long, which suggested that they probably had disregarded Moody's advice of making the detour. Remus drove slowly and carefully, as if demonstrating exactly how driving was meant to be.

The journey was quiet, as no one really said much, except Hermione; who pointed out that it was good because now Harry was a prefect he could go in the prefect carriage with them. This brightened Harry's mood as he remembered that he was now a prefect and would be able to do all sorts of things like roam the corridors after hours, even if he did need to look after a lot of first year snots at other times.

The limo pulled up outside Kings Cross station at approximately ten forty-five. It could have been an impressive sight, arriving in a stylish limo for the start of their school year, but as Mrs Weasley stepped out, or rather fell out; all possibilities of style evaporated. As they made their way along the platform they elicited stares from some of the muggles, who seemed to find them to be a spectacle. The adults were dressed in unusual attire, whilst amongst them they had a strange menagerie, consisting of owls, a cat, and a stuffed turtle which was convincingly alive. Not to mention Moody.

"Right then," said Moody as he hobbled forward towards the barrier. "Time to check for nasty curses." Molly gave an exasperated sign.

"Alastor I don't think there is anything to worry about. Plenty of people have already walked through the barrier." Moody surveyed the barrier with great dislike whilst he turned round and replied.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But you never know about these things. Tricky devils those Death Eaters."

"Come on" said Tonks as she grabbed Ginny and pulled her through the magical barrier. "You shall go next Harry." Said Kingsley, who could probably go unnoticed for several hours if he didn't speak.

Arthur was presently engaged in an appraisal of the surrounding trains, something that was obviously very exciting to him. Of course this was to be excited. Anyone who enjoyed plug sockets would no doubt find trains thrilling. Once through Harry opened his eyes to find himself standing on platform nine and three quarters. The sun was shining through some thick clouds and the platform was full of excitable children and weeping parents, all saying goodbye to their children for at least the next three months.

Tonks and Ginny were a short way down. Harry quickly walked over to them, because it was known that one who stood in front of the barrier was one who wanted to be run over by a trolley.

"Back at last." He turned round to see Ron smiling at him. "Come on Harry I can show you the Prefect carriage it's really cool. We didn't say anything about it last year because we thought you would be jealous but now you can see it, and it's really cool!" He explained eagerly. Harry laughed at Ron's enthusiasm. By now the rest of the people had made their way through the barrier.

Remus, who had been talking to Kingsley, strode over to Harry.

"Hey Harry. There is something I have been meaning to tell you. As you know Tonks, Moody and Kingsley were assigned by the ministry to protect you, and I have helped as well." Harry nodded to show he understood. "Well we will be required to accompany you on the train as well"

"Oh ok, well I don't see there being a problem there."

"Also…" Remus continued. "We will be protecting you whilst you are at Hogwarts." This was big news. Harry had never heard of there being Aurors stationed at Hogwarts.

"Will they always be following me? Please tell me they won't be sitting next to me in class?" He asked with optimism. He could only imagine the reactions he would get if he had an armed escort.

"Don't worry; we won't be guarding you too closely. In fact most people won't even know the exact reason we are there. They will simply be told that we are assisting Albus in the security of Hogwarts." This eased Harry's concerns. Given the current situation he didn't think it would seem hard to believe that is why they were at Hogwarts for. It would also be nice that he could see Remus everyday. Remus had become like a father to Harry, or at least what he imagined a father would be like.

"Yeah alright that doesn't sound too bad." Harry said. "As long as you don't try and sit next to me in class." Remus laughed at this comment.

"Don't worry Harry it will be fun. Besides, it doesn't all need to be work. I still need to teach you a thing or two in the ways of the Marauders." Harry smiled as he thought about what he was going to do this year.

A thought struck him.

"Remus if you and the others are going to be staying at Hogwarts then won't you need your luggage?" Remus smiled as he reached into his magical cloak and gave one of the inside pockets a tap. "Easy for safe keeping and almost weightless." As Remus moved on to ensure he and the adults got a good seat on the train, Harry looked around, eventually spotting Molly, who had just finished fusing over Ron.

"And don't forget to brush your hair." She finished off her instructions to Ron.

"Are you sure you have everything ready dear?" she asked as she turned her attentions to Harry. He nodded. "That's good. I will see you soon then ok?" Molly said as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "When is she going to see me? I'm planning on going home for Christmas but that isn't exactly soon." He thought.

"What do you mean soon?" He asked confusedly. Moody hobbled over to Harry and answered for her. "She means the you-know-what about IT at the place we mentioned."

Harry didn't understand what Moody was talking about; often he was too cryptic for even the simplest of statements to be deciphered.

"At the Order!" Tonks hissed as she noted the confusion on his face. Moody looked annoyed that that the words had been uttered in public and quickly set about looking for any dark wizards which might be listening in.

Hermione, who had already sat her luggage inside the nearest carriage door, walked over.

"Come on Harry, I will show you where the prefect's carriage is." She said as she gestured for him to follow. He stepped up into the carriage at the rear of the train to find himself facing a polished wooden door which had a small brass plaque reading. "Prefect's Carriage." Even with the door closed it looked to be different from the others, for whilst the other carriages were divided into smaller compartments, this looked likely to be one larger compartment. Hermione stood to the side of the door and pushed it open, allowing Harry to have a clear view in front of him.

Inside were several very comfy looking red velvet seats, arranged in a rough circle around a large highly polished oak table. There was a private bathroom to one side and what appeared to be a trolley of snacks, presumably for their use. There were also several books in a rack by the wall. Harry gave the magazines a quick perusal, and noted they all displayed titles like, "So you're a prefect!" or "Perfect Prefects." He laughed at the idea that someone thought such a magazine was necessary, before Hermione walked over to him and started lecturing him on the various magazines which she had no doubt read cover to cover.

After much yawning Hermione decided to put him out of his misery by changing the subject.

"Come on then Harry, let's leave our things here and go and wave bye to the others."

They made their way to the entrance to the carriage, and lent out of the front door so they could wave goodbye. The train was due to leave any minute now so they couldn't risk any prolonged farewells. He spotted Molly standing ten feet away from them.

"It's going to be so quiet now that you are all at school. It will just be you and me Arthur." Mrs Weasley sobbed as she wiped away a tear. "The house is going to seem so big and quiet." As she spotted Harry and the others she frantically began giving them last minute instructions.

"Make sure to do your homework! If you get lost and it's dark…" Suddenly the Hogwarts Express signalled its departure, and her words were swept away with the sound of steam and metal grinding as the wheels began to turn

Harry and the others leaned out, waving good bye as the station became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared as the track turned. They lent back in and now got ready for the long journey ahead of them.

"So prefect's carriage." Ron said as he rubbed his hands together. "Pretty good huh?"

"Yeah it looked alright. I haven't seen all of it yet, if you wanted to show me." Harry volunteered.

"I think I will go and find my friends then." Ginny said glumly. She was not a prefect and so would not be able to sit with them, in much the same way Harry had been excluded last year.

The carriage next to the prefect's one happened to be the one the adults had decided to occupy. It was full of mostly second years, though as Moody hobbled in a few of the students decided they had things which needed attending to.

"Just realised I have to go to the bathroom." Said the first one hastily. The second was visibly sweating with fear.

"I just remembered I left something in the oven." He ran out leaving one student sitting on his own feeling very awkward. He fidgeted under Moody's glare and said,

"Um ohh, I just remembered I'm a muggle. I shouldn't be here at all!" And with that he ran off. Harry rightly understood those who didn't know Moody might find him frightening. He also knew that those who did know him might find him more so.

As he took a seat on one of the very soft chairs in the prefect's carriage, he cast a look round wondering who else was a prefect. The first thing Harry observed was that there was no Draco Malfoy, as he had expected. Harry looked at the fifth year prefects and was surprised when he saw Luna Lovegood. She was sitting there with a vacant expression staring at the wall. If one did not know her better they may suppose that she were simple, but to those familiar with her ways it was much more likely she was contemplating an application of magic which most people would claim didn't even exist.

Ron took a seat next to her whilst Hermione sat down on the other side of Harry. The only other prefects he recognised were a Hufflepuff who played Chaser in Quidditch and a Ravenclaw girl who often passed Harry as he left Care of Magical Creatures on his way back to the castle.

"Hey Harry shall we go and patrol the train for a while. Make sure everyone is all right?" Hermione suggested.

"You mean make sure no one has blown themselves up?" Ron countered.

"Yeah I think that sounds like a good idea." Harry said as he remembered that prefects were actually meant to work. The thought that this would be his first time doing the work of a prefect did instil him with some trepidation. However, he was determined to do a good job and prove that Dumbledore was right in his choice.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped out of the prefect's carriage causing the four adults to look up at them.

"We are just going to patrol the carriages." Hermione explained. Moody got up from his seat.

"Going hunting for Death Eaters are you? You're a smart girl. Vigilance is the key." Harry and Hermione exchanged mildly bewildered looks.

"No we are just going to check that no one is breaking rules." He explained, causing Moody to sit back down with a dejected look.

They made their way along the train, stopping at one particular compartment.

"Hey guys," Said Harry as he nodded to Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Lavender.

"Hey, did you have a good summer?" Dean asked as put down a book he had been flipping through. They began summarising their holidays, before they were interrupted.

"Hey Harry, why do you have a prefect's badge?" Pavarti asked as she spotted the badge pinned to his jumper. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, well I got a letter over the summer. I know prefects are normally picked at the start of fifth year, but when the seventh years left I think Dumbledore had difficulty choosing the Slytherins so we got an extra Gryffindor."

"Well that's cool." Said Seamus. "I guess it should help us get Gryffindor some house points. After all, prefects are always well behaved aren't they?" He added as he shot a look in Ron's direction.

"It was nice seeing you again Harry" said Pavarti as they went to leave, causing Lavender to burst in to giggles. Harry wasn't exactly sure what was funny, but it made him feel uncomfortable.

"What was that about?" he asked once they were back out in the corridor.

"I don't know." Ron said with a shrug. "I gave up trying to understand girls a long time ago."

They continued down the carriages for their inspection of student behaviour. Harry gritted his teeth as the new first year students, or at least those with wizarding families, all gawked at him as though he were about to explode, or start doing the hula. Eventually they reached a compartment at one end, where Draco was stationed, chatting to Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson.

Malfoy saw the shiny prefect badge on Harry's jumped and his face turned a sort of pale sickly colour.

"I don't recall inviting you here Potter." Draco sneered at them as he tried to conceal his obvious annoyance.

"I don't recall having to be invited." Harry retorted.

"How did you get to be a prefect?" Crabbe asked as he rose to his feet. Despite his usual stupidity he did seem observant to notice that with Ron and Hermione this was one to many Gryffindor prefects.

Draco placed his hand on Crabbe's arm, like an owner restraining a dog.

"I expect it's because I told Dumbledore what I think!" Draco lied. "I told him I had enough of babysitting students. I have better things to do with my time, and he should pick someone else."

"I did the same." Pansy echoed, trying to cover for the fact she had also lost her position of prefect. All it did was serve to make Draco's story even less probable. It was generally known to all those in possession of a brain, that it was due to the behaviour of the inquisitorial squad that the changes had been made.

"I have to say it doesn't surprise me." Draco continued on, ignoring Pansy. "The old codger always did favour Gryffindor. It's hardly surprising that Slytherin won't have a prefect."

"Actually you do, there is a girl named Blaise Zabini?" Hermione corrected. "You have a prefect."

"I would hardly call her a Slytherin." Draco spat, which left them a little confused. Satisfied that Draco wasn't breaking any more rules (although he was still acting like an arse); they left him to his own devices.

Once they had gotten back, Harry slumped back down in one of the empty chairs. The prefect's carriage seemed quieter than before, which showed that they weren't the only ones keeping an eye out for trouble makers. It looked like many of the others were also patrolling the corridors. There were still a few prefects remaining, such as Luna Lovegood, Anthony; who was currently chatting to Padma, and a Slytherin girl who was reading a magazine in the far corner. Harry couldn't see her face.

Harry went over to the sweet trolley they had and took some chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes. He sat back down with the others, who seemed to have acquired Luna Lovegood in the last thirty seconds. She still seemed to be a little bit too weird for her own good. She was explaining about how her father was currently in the process of learning about Lethifolds. Apparently, despite popular opinion and the hundreds of dead people, they were actually very friendly creatures, who just wanted to be loved. Harry was tempted suggest that her father had a death wish, but had learnt from past experience, that it was quite possible she was right.

"And so that's why there is no trace of them." She finished. Ron stared at her in amazement before turning to Harry.

"Wow she's really intelligent isn't she!" he said in awe. In a list of the first ten words Harry associated with her, intelligent certainly wasn't one of them. She continued to stare at Ron whilst Ron sat and ate sweets. Harry and Ron proceeded to play a game of exploding snap before moving on to chess.

Over the next few hours the train drove on and the countryside became progressively wilder, until they were driving past long field and distant mountains. The weather also turned darker and darker. By about one o'clock it was virtually black outside which signalled a truly impressive thunderstorm was on the horizon. Harry had been flicking through a magazine about prefects when the door opened.

Moody leaned round into the room, his eyes taking everything in. All the prefects stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. A few seconds silence passed as no one spoke, before his eyes narrowed.

"Everything alright in here?" He enquired. Hermione spoke up.

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?" Moody seemed to take this as an invitation because he walked over towards the window.

"It's cloudy outside," Moody said in a cryptic manner not possible without practice. Several of the fifth year prefects seemed quite nervous in the presence of Moody. "Clouds would make it easy for someone to sneak up on us unexpected!" He continued as he fell in to silence. "Catch us with our trousers down if you know what I mean." He said, causing one girl to start laughing, before a sharp stare made her wish she hadn't.

Several uncomfortable minutes later Tonks came in and rescued them from a boring tale about dark wizard attacks on muggle yoghurt factories. Harry and Ron sat around and played one final game of wizard chess for the next hour until Harry's remaining pieces came to their sense and ran from the board.

"Shall we go and do another patrol Ron?" Harry asked as he stood up and stretched his legs.

"No thanks, I'm exhausted. I'm going to just hang out here." He said as he turned and struck up a new conversation with Luna.

"Ok…" Harry said as he glanced in Hermione's direction. Surely she wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to fulfil her prefect duties. However, it turned out that she was busy going over some of the spells she had revised during the summer holidays. Whilst she had been able to read the books cover to cover, she hadn't until today been able to practice the spells, so she was presently engaged in making sure that she once again would succeed in being top of the class.

He stepped out into the corridor, where Kingsley Shacklebolt was leaning against the window on one side. He gave Harry a small nod as he passed. After ten minutes, and having to confiscate one of the Weasley twins more dangerous practical joke items from a Ravenclaw, he bumped into Cho. As he did he jumped, and then quickly found he had butterflies.

"Hey Cho."

Hey Harry." She replied. He wished he hadn't had those Horntail Steak crisps. For a moment they both just stood smiling, with a goofy grin on their faces. Harry heard some sniggering from over Cho's shoulder, and noticed her friends were watching them. As she snapped out of her trance she took the opportunity to usher Harry out of the compartment.

"Don't want an audience, do we." She said as the door clicked closed.

"Why, what are we going to do?" Harry asked as panic suddenly gripped him.

"Nothing. Well nearly nothing." Cho said with a laugh. "Maybe talk a bit." She said as she came closer. "Maybe kiss a bit" She rose to her toes, and their lips gently touched. Harry couldn't help but grin. He pulled her in to an embrace.

"I have missed you." He spoke softly.

"I missed you too. It's all my dads fault. I hate him, making me study all day."

"Yeah you mentioned so in your letters."

"Did you do much this summer?"

"Not a lot, I went to a theme park. I think I told you that. I played some Quidditch. I did my homework. You?"

"I studied. I got bored." She responded. Harry suddenly wondered what to talk about. He knew you were meant to ask someone how they had been, and what they had gotten up to, but that normally took longer didn't it? He searched for other topics of discussion. Had anything happened in the new recently?

"What do you think about the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?" She kissed him once more. "Personally I haven't been to Norwich but I hear terrible things about the congestion…"

"Harry…"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

He did. He looked around wondering what would happen if anyone walked along. He didn't want to be one of those people who made out in corridors. Just to one side he spotted a small door, with a brass plaque on which read "Broom Closet."

"Well that's cliché." He cast a furtive glance around before he opened the door. He was about to step into the closet with Cho, but found it was already occupied.

"Do you mind, I am cleaning in ere'" Said a man with a distinctive French accent as he swept the floor using a broom. He had an apron on, which suggested he may be a cleaner, and a name tag which revealed his name to be Christophe.

"I'm sorry." Cho blushed deeply as she shut the door. There was a lapse of silence as they both stared at each other, before bursting out laughing. "It was probably for the best." He thought to himself. He didn't really want to be that type of guy.

"Hey Harry." Said a voice a little way down from them. It was Hermione. "I was trying to concentrate on my reading, but that Slytherin girl got in an argument with one of the Hufflepuff prefects, and they were making a lot of noise, so I decided to come and join you."

"Hello Hermione." Said Cho a little stiffly.

"Hi Cho." Hermione replied with a smile. Harry wondered if she knew she had interrupted something. He supposed the moment had already passed anyway, so perhaps she hadn't interrupted. "Would you like to join us?"

"No, thanks, I think I will pass." She panned. "I will catch you in school." Cho called after them as they walked off. Once Cho was out of ear shot Hermione turned to him.

"Sorry Harry, did I interrupt something? I didn't mean to." She apologised.

"Not exactly no. I mean I didn't mind. I like Cho." He confessed. "I think she is really cool, and I would like to know her better, but I run out of things to say, and then since we aren't talking she can be quite physical. Why can't I talk to her like I can with the guys?"

"Well you talk to me lots without any problems." Hermione volunteered. Relationships were one of the few areas where she wasn't an expert.

"Well that's because you are like a guy." Harry responded without a moment's hesitation. This nearly earned him a slap.

"You know what I mean. You are a friend." He explained as she glared at him.

"I think the problem is Harry that you don't know a lot about her. You know that she is a nice girl, but you need to ask questions, get to know her, that way you can know what to talk about. Does she like swimming?"

"I don't know."

"Then ask her. Most people don't want to listen to someone else talk, they just want to tell people about themselves. All you need to do is ask questions, nod a bit, and smile, and she will ask you questions back." She finished in a slightly exasperated tone, as though it were obvious.

"Thanks Hermione. That sounds like good advice." He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

It was in moments like this that he was grateful for Hermione. Whilst he had friends like Ron, whom he had more in common with, could chat all day to, and talk about pretty much anything without being embarrassed; Hermione had a unique ability to understand him. She knew that if he had a difficult day he wouldn't want to talk about it. She knew when he needed time to himself, to forget about the responsibilities and dangers in his life, and she also knew when he needed her support or advice.

They made there way down the carriages. They had already spoken to most people earlier, so they didn't have that much to talk about. They stopped for a while and spoke to Neville about lessons. He said that this year he was no longer taking potions and that he was going to study to become a Herbologist. This made a lot of sense since it was about the only subject he had an affinity for. At the far end of the train they stopped and spoke to Ginny for a while, before returning to the prefect carriage.

A few more hours passed as the evening gradually crept in and the sun sank lower in the sky. None of this was noticeable however, through the thick clouds and the roaring rain that pounded down upon the windows and roof.

"We should probably get changed into our uniform soon." Said Hermione to no one in particular. Harry made his way into the prefect bathroom where he changed. He pulled on his uniform and his robe where he carefully pinned his prefect badge. He was making sure that he looked immaculate in the mirror. When he heard a thump on the roof. For a moment he thought that a hole must have appeared in the roof and that the rain was leaking in, for a sudden chill became him. However there was no hole and the rain was still outside the train. He was still dry, yet the icy feeling persisted. Suddenly he heard a distant scream, and coinciding with the clap of thunder he knew what was happening.

It was Dementors.

He ripped open the door and strode out into the prefect carriage. Several people looked slightly alarmed as he stormed out from the bathroom. They hadn't felt it? But as their eyes flicked back in the direction of the scream he knew he hadn't imagined it. As he crossed the carriage and reached for the door handle it swung open in front of him.

Moody was stood before him, his lips pressed together in a snarl, and his wand in hand. It was easy to understand the fear Mad Eye Moody could instil in his enemies.

"On the roof, it's…"

"Dementors. Yes, I can feel it." Moody said as he cut Harry off. Remus, Tonks and Kingsley ran up behind Moody.

"Alastor, what's the plan?" Tonks asked as she shed any resemblance she normally had to her childish self. She was prepped, ready for fight. This was her job, and she was damn well going to do it.

Moody hesitated for only a second, as all eyes in the carriage watched him.

"We must be near to Hogwarts, if we stop now, we will be stranded here, miles from help. We need to make sure this train makes it to Hogsmeade no matter what. I don't know how many Dementors there are but there could be too many to fight, in which case out best bet is to hold out for backup, Tonks, Kingsley, I want you to go down to the front end of the train. Make sure the driver doesn't stop, tell him to speed up if he can, and stop Dementors from getting to him. Defend him with your life because if this train doesn't make it to Hogwarts we are going to be buggared.

"Send any students in the first two carriages to the front, and any in the back three, our way. We won't do well against two fronts, but if we stick to either end of the train we might be alright. Go now!" Tonks and Kingsley left without a word. Harry didn't know if the Dementors had already broken in to the train. Students could already be dead. They could be running straight into an army of Dementors. They could be running straight into death. Students started running into the carriage, scared and frightened. They might not know what was going on but they could surely feel the Dementors now. The icy cold and sadness they pressed upon you.

"Who knows how to apparate?" Moody asked as he turned to look at the seventh year students.

"I do." Said the head boy timidly.

"Good, apparate to Hogsmeade, try and get up to the castle, and inform the school that we are coming in hot."

"But I haven't ever tried apparating from a moving vehicle before" the boy spluttered.

"Well congratulations you are about to!"

"What about me?" Remus asked, as the boy apparated away.

"I want the students to the back; we will guard the door here, and hope for hell they don't break in through the window." As he said this he began casting a spell on the windows, which whilst unfamiliar to Harry, was almost certainly a strengthening charm. As he cast the spell on the final window he hobbled past Harry. "I told you those clouds were a bad sign."

The last of the students ran into the carriage, which was now very crowded. The table which had sat in the middle of the room could no longer be seen behind the bodies. Moody surveyed the students quickly as his magical eye darted from side to side. "What do you think your doing get your wands out! Unless you want to be attacked by Dementors!" Moody's bold statement seemed to stun them as they all simply stared for a moment, but did eventually get their wands out.

From somewhere down the train the sound of broken glass could be heard. The tension rose a level. The atmosphere seemed to grow thick with thoughts and emotions and the air itself seemed alive as it moved around him. The sound of hundreds of students crammed tightly into the carriage behind him seemed to grow quiet by comparison, as Harry stared intently at the door. The DA had formed at the front of the group, though still behind Harry, Remus and Moody.

"These are all the students who know how to make Patronus'." Hermione explained as Moody shot her a look to ask why some of them were standing forward from the others.

"What about the rest?" He asked.

"I don't think so." Harry confessed, knowing full well it wasn't something students are normally taught. It was a miracle any of them knew.

"What about a Shaman Barrier?"

"A what?" Ron asked.

"Christ, what do they teach you kids in school these days?" Moody grumbled to himself. "It will be the first thing you learn after this if I have anything to do with it." He stopped as there was the sound of breaking glass, much closer this time.

"Get ready." Moody said as he crouched slightly and drew up his wand.

"Anything else we should do." Remus asked as he mimicked the pose.

"Wait, and pray to hell that the others aren't getting the brunt of it. I have been in some pretty crappy situations before, but I don't mind saying this one looks about as hopeful as a flobberworm on a high jump.


	10. Reprieve UPDATED

They waited anxiously, dreading the battle which was about to commence. They stood there waiting for Dementors but none seemed to appear; at least not immediately. Harry looked to the end of the corridor where we could see a dark shadow edging its way forward. This was it. The Dementors were here. It waited, perhaps in anticipation of the feast that lay before it, or perhaps it simply waited for several more Dementors to fall in line behind it. Harry saw a scaly dark hand clasp on to the side of the door. He saw the door handle slowly move down, before the door creaked open.

He heard an intake of breath from the creature and second later felt the familiar cold wave wash over him, as sound seemed to die out. He raised his wand and within a fraction of a second, the Dementors had charged for them. He said the words whilst summoning his happiest memory. He watched as the silver Stag erupted from the end of his wand. As he watched it touch down on the floor he admired the majestic beauty, and reflected on the happiness he felt, and it let him, at least for now, forget that the situation was hopeless.

He glanced sideways to see Patronuses erupt from the wands of Moody and Remus. By the time The Patronuses were standing their grounds several more Dementors had joined the fray, and the three glowing figures faced up against the wall of darkness. He watched as the Patronuses leapt forwards hitting the Dementors full in the chest, and throwing them in every direction. It didn't seem to be working very well however; as soon as they knocked one down another would leap forwards to take its place.

"What is taking the others so long?" Harry thought, as he glanced over his shoulder to face the other members of the DA. Shouldn't they be helping? His heart sunk (though this may have been the effects of the Dementors) as he saw all of them struggling to conjure anything more than silvery wisps of smoke from their wand. He heard them yelling the spell desperately as they tried to summon a Patronus. The sound however seemed distant in his head, instead all he could hear was a voice, one he had only heard a few times. It was his mother and her voice was as clear as if she were whispering in to his ear. Harry then heard her screaming as he relived the last moments of his parent's lives.

Listening to this memory play itself in his head he didn't even need to look to know that the battle was not going well. He did however, observe as his Patronus fought a valiant battle, ramming the creatures back desperately, and raising on its back legs to block the Dementors which stuck to the ceiling. He looked to his right where he saw a writhing black mass against the window. He stared horror struck as he realised he could no longer see the dark sky outside. It had been completely eclipsed by the bodies of a thousand Dementors. Moody had made a good call on the window charms, though Harry couldn't imagine he would live to tell the Auror this. Whilst the windows could hold back any Dementors, it did not stop them sucking the life out of the air. He could still feel his very essence being sucked out of him

He suddenly had to step back as the Dementors pushed forwards. He knew now that they were in serious trouble. Before they had been bottle necked into the doorway, with the three of them halting any advance, but now they fanned out around them, Harry had to divert his attentions to the right, to stop any Dementors simply passing round them and feasting on the defenceless students. He shivered as he sank further into depression, struggling to find anything happy remaining in his mind. The Dementors were feeding upon his happiness, and there was next to nothing left.

He looked around and saw several of the DA members had passed out. Their attempts at a Patronus provided far less protection than the corporeal forms and so even though they were not on the front line they had already succumbed. He looked at the adults who were fighting with all their might. Remus was on one knee and seemed to be having trouble remaining conscious. Harry struggled to comprehend this. Remus couldn't be beaten, not when it came to a Patronus. He taught Harry, he was the best there was, wasn't he?

Moody was stood with the silver tiger fighting by his side. He looked very sickly. "I thought you said those kids knew how to summon a Patronus?" He asked without taking his eye off the battle. "Fat lot of good they were" he finished, showing that perhaps he was faring better than any of the others, for he still seemed to be himself. Screaming could be heard from all around as several of the students were crying, as they relived the darkest moments of their life. At least they were lucky; they hadn't seen some of the things he had seen.

Eventually the crying stopped as all had fallen quiet, and to the floor. The only ones still standing, or rather, the only ones who were capable of moving, were Harry, Remus and Moody, he wondered how things were going down the other end of the train. Had they been lucky, was their end free from attack, or were they having just a hard a time as Harry was? They must still be alive though, for the train was still moving, still chugging onwards. The train would have stopped if they were dead, wouldn't it?

They moved closer together as their Patronuses tried in vain to stop the Dementors from advancing. The writhing masses were too thick, and the Patronuses too few, as they dashed backwards and forwards trying to stop any from passing in the gaps between them. Harry felt himself growing week. His legs were shaking violently below him as he strained to stay awake. He stared as Remus fell to the ground, as his Patronus faded and then disappeared.

"No!" Harry screamed out desperately. He could feel tears flow down his face. He hated to cry, but what was the point, Remus had been beaten, and he would be next, there was no hope, there never could be. Not once it had been drained away. The only ones now remaining were Harry and Moody, and even he was too weary to make a begrudging remark, or swear at his enemy. The train began to slow as they fell to the floor. Back to back they rested. So the others had failed? They had been defeated, and would remain here, a few miles from Hogwarts until message reached the castle. Help would return but all they would find is hundreds of soulless bodies.

"Any ideas boy?" Moody asked in with a barely audible grunt. "I hear you are good at getting out of a nick?" Harry had no answers. Normally when he found himself in mortal peril an answer just seemed to present itself. Not this time. If he did have any answers he didn't feel like sharing them. If he could live he wouldn't want to anyway. What was the purpose when life was full of despair? This was how he thought. Under the influence of the Dementors he was unable to summon the desire to continue. He wanted to simply give up, and die. He wanted to be enveloped in the peace that was death. The reprieve from the misery that was life.

He lowered his wand, and dropped his concentration. The Dementors squashed in tightly. Harry felt himself wobble, before he fell on his side. He barely registered the stag disappear. "So this is how I shall die? It's about time." He thought to himself. He was too far gone to observe Moody being overwhelmed a second later. He simply waited to die.

He stared up into one of the attackers as it lowered its hood, revealing a scabby face and a mouth with which to drain his soul. He was ready, with his happiness gone he wanted to embrace the death like a lover. The Dementor was leaning close to him, ready to deliver his final wish. It was in this moment that a bright white light filled his vision. "So I'm dead. At least I have gone to heaven. That is good I suppose." A few seconds past before he realised he was still in the agony of despair. He wasn't dead; he was still in the train carriage.

The bright light however was real. Harry looked out of the window. He could see a bright light shining through the gaps where Dementors had been. He couldn't be sure of what he was seeing but silhouetted against the dark night was the figure of an old man. Harry recognised the person to be Dumbledore. This wasn't however what amazed Harry, for whilst he was amazing, it was the shining white mass next to the old man that was remarkable. It stretched fifty feet into the air and took the form of a dragon. Harry watched as the Patronus dragon opened its mouth and took a deep breath. However, instead of breathing molten hot fire it shot a blast of warm white mist which seemed to repel the Dementors and engulf the carriage.

They had made it after all. The train hadn't stopped because they had been defeated. It had slowed down because they had pulled into the station. Help had arrived not a moment too soon, seconds away from death. As Harry gazed, still on the verge of unconsciousness, he stared at the giant Patronus. It was remarkably similar to the dragon Harry had fought two years ago. It had spikes running down its back and it looked angry. It stretched out its wings and glided silently across the ground towards the wreck of the Hogwarts express. It landed silently, for whilst it was enormous it was still not possessing of a physical body.

The Dementor looming over Harry looked up at the colossal dragon. It peered down at him. The Patronus opened its mouth and let out a breath of flaming white mist, which blasted over the Dementors. Those caught in the blast fell to the ground, whilst thirty or so from nearby swarmed up to the dragon. Dumbledore's Patronus watched as they moved around its ankles. The Dragon roared angrily into the night air, though again, no sound was made. It gave the odd impression that he had lost his sense of hearing, as the Dementors glided silently, and the dragon made no noise. If it were not for his pulse, throbbing in his temples he would have thought himself deaf.

It swung its tale round sending Dementors flying in every direction. They gave a screech which shattered the silence as those injured fled. Others joined the fray, but each time the dragon either breathed a sea of white light or swatted away the deadly foe which had nearly killed hundreds of students with ease. Harry felt some of his strength returning as he unsurely heaved himself to his feet. Moody was still conscious, he looked to Harry. "Well, that sure is something. I heard great things about Albus' Patronus but I never thought I would get to see it."

As the final Dementors fled Harry looked round the carriage. It was empty of any trace of Dementors, other than the few which seemed to have burnt into a sort of black tar as they were engulfed in the whiteness. All around were the fallen bodies of Harry's fellow students, still breathing, and hopefully, all still with souls. Harry turned his attention back to Dumbledore who was slowly making his way down to the platform, where the Dragon was stood, frozen, a watchful guardian. Several other teachers joined the headmaster as they ran along the grass, coming to aid.

Over the next few minutes' things seemed strangely quiet. The adult's seemed to be coming round. Apparently their Patronuses had saved them from longer term unconsciousness which struck down most of the students. Tonks and Kingsley had managed to stand their grounds. It was hard to say who had the tougher fight, since there was no way to guess the number of Dementors. It seemed Kingsley had faired the best out of all of them, and seemed only slightly off from his normal self. Moody drew a small slightly squashed chocolate bar out of one pocket, and split it in half with Harry.

"I always try to carry some chocolate with me for such emergencies." He said as he took a lopsided bite.

Feeling a little better, he joined the others in convening with the teachers, who had now made it down to the train. Moody was searching the carriages for any stray Dementors which had escaped the Dragons wrath when Dumbledore stepped into the train. He looked very angry and very old as he stared at his students unconscious forms. Some of his anger evaporated however, when he saw Harry standing, still alive. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He was shortly followed by McGonagall and Snape.

"Are there any serious casualties?" He asked in a voice which radiated power with every word. Kingsley stood to attention as he spoke to Dumbledore very formally.

"We are not certain of the seriousness of the situation at this time. Alastor has gone to investigate." Just as he finished speaking Moody walked through the door. Dumbledore turned on the spot to face him.

"It difficult to tell Albus." He said, knowing what question had been asked, even though he had not heard it. "There are about four hundred students down that way. Most of them are in the prefect's carriage. We tried to fight them off but it didn't work to well. This lot were meant to help." Moody grumbled whilst nodding towards the unconscious or waking bodies of the DA members. Harry blushed.

"Well they could summon a Patronus. We just never actually got to practice against any Dementors." Moody glared at him in a way that said he didn't approve. He made a bark like laugh, instead of his usual one.

"If your going to train them then make sure you do a decent job of it. You want proper training. No slacking off, constant vigilance. It's no good saying they can do something when they can't."

"Now Alastor." Dumbledore said softly. "It seems to me that they all tried their best, and they did so with bravery. That is all I could ever hope for from my students. Now…" Dumbledore took on a serious tone that commanded authority and could wield an army with the fewest of words. "Alastor, Kingsley, Remus, Nymphadora, I shall be needing your help. With the current situation Death Eaters could arrive at any moment. We must get the students back to the school immediately. I have already sent word to madam Pomfrey to expect them." Moody nodded and Remus and Tonks replied with a yes. They went about moving the people back to the school.

"Locomotor Mortis." Said Remus pointing his wand as several students from within the prefect carriage raised from the ground to float in mid air where he could then levitate them out onto the platform where there was room to revive them. Dumbledore moved over to Harry in two quick steps.

"Well done Harry. It seems once again you have managed to survive and help those around you. You do however remember what was said at the meeting of the Order. Voldemort was after you Harry. He won't be pleased that he has failed again. We will shortly be returning to school. You will be expected to report to my office as well since you are a prefect. We will also however, be holding a metting for the Order of the Phoenix afterwards."

"Sir," Harry called, having to ask the question on his mind. "Your Patronus is incredible is there anything you do that isn't amazing?" Dumbledore smiled a little at this question.

"Thank you Harry, it is quite incredible isn't it, I have been told it is second only to the Patronus summoned by Andros the invincible. However, in answer to your question, there are a great many things I do which are not at all amazing. I don't think I should mention any one article though, as to do so would imply that everything I don't mention is, as you put it, amazing."

It was Dumbledore's strange way of thinking that Harry often found he missed during the time away from Hogwarts.

"Now if I may say so, I would rather like to get back to the castle. Even I would be rather partial to some chocolate. The Dementors left me with quite the chill."

"What do they make you see?" Harry asked. Dementors make one relive their most unpleasant memories. It was only after Harry had asked that he realised it was a very personal question.

"Well I must confess, some years ago there was a mistake in the school kitchen which resulted in one of the dishes, for the start of term feast no less, receiving a rather critical reception. I am quite certain this memory will haunt me for the remainder of my life." Much like when Harry had asked about the Mirror of Erised five years earlier, he suspected Dumbledore was perhaps not telling the truth.

Harry walked back to the castle amongst the mass of zombified students. They carried their luggage with them, bent double, like old beggars under sacks, towards their distant rest they began to trudge, some marched asleep, drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the words of friends. As Harry approached the castle its dark bricks and towers loomed over him, and whilst it may be considered sinister in appearance to some, it was to him as much a family member as he had ever known.

He stepped into the entrance hall, sighing in pleasure as warmth seemed to wash over him. The castle seemed exceptionally bright compared to the cloudy overcast night sky outside. Harry and a very small number of students trudged into the great Hall, whilst the larger part made their way to the infirmary for further revitalisation. It seemed strangely quiet in the hall, with no teachers and only a dozen students.

He sat down in the middle of the long Gryffindor table, empty for all but himself. Madam Pomfrey must have been working over time as she revived people and gave them chocolate to warm them up. As no teachers entered the hall he supposed they must all be assisting her with this duty. He sat and waited as various students began to trickle into the great hall, each looking very tired and very scared. Some were crying as they ran over to their friends. Unable to banish the unpleasant memories which weighed heavy on their minds.

"Excuse me." Said a voice Harry did not recognise. He looked up to see a Ravenclaw boy whom he had not previously met. "I don't think you know me, my name is Alexanda Powers. Anyway, I was in the prefects carriage when I lost consciousness, but I wanted to thank you. You and Moody protected us all. If it wasn't for you two I don't think anyone in our end of the train would have made it."

"Don't worry about it, this stuff happens." Harry would later be able to look at this objectively, and realise he was excessively curt. He did not mean to be so but he had greater concerns on his mind. He observed as every student seemed to make their way into the hall. Everyone except anyone Harry cared to talk to.

An eternity seemed to pass as thousands of questions remained unanswered. "Where are Ron and Hermione? Why aren't they back yet? Are they ok? What if they're not?" Harry looked to the direction of the hospital wing. He would have gone there but it was too overcrowded and he didn't want to be a nuisance. He sat and waited, and then waited some more. Harry looked to the door for the thousandth time, when he saw Ron and Hermione standing there. He did a double take as he saw them. They were smiling as they made their way over towards him.

Harry found himself on his feet as relief washed over him. He now knew that his best friends would be all right. Hermione pulled Harry into an embrace, and he held her, vowing never to let his friends get in to such grave danger. He would protect them no matter what the cost. Ron was standing next to him sheepishly.

"Hey mate." Said Ron. They weren't going to go in for any hugging. Harry grinned brightly to see that Ron was the same old person as ever. Harry realised that he was perhaps holding Hermione a little too enthusiastically, and let go reluctantly. She took a step back and Harry looked at his best friends.

"What took you so long? I have been waiting for hours!" Harry exclaimed trying to be angry, and realising that it was entirely impossible to be mad with his friends in a situation like this.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Hermione started to explain why they were some of the last students to join the great hall.

"Well when I was woken up I started to have a look round. I realised that Ron was still out cold, so I decided to wait for him and then after he was revived I felt kind of guilty to just leave so I decided to stay and help a bit." Harry looked towards Ron to see if his story agreed with hers.

"She was mental. Running round the hospital wing like a blur. It was scary actually." Harry laughed. Thankful to have his friends back he sat there for a moment in silence. Ron tried his best to exude a cheery demeanour, but was unable to mask his concern.

"What's wrong Ron?" He asked. Ron hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Well Ginny isn't back from the hospital wing yet. Mum would kill me if anything happened to her. I hope she is all right. I mean everyone was alive, but I know some people were carried up to the castle still unconscious. I hope she will be ok"

Harry had completely forgotten about Ginny. He had been too busy worrying about his immediate friends. What if she wasn't ok? What if the Dementors had given her the kiss and taken away her soul? He searched his mind for some comforting words.

"Don't worry Ron she is probably fine. After all she was down the other end of the train which seemed a bit better off than us, and she knew how to make a Patronus. She probably will be fine as always." He didn't believe these words himself and so was surprised when Ron did.

"Yeah your probably right." He hesitated a moment before continuing. " But why couldn't I make a Patronus? All that I got was white mist." Hermione had been wondering this same question, though she probably had a hunch as to the answer. Harry was relieved that it wasn't a difficult question.

"Oh that's because it is harder to do Patronuses when Dementors are near. You need to think of a happy thought but it is being taken away from you at the same time. You weren't the only one. No one else seemed to manage one actually. Well, except Remus and the others." This didn't seem to comfort Ron too much.

"You did." He said with a hint of jealousy in his voice. This was true. Harry was the only student who had managed. This wasn't a reason for Ron to be angry.

"Well I have had more practice, and when Remus trained me we had a Boggart so I got to experience exactly what it felt like. If you guys had been able to practice with a real Dementor I'm sure you wouldn't have had any problems.

Ron looked as if he was about to counter this, but stopped because he was distracted by something. Harry looked to see Ginny walking along towards them. Ron had a look of immense relief to see her alive and conscious. He jumped up and went to hug her. Ginny took a step away from Ron and gave him a quick thump in the stomach. "That's for not helping me you lazy git." And with that said she went and sat down opposite Harry. Over the next half an hour it seems that all the remaining students made their way into the hall as did the teachers. Finally Dumbledore and Harry's four bodyguards strode in and walked over in the direction of the teacher's table. Silence fell upon the hall as they sat down, with the exception of Dumbledore who remained standing.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. It is with much regret that it starts with such an unpleasant event as this. For those of you new to Hogwarts, I would wish to reassure you that Hogwarts is normally much more enjoyable than this; and as safe as any place can be. I'm certain the more senior students would reassure you of this if you do so ask. Now, as you are all aware we are running several hours behind schedule, so for this reason the start of term feast shall not be taking place today." There was a chorus of mumbles at this comment. Ron looked like he wanted to punch someone. "We will however be having it tomorrow, when I'm sure you shall all be feeling much better. We shall of course be feeding you, but perhaps a slightly less grand, but more suitable dinner. No lessons shall be taking place tomorrow. I do not believe any of you will object to this as I know you will have plenty to talk about and could do with a long night's sleep, without the need of getting up early."

Dumbledore seemed to sigh as he started with the next part of his speech. "Today's events were by the cause of Lord Voldemort and his Dementors. I am glad to report that due to a few strong willed individuals we have managed to avoid any major casualties on the main part." The hall erupted into whispers at this comment. Harry heard people say things like "What does he mean on the main part?" and "Have you seen…" Hundreds of people's gazes darted round the hall as they tried to see what Dumbledore had been referring to. Dumbledore let the discussion die out before he continued.

"When I say this, it is because I regret to report, that one individual was not as lucky as you who are sitting here now. I am talking about the brave individual who is currently in the hospital wing, Miss Cho Chang."

Had Harry just heard correctly? He glanced over to the Ravenclaw table and saw their worried faces, none of them hers. The hall suddenly seemed a lot smaller and the air hot. Harry felt physically sick. He had completely forgotten about Cho. "How could I have forgotten about her; I was talking to her on the train? What happened to her? The Dementors can't have sucked out her soul can they? She was standing near to me and I didn't see anything happen." Harry could feel his friends gazing at him and in a distant part of his brain he was grateful that his dating Cho wasn't public knowledge. He didn't need a thousand eyes scrutinising him, seeing what he felt.

What was meant to feel? Was he supposed to cry in a situation like this? He was her boyfriend and he did care about her. Did he love her? That didn't need answering right now. Because of him she had come to harm. Primarily he felt guilt and anger, anger at Voldemort for doing this, and anger at himself for bringing this about. As the buzz didn't fade Dumbledore coughed and raised his voice.

"Silence." This single word had the desired effect. "If you will allow me to continue then I shall be able to answer a few questions that some of you have. Miss Chang has fallen very ill. The Dementors have not taken her soul so for this we may be grateful. However, her soul is no longer with us."

Harry's felt a mild relief that they hadn't sucked out her soul, but if her soul was no longer around then where was it? What happened to it? Dumbledore continued in a very calm voice.

"I'm sure most of you already know what Dementors are. But I regret that I shall be telling you anyway, due to the fact that the first year students probably won't know. A Dementor is the creature which you have seen tonight. It is a foul beast which currently obeys Lord Voldemort. For those of you from muggle heritage, Lord Voldemort is a dark wizard who would love nothing more than to end your lives." Harry saw the petrified looks on the faces of the first year students. He supposed himself lucky that when he had started Hogwarts he had been relatively eased into the chaos of life. The first year students, all whom had not yet been sorted, were sitting down on random tables. "I will not be going into that however. Dementors are creatures which feed upon the happiness within you. That is why you feel depressed when they are in your presence. When you are exposed to them for an amount of time then usually the person will pass out. It is however, in very exceptional cases that this doesn't happen. It appears that when all the happiness was drained form miss Chang, that as a result her spirit no longer felt a reason to live, and so has parted from her body. It is therefore my belief that since she is alive still, that eventually her spirit will return and Miss Chang will be restored to her full health."

"Are you ok Harry?" Hermione whispered. The answer was definitely not yes. He lied. He couldn't really tell them how he felt hollow inside. "Still if Dumbledore said she is going to be all right then that is probably going to be the case. I probably shouldn't worry too much about it." He tried to convince himself. "But what if her soul doesn't return to her body? What if it stays floating round forever?" He decided not to dwell on such negative thoughts. "Don't worry guys I will be fine. Besides it's not as if she is dead. You heard what Dumbledore said. She should be good as new soon."

Harry was interrupted from his thought as Dumbledore finished what he was saying.

"So perhaps some food would be good. Bibbidi bobbidi boo!" He gave a quick clap of his hands, and the plates before them began to magically fill with food. It was different from the usual variety in the way that everything seemed rather chocolaty. Harry guessed this was due to the Dementors. Chocolate was a remedy for the negative feelings created by them. He helped himself to some chocolate tasting meat and a mug of steaming hot chocolate. He also sighted some chocolate mashed potato. It was actually surprisingly nice.

Ron didn't seem to mind the new diet at all. He helped himself to chocolate cake, chocolate pancakes and finished off with some instant chocolate pudding, whilst largely forgoing anything which wasn't a dessert. As Harry finished eating he felt warmed inside, as if he had just drunk a tankard of warm butter beer. Ron looked like he was about to help himself to some more when Hermione swatted his hand away from the food. He looked at her in a confused face. "What?"

"Don't sit there eating, we have to go to see Dumbledore." Harry didn't know this.

"We do?" He asked. Hermione stared at him and replied in a know it all voice.

"Yes we do. Don't you remember your letter Harry? Prefects have to report to him at the start of term." Ron looked angry, as he had to stop eating.

"Why do we have to go now? Why don't we go later?" Hermione tutted.

"Didn't you listen to what Dumbledore said?" As Harry and Ron remained silent it confirmed that they had both been distracted by something, perhaps the weather. Hermione continued. "He said Prefects have to report to his office ten minutes before the end of the dinner."

"What's the time?" Ron asked with optimism. Hermione looked at her watch. "Ten minutes to midnight. Dinner started at eleven."

Harry was surprised to hear it was so late. No wonder he felt so tired. But thinking about it he had been sitting in the hall for hours now while people were being cured. Hermione stood up and Harry and Ron got up to follow. They left the hall and Harry looked to see the other prefects and the head boy and girl walking along the corridor towards Dumbledore's office as well. They walked along quickly in order to catch up to the others. As they rounded the corner they found themselves behind two prefects who were walking along happily.

"This is exciting isn't it!" said a fifth year.

"I don't know, I'm nervous. I have never spoken to Dumbledore before, or been to his office. I wonder what its like." The second prefect, also a fifth year responded.

"It is probably full of pictures of his family and stuff. You know the sort of thing old people have." Harry found himself unusually angered by this remark.

"Dumbledore isn't some senile old man." He snapped at the fifth years, causing them to jump. "He is the greatest wizard ever and he knows a lot more than you ever will." Hermione looked like she might tell Harry to calm down, but decided not to.

"I hope they change it so we can take points from Slytherin." Ron said hopefully, though not seriously.

"No it won't happen because it would thoroughly…." Hermione began as she broke into lecture. Harry looked at her.

"Hermione. Shut up." Ron laughed. Hermione blushed and replied,

"Ok." Sounding not at all offended.

The finally reached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall was standing by it looking very impatient. She had perfected the art of impatience over many years, and had honed it to such a sharpness she was able to grate cheese. As the prefects strode up to her she turned to face the Gargoyle.

"Humbug." She said crisply. The gargoyle suddenly sprang to life. It hopped to the side and even did a bow for her. Harry commented to Ron.

"Bloody cheek. It never bowed to me." Ron laughed briefly, though not for long, less he annoyed professor McGonagall.

They made their way up the spiral staircase to find themselves facing a highly polished oak door, which sprung open, inviting them in. Dumbledore was standing behind his desk. "Welcome." Dumbledore said happily as everyone crowded in. With twenty four prefects it was a bit of a squeeze. Harry looked around his office. It was decorated with the usual pictures of headmasters and headmistresses (though no family members, as the fifty year had erroneously assumed). There were still the strange magical objects sitting on shelves and in cabinets. He looked at Dumbledore's desk and realised that the possessions He had broken last year were now looking as though they had never been any different. He smiled to himself as he realised the whole office could probably be burned down and ten minutes later you would never know, other than the fact the hem of Dumbledore's robe would be smoking.

"Welcome Prefects. I see you all received your letters, which is good. Anyway down to business. As you are now prefects. Or head boy and girl." Dumbledore added as an after thought. "It is your job to be keeping the students in order. For those of you returning to this position after last year, this is not new, but for others, to put it simply, it is basically a lot of hard work and regrettably my schedule doesn't permit me the time to deal with it all. This is why I have assigned you to help me in this matter. You shall be in charge of your own house mostly. You will be making sure that the students don't let you down and that they don't let the school down." Harry was thankful that Fred and George were no longer here otherwise his job would be a lot more difficult.

Luna was staring round the office with wide eyes. As she looked past Harry she stopped and stared straight at him. This was pretty un-nerving so he turned his attention back to Dumbledore and hoped she would stop.

"I think I shall tell you the ground rules. You are allowed to deduct points from your house only, although I find prefects never have chosen to use this particular punishment. You can issue detentions to members of your house only. You may however report a student from any house to a member of staff who can judge what the punishment will be. This stops unfair punishments being handed out.

"You will also accompany students to their dormitories tonight and help them when they have any questions. You will make sure they do not cause a nuisance and you will make sure that there is no disruptive behaviour in or around school. You will also be permitted to wander outside the common rooms after hours in order to ensure other students are not." At these words Dumbledore gave a glance at Harry and a small smile flickered across his face.

"You will be permitted to use the prefect's bathroom from now on. This can be found on the fifth floor. It is the door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password is Rubber Duck." Harry remembered the prefect's bathroom form when he had used it in his fourth year. Ron and Hermione had access to that bathroom for the last year, "Why didn't they tell me the password?" He thought to himself with a slight annoyance. "I would have told them if I was a prefect instead of Ron." Dumbledore continued explaining the rules.

"It is preferable that only one person uses the prefect bathroom at any time. For this reason there is a lock, and so I would advise you not to use the Alohomora spell." Harry blushed deeply. Surely Dumbledore couldn't be suggesting what it sounded like he was suggesting.

"Also Prefects will be helping with school events. This year the only event which currently needs organising is the school dance which is to take place. I think the student body thoroughly enjoyed it when we did it for our guests, and I'm giving serious consideration to it being an annual event." Harry felt a little glum at this topic. Whilst it didn't fill him with the dread he felt in his fourth year, the person he was most likely to ask was currently without soul.

"I think that is all isn't it Minerva?" Asked Dumbledore. Harry looked at Professor McGonagall who had stood there silently the whole time. She coughed and said the words "Head boy and girl." Dumbledore looked confused for a moment before he replied "Oh yes. If you yourself need any guidance then the best thing to do would be to ask either the head boy or head girl. Our head boy this year is Adam, and our head girl is Helen. Harry looked at the head boy who nodded. He was tall and had short black hair and dark brown eyes he had a scar running diagonally down across his left eye. The girl was unremarkable. "One more thing I should add actually. As you may have noticed Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson are no longer prefects. This is because of failure to abide by the rules. This is also a sign to you that you are not invincible and not always right. It is therefore my pleasure that the new replacements are Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini, who are both taking responsibility for Slytherin."

Harry stopped at this comment. What did Dumbledore mean taking responsibility for Slytherin? This was news to Harry. He knew he was replacing Draco, and that because of this Slytherin only had one 6th year prefect, but he wasn't aware that made his role different? Would he have to tell them off?

They all looked at him as if they had only just noticed his presence despite the fact he shared a train carriage with them for several hours. Blaise managed to avoid attracting attention as she skulked at the back. She was of medium height with shoulder length blonde hair.

"So with that all said you are free to leave." The prefects began to file out as Dumbledore got up from his desk. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the last to leave, so they made their way down the spiral staircase along with the headmaster. "We should be in time for the end of dinner." He remarked. "Of course it doesn't actually end until I say, so I do have an advantage when making that assumption." Said Dumbledore shrewdly. Once he was certain everyone else was out of earshot he added,

"Harry I shall be wishing to speak to you shortly after you accompany the students to the dormitories." Harry realised that this was the meeting for the Order of the Phoenix. "I hope those first years run back to the dormitories so I can get on with the meeting" He thought to himself as he stepped into the great hall. He was exhausted, and the sooner things were over and done with, the better.


	11. The Odd Prefect UPDATED

Harry took his empty seat back at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore strode up to the teachers table where he resumed his place in the centre. As he stood and stared down at the students a silence spread across the hall.

"Greetings," He began. "It would seem that although the hour is late we still have business to take care of. I know you are all quite tired and would greatly care to retire to your dormitories for the night. However, some of you can not do so since you don't currently have a dormitory. I am referring to the first years, who have not yet been assigned to a school house." Harry looked to the side of Dumbledore and saw Professor McGonagall holding the sorting hat and the three-legged stool. "We shall therefore begin the sorting." The stool was placed on the floor and the hat sitting on it. Harry watched eagerly as the hat sat in silence. What would the sorting hats song be like this year? He watched carefully as the hat looked at the students and opened up at a seam to resemble a face. It spoke in a gruff voice, which several new students seemed quite alarmed by. Harry listened carefully to the sorting hats new song.

Welcome students in first year

To start your magical career,

You will have to try me on

And I will tell where you belong

In Gryffindor are those so brave

For their friends they face the grave

They are also strong of heart

Is this where you will find your start?

The Hufflepuff will always build

On friendly allies, and those strong willed.

They are righteous, good and true

Is Hufflepuff the one for you?

In Ravenclaw you will find

Those quick of wit and smart of mind

That clever lot is what you see

Is this where you're destined to be?

In Slytherin may be your fate

They long for power of first rate

They're power hungry, sly of mind

If you are so you'll find your kind

What will suit you, you'll soon know

As I will tell you where to go

So try me on, I shall decided

Where your future shall reside

Cheers erupted from around the hall. Harry was relieved that the sorting hats song wasn't so dark as last year. The last thing the students needed was an ominous warning. He watched as the first timed student was called forward.

"Adaldoh, Teo." Professor McGonagall called as a very small boy made his way over to the stool. The hat took its time before finally shouting out

"Hufflepuff!" A chorus of cheers was heard as the boy made his way over to the table. Harry sat there and cheered as the first student of Gryffindor was called out. It was a girl called Cameron Bailie. She was short and had long brown hair. At the front she had blond highlights.

As the sorting hat yelled out Gryffindor she jumped up and walked over to the table smiling. As they went through the names and got to around the letter m, Harry felt exhaustion taking hold of him. As he looked around the hall the cheers were now quiet and unenthusiastic. Several people had actually fallen asleep in their seats. "Mariko, Dani." He watched as the girl was sorted into Gryffindor. She had shoulder length light brown hair. And blue eyes. She looked excited as she made her way to sit with a group of first year girls at the far end of the table. The names continued and still the people were being sorted. Finally they neared the end as only a few people remained. "Weatherlight, Maximillian." Professor McGonagall called out. A confident looking boy with steely blonde hair walked forwards. The hat had only just touched him when it shouted Gryffindor. He walked over and took one of the empty seats at the Gryffindor table. The sorting finally finished with someone called "Alex Zadah" being sorted into Ravenclaw. Dumbledore rose stiffly.

"I know how it is so very late and you can't wait to get to sleep. In some cases this seems to literally be the case." He said as he glanced at some Slytherins who were snoring exceptionally loudly in their seats. "So I shall test your patience no further. You may now return to your dormitories. Prefects shall be leading the way." Harry got up proudly and gave his eyes a rub as he tried to stave off sleep for just a little longer. He made sure his shiny prefect badge was clearly visible for the new students. The rest of the Gryffindor table got up. Hermione and Ron looked pretty bored. The fifth year prefects were hovering aimlessly next to them.

He looked and saw the head boy, Adam, making his way over towards them. Harry only just noticed that he had in fact been sitting on the same table as them, and was therefore a Gryffindor. Harry supposed it was his entirely unremarkable appearance which prevented him from being committed to memory.

"Hey" he said to no one in particular. "You don't mind if I rush back to you? I want to check out my new room, and well, it doesn't take all of us to show the way does it." Harry shook his head. Adam the turned away and made a dash for the exit of the hall.

"Excuse me, first years can you please come over here?" asked Hermione politely as she tried to be heard over the tired grumblings. The first year Gryffindors just stood around like a bunch of lost sheep.

"That doesn't work. You can't be polite with them." Ron sighed. "Oy! Get over here now!" He bellowed. Harry smiled at Ron's lack of subtlety, but none the less it seemed to work, as the students came traipsing over towards them.

"You're Harry Potter?" Asked one of the students as he stared up at Harry. About half the first year students turned to look at Harry with wide eyes. Probably the half form wizarding families. Harry didn't like where this conversation could be headed, and was thankful when Hermione started speaking.

"My names Hermione Granger." She said in a way that sounded awfully rehearsed. "And this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. We are the sixth year prefects," Before he could continue he felt a sharp punch in his kidneys. He turned round angrily. He wasn't sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't to find the Slytherin prefect in his year glaring up at him. "Zabeezee or something?" He thought as he tried to remember the name.

"You are a Slytherin prefect!" She snapped, hating every word she had to speak to him. Harry gave a groan as he remembered what Dumbledore had said. He had hoped he had simply imagined it, but it seemed that the fact was very real.

"I'm supposed to help you?" He asked as he hazarded a guess at what she might want. He was also trying to act like he wasn't in pain. There might be some internal bleeding; he didn't want to rule it out. "Should probably get it checked on later." He thought.

"What about all the other prefects? You have them in fifth and seventh year don't you?" He asked. Whilst Dumbledore might have hopes that Harry could ensure the Slytherin students behaved, there were still four other prefects. Hopefully he should be able to coast along with minimal effort, Weasley style.

"They ran off. I don't deal with kids." She spat. They stared off for a moment, before Harry felt unable to hold her gaze. He turned to Hermione to give her one more bewildered look before he was dragged away.

Harry found the herd of first year Slytherin students waiting by the entrance to the hall. Some had already gone ahead, deciding to follow other students. Of course they would probably get lost and not be seen for three days, but then this was Hogwarts. If students didn't go missing then you knew something was wrong.

"Hey guys, are you ready to get to the dorm?" He said as he tried to stir up some excitement. That's what you did with kids wasn't it? Being an only child, and the Weasley's having no children younger than Ginny, he had very little experience with someone five or six years younger than he.

"Why is he talking to us?" One of the students asked with a confused expression. "He isn't a Slytherin." Harry gritted his teeth. They weren't as bad as the older students. It seems it got worse as they went along. Still, it wasn't a promising start.

"I'm meant to help you out since Slytherin only have one prefect from the sixth year."

"Why?"

"Because the previous ones broke the rules, and there weren't two new people who were suitable."

"Why?"

"How do I know, maybe they were all badly behaved." He growled impatiently. He knew this to be the case. There wasn't a single person he could think of who hadn't joined in with Draco's childish games in previous years. "Anyway, I'm sure you are tired, let's not stand about chatting. I'm sure you want to see the common room, and where you will be sleeping." He continued as he walked out of the hall. The students and the prefect girl who had punched him followed.

"You killed you-know-who didn't you? That's what I was told." Asked one of the students eagerly. "That's what my parents told me."

"Well I don't know." Harry replied humbly. "It looks to me like he is still alive so I guess I didn't really do anything." He didn't want to go into the whole dead again alive again thing. It was confusing even to him sometimes.

"But what…" A boy began before he was interrupted.

"Don't talk to him. Slytherins don't talk to Harry Potter." Blaise said as she made an effort to look straight ahead. It seemed they heeded her warning, for no further small talk was made. Harry was actually grateful for this.

The rest of the walk past in relative silence.

"You should be careful not to fall off the stairs!" He said to the group as they got to the moving staircases. He felt he should say something informative. As they started walking up some stairs another set swung round over their head. He did a good job of remembering the way, and only made one wrong turn. The Slytherin prefect made an angry coughing sound to draw his attention. He got the distinct impression she wouldn't have signalled at all that he was going the wrong way, had half the students not been following him.

Eventually, and none too soon for Harry's liking, they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room located in the dungeon. The hidden passage revealed itself, and everyone excluding himself filed in, without so much as a thanks.

"Ungrateful lot." He grumbled, as he got the impression that somehow, he had gotten the short end of the straw. "Anyway, time to get going. Wouldn't want to be late." He thought as he took on a brisk walk. Wanting to arrive promptly was only part of the reason for his expedience. It was also generally understood, amongst three of the houses at least, that spending too long near the Slytherin dungeon affected ones brain. It was the only logical explanation.

As he walked he found himself deep in contemplation. It was the first time he had been alone since he had heard about Cho, and so he finally allowed himself to consider the situation, without the fear that the inner pain might show through the mere veneer of sanity. He hoped she would be alright. Dumbledore was seldom wrong, so it stood to reason that on this occasion too, his suppositions would be correct. If not then his hands would only serve to be further stained with blood of those whose demise had been quickened because of his existence. Cho: Soulless. His parents: Dead. Sirius: Dead.

He felt anger within him as he remembered How Sirius had died trying to save him. His heart ached to think that he had lost the closet thing he would probably have to a father. Then there was Cho. "She must be so lonely. Floating round not knowing what has happened to her. I bet they will go after Ron next, or maybe Hermione or Ginny." He contemplated with anger. And he knew there would be a next time, with a certainty he wished he could question. He was deep in thought to the extent that his arrival before the statue of the gargoyle was inducing of suprise.

"Humbug," He said. The gargoyle sprang to life and hopped to the side. Harry watched as it stood there. "No chance of a bow then." He muttered under his breath without any real expectation. The gargoyle put a hand behind its back and did a graceful bow which caught him unexpectedly. "Cool, thanks" He said as he stepped past it towards the spiral staircase. He made his way to the top of the stairs before reaching out to knock on the door. Just as he went to slam his knuckle against it, the door swung open.

A quick inspection would have told Harry that Moody had been watching through the door with his magical eye. He had therefore reached out and opened the door for Harry. It just happened however that Harry wasn't paying much attention to the door when it opened. The result was thus: Harry raised his hand, the door was opened, and he then proceeded to give a quick hard knock on Moody's already bent nose. "

Ow! Watch it lad!" Said Moody in pain. Harry's eyes widened as he stared at what he had just done. People had been sent to Azkaban for less. "You don't want to go conking me noggin"

Trying his best to pretend the last fine seconds had not transpired, he looked round the office to see several members of the Order were apparently already there waiting.

"Glad you could make it Potter." Said the oily voice of Snape, as he leant against one wall. "Don't rush on out account."

"Very well," Began Dumbledore "Now that all those who will be attending are here, if we shall start then that would be good. After all I know some of you are tired and would like to be getting to bed." Dumbledore flicked his wand and a dozen squashy chairs appeared round the room. Harry sat down gratefully in the chair that appeared directly behind him. It was comfortable and soft, but not as soft as the prefect carriage chairs.

It seemed Arthur was able to attend, but not Molly. He was presently in pyjamas, which was perhaps a sign that he had been sleeping, and given the hour this would be entirely possible. Alternatively it could be viewed as a bold statement of the undisputable truth, that pyjamas are better than clothes.

"For the first matter, I would like to report that Harry has now officially past the initiation test. Nymphadora and I performed the test on Harry after the previous meeting, and by the evidence that he is still alive, the test was a success." Harry cast a glance at Remus who looked happily at Harry.

"We shall therefore be talking about the regrettable events which have transpired today. As I'm sure you all know, The Hogwarts Express was ambushed by what we assume to be Voldemort's entire Dementor army which we established to be as many as one thousand. Luckily Harry was saved thanks to some good timing on my behalf and the hard work of Kingsley, Alastor, Remus and Nymphadora." Tonks seemed slightly annoyed as Dumbledore kept calling her by her first name. Nothing was said however.

Harry was surprised by the wording Dumbledore had used. He made it sound as if the only thing that mattered was the fact Harry was ok. Did he not care about the other students?

"Most of the Dementors fled but we did manage to kill about one hundred of them. This is good news for us as Voldemort's forces are now weakened. I do however fear that the failure of the attack may drive Voldemort to make more attacks on the wizarding and muggle world, in order to firmly establish that failure is a rare occurrence.

"We shall therefore have to be using the time turners to prevent his attacks as was mentioned in last months briefing. I trust those of you who were not in attendance, received the minutes? In order to protect the ones we care for we must remain anonymous to Voldemort. As we know the Deaths Eaters strength is in their anonymity. Together they can strike as one, but when they are divided they are all but invisible. If we wish to match this strength then we must do the same. Of course Voldemort will have suspicions about some of us, especially Alastor and I, but there is no reason to confirm this belief, less some of us become more serious targets. We shall therefore be carrying out our rescue missions in disguise."

As he said this he glanced at Harry, who was relieved to hear that Voldemort wouldn't know it was him. He didn't need his friends attracting attention. Outside of their annual confrontation, which normally coincided with the end of the school year, Voldemort wouldn't have any reason to suspect him. Harry had often speculated that Voldemort had a holiday home he frequented in the summer, and so liked to get his evil rampaging out of the way just before he left for the beach. Professor McGonagall held up a mask that was a dark black colour. "These are the masks we shall be using to hide our identity." In Harry's Opinion the looked quiet sinister, but then he supposed anything less than a clown smile painted on it would come across as such.

"You may choose what to wear with the mask. We do not wish for you to have a set uniform as this would suggest that we work in complete secrecy as does Voldemort. We are individuals, and we value the collective opinion, so should dress as such." Harry imagined wearing the mask with his t shirt and old jeans, and decided it would be nicer if his clothes were a little grander. The teachers continued to talk as Harry sat and listened, in the warm office and the comfortable chair.

He felt his eyelids closing and though in a distant part of his brain he knew sleeping during Order meetings was something of a faux pas, he could not relay this to his eyes. He fought the loosing battle and subsequently drifted into a sleep as they spoke. Harry dreamt of the Order rescuing a family. He dreamt of how Voldemort was standing there laughing at him. He dreamt about how his parents had been murdered. He then dreamt of how he was facing Voldemort. Harry saw himself raising his wand. He saw himself pointing it straight at Voldemort.

He heard his voice echoing inside his head as he yelled the Avada Kedavra curse. He saw the skeletal figure of Voldemort fall to the ground, followed by a maniac laugh he recognised as his own. Following this the images changed, Whilst until now it seemed his dreams told of events to come, he didn't understand what he was seeing now. There were burning buildings and screaming families. He saw Hermione crying on the floor and heard her begging him to stop. "Harry, please stop. Harry please! It doesn't need to be this way."

"It does Hermione." He replied, though his voice sounded different. "I am free from weakness now. I am not afraid to do what must be done. Death is a part of war. Until you embrace this you cannot hope to win the battle."

He jumped as the dream disappeared from before him and he realised he had fallen asleep. Later, when he had chance to reflect he would suppose the nature of his dream was due to the Dementors, draining away his hope, and painting a dark future in his mind.

"Harry please, it won't be much longer." Said Dumbledore. He realised it was this which had woken him up. He could feel people staring at him as he sat there. Unsure what to do he gave a chesty cough.

"Sorry I must have fallen asleep."

"There is no need to apologise, it is quiet understandable given the hour. Anyway we are nearly finished so should not be much longer. As I was about to say we shall be continuing with your Occlumency lessons. Professor Snape shall continue to tutor you but I am sure Remus will also be more than willing to help you should you require it."

Harry remembered the horrible evening lessons he had spent with Snape. Perhaps he hadn't awoken at all. Maybe this was simply a continuation of the unpleasant visions he had had a moment ago. The remaining minutes of the meeting seemed to pass quickly as he sat there in a tired stupor, staring intently and sitting in a decidedly uncomfortable manner, set on not embarrassing himself again. As the meeting was called to an end they rose.

"Harry I have a few small details to discuss with you. They aren't urgent so we shall leave them till tomorrow, or should I say later today, if you are willing to accept my company on one further occasion." Harry was thankful for being allowed to go to bed rather than stay up discussing boring details, probably relating to his occlumency lessons. He gave a nod, before making his way down the spiral staircase. He found himself walking through the portrait hole a minute later and up to his dormitory. He took off his glasses and pulled on his pyjamas. He made his way into the bathroom where he hastily washed. He trudged over to his bed where he collapsed. He fell asleep instantly, without even pulling the covers over him. He had more vivid dreams that night, like those earlier, but what Harry didn't know is that while he had slept in Dumbledore's office, He had been sleep talking.


	12. First Day Back UPDATED

Harry awoke late the next morning, although it seemed very early. A look at the time would have shown he had slept for ten hours, yet still he felt exhausted. He opened his eyes and listened carefully for the source that had awoken him. He heard a floorboard creek from somewhere to his right. Rubbing his eyes he set about to discover the cause of his awakening. He threw of his duvet and pulled back the red curtains on his four poster bed. A figure was silhouetted against the bright sun shining through the window, which was heating the dormitory up pleasantly. The individual in question was Ron, who was currently engaged in pulling on some old socks that had worn through in several places.

Ron looked up from his desperately trampy socks; his toes clearly sticking out of them, to Harry who was now staring at him.

"Hey Harry I'm glad your awake. It's almost eleven o'clock. Breakfast will be finished soon." He said enthusiastically. Upon meeting Harry's questioning gaze he explained, "Since everyone got to bed late last night, breakfast was delayed for a couple of hours. Everyone's up except for you. Let's hurry up we don't want to miss breakfast do we!" Harry laughed inwardly over his friend's enthusiasm which was seldom associated with topics not pertaining to food, or sports.

He quickly readied himself for the day ahead. He washed his face with some cold water and had a quick go at tidying his hair. He pulled on one of his pairs of old jeans and a long sleeved cream T-shirt displaying the text "funky wizard", which he had received as a birthday present. Thinking about it, he had received lots of new clothes for his birthday. Perhaps it was his friend's kind way of telling him he was unrelentingly unfashionable.

Alternatively it could be that he wasn't an easy person to buy presents for. "What would they buy me? Some battle armour and a four leaf clover?" He thought to himself as he considered what would be the most useful present for him. He left the bathroom to see a disgruntled looking Ron, who was rubbing his stomach as though telling it that he would soon be introducing it to several new friends, bearing names like "Cereal", "Toast" and "Bacon". As he spotted Harry he bore a relieved look.

"About time! Come on Harry, if you spent any longer in there you would be a girl."

As they entered the hall, He noted how it was full with the near entirety of the student body. Harry and Ron both made their way over to a couple of vacant seats at the table, which had probably been reserved by Hermione. Harry sat down next to Ginny whilst Ron sat next to Hermione.

"Good morning" said Ginny happily. Hermione looked up from the copy of the daily Prophet that she had been deeply submerged in.

"Oh hello Harry, Ron." She said in a voice which said her mind was actually somewhere else. Harry looked to Ron to see if see if he had noticed how distant she seemed. Whilst Ron was normally not too astute to others, even he seemed to pick up on something not being quire right.

Harry noted a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hands, and got an inkling of what might be the cause of her present condition.

"Mione can I have a look at that paper please?" She looked up at him now; apparently she was paying attention to him after all. She seemed to consider her options and replied, "There isn't anything about yesterday if that's what you were wondering." He stared at her in a way that said he didn't believe her.

"Um Hermione there is a picture of the Hogwarts express on the front." Hermione quickly looked at the front cover, gave a resigned look and handed it over to Harry.

"I suppose you would have seen it anyway." She said as she turned her attention to some porridge, and let Harry read the article.

He opened to the first page and stared at the article before him.

_An Express Train to Hell_

_Yesterday the Hogwarts Express was attacked by an army of Dementors whilst on route to Hogwarts. The Dementors; which are no longer under ministry control, are now known to be following the orders of You-Know-Who. Yesterday Dementors numbering several hundred (according to eyewitnesses in Hogsmeade) ambushed the train shortly before its arrival. The train was seen approaching from the distance with a swarm of Dementors trying to fight their way in whilst the defenceless students inside huddled in fear. _

_It would seem from our sources that the students were saved thanks to the efforts of headmaster Albus Dumbledore; who was recently reinstated as Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot, and Harry Potter, who has not been seen since his appearance at the Ministry of Magic during the battle against You-Know-Who. Harry Potter, with help from a few substandard Aurors, managed to fend off the army of Dementors until the train arrived at the station of Hogsmeade, at which point Albus Dumbledore was able to render the required assistance. _

_Using the difficult to perform Patronus charm the two managed to repel the attackers. This is believed to be the first time since You-Know-Who was last defeated that Albus Dumbledore has summoned a Patronus. Said to tower the skies at fifty feet high and taking on the form of a dragon, it is said to be the greatest Patronus in all of Europe. For those of you with children currently attending Hogwarts this should put minds at rest, for should another Dementor attack take place against the school, it can be assured that a similar outcome will be delivered._

Until this point Harry wasn't certain what would cause unease in the article. Of course liberties had been taken, and the role Moody and the others played had been all but erased. It was only when he reached the final paragraph that he understood Hermione's reluctance to show him.

_However there is a question which must surely be asked and it is our job to answer. What was the purpose of the attack, and how does Harry Potter figure in to this. For reasons unknown, it appears You-Know-Who is specifically targeting the boy who lived. Perhaps he is targeting his only survivor to prove his power over all, or perhaps he had other more sinister reasons. Regardless of these reasons though, it still remains that Harry Potter is in danger, and what's more, is a danger to those around him. When hexes are flying would you want your child stood next to You-Know-Who's target? It seems that due to the danger he brings to those around him, if the boy who lived was the boy with a conscience, then perhaps he would turn himself over, or at the least take shelter elsewhere, for whilst he is around, one can be sure there is danger._

Harry stared in disbelief as he tried to control his anger. His hands were shaking as the edges of the paper crumpled in his hands. The name Rita Skeeter at the bottom of the article left not even a trace of surprise, for there were surely very few people who would write such an article. The worst part was that the article was true, at least in a sense. Harry was a danger to those around him. That is what he had feared ever since Voldemort's return. It is why he hadn't yet told his best friends about the prophecy, for once they knew that his fate was inextricably tied to Voldemort, they would realise the magnet to death that he was.

Not that he thought his friends to be so shallow, but on some level they would feel this. After all, they had a brain. (Or in Hermione's case it had often been contested she must possess at least one additional brain, perhaps located somewhere in one foot)

"How the hell did this get published?" He asked in the most restrained manner he could muster. He was aware of the looks from those immediately around him, as they sat and waited for his reaction, and whilst he hadn't yet turned round, he felt certain he could feel eyes on the back of his neck.

"Well Harry, I'm afraid that might be only the beginning of what she has planned. It seems we don't have anything to blackmail her with anymore." She explained as she eased the paper from his hands. It hadn't done anything to deserve such violent treatment.

"Why, is she not an Animagus anymore?" He asked sarcastically.

"She is, but I'm afraid it looks like she has finally registered her abilities with the ministry. There is a sideline on page twelve. She is pretending she acquired the ability over the summer, and can only now transform. Of course it will make it harder for her to sneak in on people, but it means she is free to write what she wants."

Harry struggled to think of anything more to be said about Rita Skeeter, and eventually turned his attention back to the article.

"Do you think other students will read the article?" Harry asked with more optimism than he had a right to. As he spotted a few furtive glances of people looking at him he knew the answer.

"Don't worry. Everyone knows how hard you worked to defend us." Hermione said as she tried to cheer him up.

"But they also realise its true? That I am a danger." Harry asked. He was hoping here for words to be said. For someone to change his mind, to put him at ease, but it didn't happen. Hermione went to speak, but came up short of words. Harry turned to Ron, who simply gave a shrug.

"I guess I can't have an easy start to the year can I?" He asked. "If you will excuse me, I need to be on my own a minute." He stood up from his seat, and quickly exited the hall. He didn't know exactly what he planned to do, but it felt wrong to simply sit in the hall when one of his greatest fears had been published. Hopefully, not knowing what he knew, people wouldn't put as much stock in it. Hopefully they wouldn't start avoiding him. He needed his friends. It often felt that they were all there was in his life. A storm of unpleasantness with only the brief interludes of friendship.

He found himself in the common room a moment later. It was as good a place as any. He made his way up the spiral staircase and flopped down on to his bed. Everything was completely quiet except for the distant voices of people laughing out on the Hogwarts grounds. He pulled the curtains around his bed closed. He didn't want to speak to anyone at the moment. He considered what would happen if his friends did leave, what would he have left? "Dobby would love to be my best friend." He thought as he considered running round in the school kitchens and preparing food for everyone. "It would be just like privet drive again. I would be a slave who cooks all day."

But what about Cho? "Would she blame me for what happened to her?" He thought she wouldn't. Whilst she didn't know him like Ron and Hermione did, she chose to be a part of the fight on the train. She could have stayed to the back, but she stood to the front, right behind him, and fought with all her might. It was this that had made her the victim, but he felt, or rather he needed to feel, that she wouldn't blame him.

And then there was Hagrid. "He never judges anyone. He knows what I have been through. He wouldn't desert me because of an article written by that old cow. I could kill someone and he would still believe in me." He lay there for a moment, wallowing in self-pity, when he heard the door open slightly. The person walked over towards his bed.

"Ron I don't think I want to talk right now." He said with a sigh. Ron and Harry were good at pretending things hadn't happened, most guys were. It was easier than talking things out. Unless Ron had come to suggest some Quidditch he wasn't interested.

He heard the figure pause before his curtains were pulled apart. He stared up at the intruder; who much to his surprise wasn't Ron at all, but rather Hermione. He sat up quickly.

"What are you doing here Mione? You shouldn't be in the boy's room. It's off limits?" Was it off limits? It should be. He could be naked! Hermione sat down next to him, she looked worried.

"Harry I came to check on you. We are worried. You shouldn't take it personally. I don't believe you are a danger to us, but even if you were that doesn't matter because we want to be with you. We choose to spend time with you. We didn't have to follow you to the ministry last year, or any of those other times, but we choose to, because we want to. "

"Really, you don't mind?" He asked questioningly. It was amazing how so few words, when they were the right words, could make the difference.

"Absolutely. Don't feel like you are alone, because you are now." She leaned over and gave him a hug.

"Thanks Hermione" He said, whilst returning the embrace. He felt a bit more optimistic, though at the same time overwhelmed with sadness, it was his fault that Cho might never wake up. A tear fell down his cheek as Hermione rubbed his back comfortingly. As he broke the embrace, she was smiling at him. He smiled back, glad to have such good friends. But then something happened that surprised him. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but as stared into her eyes, their lips had met.

Harry and Hermione were in a gentle kiss that wasn't planned, yet was real. Her lips were soft and smooth, and yet so entirely different from Cho's. As they parted a few seconds later there was a certainty; that it was not done in a romantic way, but as an embrace between friends. He knew this, though you would be forgiven for thinking it meant otherwise.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." Hermione explained.

"It's ok." Harry replied softly. "I know what it meant. I understand, because you are my friend." Despite this a mildly awkward atmosphere descended.

"Come on, Ron will be wondering where we got to." She said eventually. As they joined Ron back in the great hall he observed it was quieter now. About half the people must have drifted off outside to enjoy the last of the summer sun.

Harry picked up some toast and the three of them made their way outside. They sat under a tree by the great lake, the same tree that Harry had seen in Snape's pensieve.

"So what are we going to today?" asked Ron. Harry thought about it and replied,

"Well today I need to visit Dumbledore about a few details of the Order." Ron and Hermione looked interested.

"What again?" He asked in a puzzled voice. Harry discussed what he had seen in the meeting, including him falling asleep, but not mentioning the dream.

"You fell asleep! That must have been embarrassing. Falling asleep in front of everyone, especially Snape! For you sake I hope you weren't dribbling on your robe or something." Now that he thought about it, he was glad that he hadn't said or done something embarrassing. He looked out across the lake to see Moody, Tonks, Remus and Kingsley sitting in the shade, and glancing at Harry every ten seconds or so.

"I'm being guarded." He stated, interrupting the others thoughts. They looked around and spotted the adults.

"Well don't be surprised Harry. When you are outside is when you are most likely to be attacked." Harry considered this and realised that it was indeed true. "So what shall we go and do next?

After breakfast, which was actually nearer to lunch time today, the three of them went to visit Hagrid. It seemed he was doing well. Grawp was proving to be tamer than he was a year ago. This was evidenced in the fact Hagrid wasn't covered in bruises. He was exited about taking his first N.E.W.T class, and had a box to one side of hit hut which seemed to keep shaking every so often. Harry and Ron gave it sceptical looks as they realised this year was likely to be just as dangerous as any of his other classes. After some tea and biscuits (though one would be hard pushed to quantify in what way they were biscuits. They didn't seem edible for a start) they went on their way.

"I think I will go and visit Cho. I want to see how she is doing." Harry said as they walked up towards the castle.

"Would you like us to come with you?" Hermione enquired. He thanked her for her offer, but advised that he would prefer to do go alone.

"I won't be too long. Probably only about fifteen minutes, I can catch up with you guys in a little while if that's ok?" As he walked into the hospital wing he looked around the room to see it seemingly empty. He knew madam Pomfrey would be lurking somewhere in the shadows, but for now he couldn't locate her.

To one end of the room he spotted a bed that had been curtained off from view. He made his way towards the bed and pulled aside the hospital curtain. Lying in the bed was the body of Cho Chang. He stared at the lifeless figure as she lay with her eyes closed, seemingly in peace. Harry took a seat next to her. He sat in silence, not knowing what to say, and not knowing whether to say anything. It was strange, normally when someone is in a coma there is a doctor saying that you should talk to the patient, but in this instance, when the patient has no soul how can one justify talking? He decided try holding her hand. It felt oddly cool, yet her fingers, slender and gentle, seemed to fit perfectly into his.

At least with some form of physical intimacy it didn't feel so strange sitting in silence. He held her hand close to his heart as he let his emotions press in on him. Guilt was his primary feeling, yet as he stared at her, he felt more certain that he had before, that she wouldn't blame him. He thought he might cry, but before this could happen he found his sadness turning to anger.

"I will get revenge for you." He vowed. "Voldemort did this to you, and I intend to fight him. I want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. My revenge might not be quick, for I do not yet have the strength, but I vow I will do it. I must, for it has been foretold. I am destined to fight him, so your honour will be my ammunition." Her face remained motionless. She looked angelic as she lay in the bed, and as he sat there, he lost track of time, until an hour had passed.

"Hello Harry." Said a gentle voice, as if greeting an old friend at a funeral. "Are you all right?" Harry nodded as he turned to see Hermione. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sorry, I said I wouldn't be long" Harry explained as he made his face a mask.

"You don't need to apologise. I'm not your keeper; you can spend as long as you like here." She explained. "It's understandable that you would want to be here."

"What time is it?" He asked as he changed the subject. "Is it lunch time?"

"Yeah I think it is." She said as she looked down at her watch. She wasn't going to push him to talk about something he wasn't ready for. He would deal with things in his own way, and she would be there for him if he needed her.

A little while later the trio were sat in the great hall, eating lunch. Harry's meal consisted of boiled potatoes, vegetables and some sort of meat. He decided not to eat too much because he didn't want to be stuffed during the feast tonight, where they always had great food. As he finished his food he looked up at the teachers table. Dumbledore and McGonagall were the only teachers sat there. It seemed perhaps a lot of the other teachers had lessons to prepare for, or had simply taken the opportunity of a day without lessons, to pop down to Hogsmeade.

As Harry stared up at the headmaster, it seemed Dumbledore had a sixth sense, because it sappeared he knew he was being watched. He turned away from his conversation momentarily and looked down at Harry. He gave him a very small nod in a way which seemed to say, "I will speak to you after lunch." Another five minutes had passed before his friends finished eating. As they got up and walked out of the great hall, Dumbledore gave another knowing glance. The three of them started making their way towards the Gryffindor tower. Just as Harry rounded the corner he came face to face with Dumbledore. "Good afternoon Harry." He said in voice as though their meeting in the corridor were mere coincidence. Harry considered that Dumbledore must have taken some short cuts unknown to him in order to have ended up in front of them.

"Hello Professor" Said Hermione.

"Hello Miss Granger," he said, tuning his attention to her. "I trust you are all feeling better today?"

"Still pretty tired" Harry confessed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yes that is to be expected. Performing a large quantity of difficult spells can leave the user exhausted; I believe you may have a lesson explaining in more detail later on in the year." He stated. "I was wondering Harry, if perhaps now would be a good time to speak with me?" Harry looked to Ron and Hermione to see if they would mind. They obviously didn't.

"Yeah now would be fine with me." Harry said.

"Ok then, would you like to accompany me to my office? I often mind my best ideas come to me whilst in a seated position" He explained as he began to lead the way to his office. Harry walked along the corridor just behind Dumbledore, who moved surprisingly swiftly for an old man. Harry had to take long strides in order to keep up. They rounded the last corner and came face to face with the stone gargoyle, guarding the door to Professor Dumbledore's office. The headmaster didn't speak the password, yet the gargoyle still jumped aside and did a low bow to him.

"I often find…" Dumbledore explained as they walked up the steps to his office. "That my office being located on the same wing of the castle as the great hall; provides numerous advantages. Why when I fist took the position of headmaster many years ago I discovered that I was able to achieve an additional fine minutes of sleep in the morning and still arrive in the great hall for breakfast before I otherwise would have, had I retained my previous office." As they reached the top of the stairs he walked in and sat down behind his desk. "Take a seat Harry." He said, indicating the usual chair which sat opposite him. Harry sat down and stared at Dumbledore, waiting for him to start speaking about whatever it was he wished to discuss.

"Well Harry it seemed you missed some of the meeting last night." Dumbledore stated as he peered over the top of his spectacles.

"Yeah I was slightly tired." Harry said, trying to justify himself.

"Think no more on the matter. Exhaustion affects us all, and I would not wish to berate you for this. I only mention this because it will lead in to one of the points we will discuss. Now shall we get down to business? I'm sure you don't want this to take all day, I certainly don't." He said with a smile.

"Well Harry, the most important thing we need to discuss, it is about your Occlumency lessons. They are more important than nearly everything else you do this year, Harry. You shall be having lessons twice a week on Tuesdays and on Fridays. They will each last one-hour, and will be from nine till ten." Harry dreaded the thought of spending two hours alone with Snape every week. "The other thing, which you missed when you fell asleep, is how we are going to be arranging our meetings and how we will assemble before an attack." Harry had not given much thought to this. Usually someone just told him when he needed to do something. "We will be using a system similar to that of Miss Grangers. He held up a gold galleon.

"Hey I know how it works." Said Harry in excitement.

"Yes Harry, I'm sure you do. After all it was a very good idea. And since they were created for Dumbledore's army…" And he smiled as he said this. "It would seem only suitable that they are really used, in my army, though I of course do not claim ownership or superiority. This will be yours Harry," he said, while handing Harry one of the large gold coins, who took it and slipped it into his pocket.

"You said me falling asleep lead to one of the points?" He asked as he considered what had been said. Nothing said seemed particularly related.

"Yes, the final point, though possibly quite important. The dream you had." Harry wondered briefly how the headmaster could know that he had dreamt about winning the Quidditch world cup last night. Then his mind clicked. It was much more likely he was referring to the murderous dream he had while he was in this room last night. That had to bee what Dumbledore was talking about.

"You know about my dream in yesterdays meeting?" Harry asked curiously. Was it possible Dumbledore had used Legilimancy on him whilst he slept?

"Well Harry. It was rather hard not to. You were sleep talking very loudly." Harry panicked. He hadn't meant to dream it. It just happened. "Harry, the thing is, the thing that some of us in the order were concerned about; Remus in particular, we heard you shouting the Avada Kedavra curse at someone. You seemed to be enjoying it as well. Harry it would seem that you have some dark feelings in you. Not much, or else the Goulad would have killed you by now, but enough there, to surface, as they did last night. Harry, we fear that you may get lost along the path of what is right and wrong. Even when the cause is good, the wrong means must not be used. I am certain I know as to who it was in your dream you were fighting, but this is still not the cause of action we would advise you to take.

"It is possible that Lord Voldemort was trying to control your mind, but it would seem that is unlikely. Although Voldemort certainly could try, and during a meeting with the Order would be an excellent time for him; he could find out about plans and about the members, the reason that it is unlikely is because this room is guarded against any magic of the mind. I'm afraid therefore that what we heard were your own feelings. Something which we must try and correct. I would not wish to suggest you have ill intentions, but I hope you will understand when I say most evil comes from misguided individuals who believe they are doing the right thing.

"Voldemort for example, believes that the world would be a better place if non pure blood wizards were eradicated. In the same way the evil wizard Oldman also believes that it would be best if magic had never passed beyond the original five." Was Dumbledore comparing him to a dark lord? It sure felt like it. "When you do have your final confrontation against Voldemort, it would be best if you could defeat him without using dark magic"

"Yes sir, I'm sorry." He said as he apologised for something he hadn't even done yet. He wasn't evil; he didn't want people to get hurt; well except perhaps Voldemort, and the Death Eaters, and Umbridge and Snape. He would definitely not want to upset Cho or Hermione as he had in the dream. "I will try my best not to use any dark magic, though if I may say so, I think you're wrong." The headmaster raised his eyebrows at the comment. "I'm not evil. I don't have any evil inside of me. It was just a nightmare that was all."

Dumbledore looked knowingly at Harry.

"Perhaps, but there is still value in being told what is not applicable to one. I was once told by a young witch the various techniques in which I may keep my wizard hats in good condition. Now as you may have observed, all of my hats are always in, what I believe to be, a rather agreeable condition. Still, with the advice I was given, I could choose to relay it to someone else whose hats are in want of some care. Just because an opinion doesn't appear relevant or correct, does not mean it should hold any less value."

Harry stood contemplating the grandness of the old mans hats when he spoke.

"I believe that is all I have to say on the matter. I won't keep you any longer. I'm sure you would wish to catch up with your friends." He said as he rose from behind his desk. Harry was relieved that the meeting was over. It had proved a lot less enjoyable than he had expected. He turned around and made his way over to the spiral staircase. As he reached for the door handle he had one more thought.

"Sir I have to ask, making me a prefect for Slytherin, are you sure that is wise." At this Dumbledore smiled, with a mildly bemused expression.

"I am certain of very little, but I do believe it can only be a good thing to build ties with other houses. I appreciate I might have given you more of a challenge than you had expected, but if I didn't think you would gain from it I wouldn't have done so. Why, there hasn't been a problem had there?"

"No…" Harry said uncertainly. It wasn't a problem exactly, but the girl from last night had told the others not to talk to him, and he knew the older Slytherins, especially the sixth years, would sooner punch him than talk to him. "You know they don't like me." He put it mildly.

"Perhaps they just need to get to know you." Dumbledore beamed. "Stick with it. If you feel like you aren't making progress by Christmas then let me know, and we can review the situation."

Harry thanked the headmaster. At least the prefect situation wouldn't be a complete disaster. It might only be for the next three months.


	13. Quidditch UPDATED

As he arrived back in the common room he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him. Hermione was reading one of her school books whilst Ron seemed to be doodling on some parchment.

"So what did Dumbledore say to you?" He asked as he spotted Harry. He told them about the meeting and about the gold galleons they would be using.

"Really? It's just like the ones I made!" said Hermione excitedly as he showed her his coin. She apparently took it as a personal compliment that Dumbledore would use one of her ideas.

Harry skimmed over any mention about his dream, and went straight on to the part about him being a Slytherin prefect.

"You don't think I'm ever meant to go in to their common room do you, and you know, make sure they aren't messing about?" He enquired with trepidation.

"I don't believe so." Hermione replied after thinking on the matter for a moment. "You would have been told the password if you needed to know it. I wouldn't worry too much. Most prefect duties are general; it is only a few of the things like the start of term feast or other formal events where you need to specifically look after your house."

Having reassured Harry that he wouldn't have too horrible a time ahead of him, she returned to her book. Harry looked round and spotted Adam sitting on his own in a corner, reading a magazine about Quidditch.

"Hey Ron, shall we go speak to Adam? He might be able to give us some tips on dealing with difficult students" Ron shrugged.

"Might as well. I haven't got anything better to do."

The two of them made there way over to him.

"Hi Adam." Said Harry as he bounced on his feet. A habit he had managed to pick up from Tonks. Adam looked up from his magazine.

"Hi guys. What's up?"

"Not much, we just thought we would see how you were doing. Wondered if perhaps you had some advice on how to do a good job being a prefect?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, much about how to do a good job. You guys will know more than me. I wasn't a prefect before. In fact I'm new to the school."

"That will explain why I haven't seen you around before now." Ron exclaimed.

"Well you see I used to go to Mirrari Academy of Magical Arts, it is a school in Australia. I only transferred over here during the summer. My parents wanted me to stay over there. Mirrari starts at a later age you see, so it's very rare for people to transfer to Hogwarts, or if they do they end up in a year of two below their age. I was head of my class so I just managed to make it in. I spent a good part of the summer swatting, so I hope I won't be in the bottom of the class, but you never know. I think professor Dumbledore might have just made me head boy so that I would get to know people better. Does that sound like the sort of thing he would do?"

"Yeah, that could well be it." Harry said. It was a known fact that on occasion even Dumbledore slippers had an ulterior motive. "Why did you transfer though?"

"Well I am originally from England, which is why my accent isn't that strong. My parents are Herbologists and they were assigned to a big project in Australia, so we moved when I was eight. They finished their work though in April, so I decided that after I finished my school year there I would come over here, otherwise I have to stay at school over the holidays."

"Are they any good at Quidditch over there?" asked Ron enthusiastically. "Yeah I guess. I mean they are about the same as over here really. One of my friends was a seeker for his schoolhouse. He was pretty good, could probably go pro in a couple of years."

"Better than Harry?" Adam glanced at Harry and replied in a way that suggested he was choosing his words carefully.

"I don't know. I haven't seen you play yet. Are you on the school team?"

"Yeah I have been since first year. If you are in to Quidditch we should have some spots open for Chasers. You should try out."

"Yeah I might do that." Adam replied with a smile. With the conversation at a suitable end, they excused themselves.

A couple of hours later, half way through a game of exploding snap, McGonagall walked into the room. She made her way over to the notice board where she pinned up a notice, before exiting. Harry turned his attention back to the game when the pile of cards in front of him exploded. He cradled his burnt hand as he turned to Ron.

"Do you think it's about tryouts?" He asked as they went to see what had been posted up. There was an important looking piece of parchment pinned to the middle. Harry's eyes scrolled down and as he got to the bottom he cursed. It read:

_All 6th and 7th year students are expected to go on school day trips as part of the N.E.W.T course. It is therefore essential that we have a consent form from your legal guardians. Failure to produce a consent form to Professor M. McGonagall by the 31st of September will result in the student being unable to attend the school trip, and will therefore affect the student grade. It is essential that the student fill in a form in order to get a good grade. There will be trouble for any students who let me down! _

_Professor M. McGonagall _

"Oh bugger." Harry thought to himself. This was certainly not good news. Since Sirius' accident last year, Harry's legal guardians were once again The Dursley's. This meant that he would have to write to them asking for them to sign it. He couldn't imagine how they would agree. If they knew that his grades would suffer thanks to them, then they would probably do everything within their power not to sign it.

"That's a pity about the School trips. I won't be able to get the Dursley's to sign it. Maybe Dumbledore could sign it for me, he knows I won't be able to go otherwise." He said to Ron glumly. Ron looked to him with a vacant expression.

"Oh what? Yeah the school trip. No it's just that I was expecting there to be a Quidditch sign up sheet. It would be nice to see who signs up because I don't want a bunch of duffers flying with us." Ron said with disinterest in the school trips. Harry looked and saw indeed there were no other sheets.

"Well Ron it is only the first day. It will probably be a couple more days before McGonagall remembers we are three chasers short." Ron considered what he had said.

"Yeah you're probably right mate. Still, dinner must be ready about now. Shall we head down?"

They made their way down the corridors towards the Great Hall. As they walked in they noted that it was already full of people. The enchanted ceiling showed a clear starry night, a black blanket scattered with dots of yellow. Harry sat down at the table at the end nearest the teachers. Ron sat next to him while Hermione sat opposite.

"Who do you think the new teachers will be?" Ron asked curiously. Harry looked to the teacher's table which was more full than normal, due to the addition of Remus, Tonks, Moody and Kingsley. Harry then looked next to the empty seat next to them. The defence against the dark arts teacher obviously hadn't arrived yet. He sat and waited patiently.

Dumbledore was dressed in a flowing robe of shimmering purple. He was engaged in a discussion with a very animated Hagrid, who was sitting to his right.

Harry directed his attention back to the rest of the hall. The last few remaining students crept into the hall. Now it seemed all the students were here, all of them except Cho that is.

"It seems weird sitting here doesn't it, without the sorting of the first years and everything. Still I'm not complaining. It means we get to eat sooner." Said Ron, who was staring down anxiously at his golden plate, willing his dinner to appear.

Harry glanced towards the door to see someone walking through it. They were tall and they walked with grace. They moved along swiftly as their silvery hair flowed out behind them. Everyone's head turned to face them, or at least every boy's head. Harry found himself watching her moving. She seemed to radiate an aura of superiority. She was headed straight towards the teacher's table. Harry looked to Dumbledore, who had now finished talking to Hagrid, and was waiting patiently for the woman to make her way to the table. Harry heard hushed whispers as she walked past people. The woman finally reached the end of the hall, where she made her way round to the back of the teacher's table on the raised up platform.

She sat down in the vacant seat and grinned a beautiful smile of pearly white teeth. Harry could hear what the teachers were saying as he strained his ears. Dumbledore looked to her and said. "Good to see you Professor Delacour."

They exchanged brief words which Harry didn't manage to catch. Dumbledore then rose from his seat in order to address the students. The hall fell into silence as he stood, dressed in his flowing purple cloak and pointed hat. He stared down upon them.

"Welcome everybody, to a new year at Hogwarts. I know I said that yesterday, but I haven't learnt a new speech yet, so I shall try my best to make this up as I go along.

"Anyway, It is good to see you all made your way here. I hope you all enjoyed your day off today. Lessons however, shall return as normal tomorrow so don't stay up too late. Now down to the more boring bits. As usual the forest is out of bounds to all students. Mr. Filch has reminded me to tell you that the list of items banned from school has been altered to include every single product available from Weasley-Wizard Wheezes." Ron laughed about this before the sudden realisation that he had a bag containing dozens of illegal school items. "Now I'm sure some of you are interested to know who the new Defence against Dark arts teacher is. Or perhaps I should say Teachers."

"I would like to present to you the four new Defence against Dark arts teachers." He smiled as Remus and the others stood up. The great hall broke into applause, as there was a chorus of whispers,

"Four?!" he heard many people saying, and from the Gryffindor table Harry heard lots of people saying things along the lines of

"Wow Professor Lupin is back." Harry looked up at the teacher table to see Remus smiling at him, unable to control his big grin. Harry smiled back. In all his years at Hogwarts Remus had been his favourite teacher. Moody was also good although I little bit too enthusiastic at times, Tonks… well he would have to wait and see. As for Kingsley, he was certain that the man would be quite capable, if a little boring. Ron was clapping enthusiastically, whilst Hermione was beaming.

"Professor Shacklebolt, Lupin, Moody and Tonks." Dumbledore spoke loudly over the students. The applause increased once more and then eventually died away. Dumbledore cleared his throat as he continued. "And now I would like to introduce to you, Professor Delacour, our new Divination's teacher. Unfortunately after certain incidents last year, Professor Trelawney decided not to return into teaching, so professor Delacour will be filling her position. The hall cheered, Ron turned to Harry looking slightly glum.

"I should have chosen divinations after all. That's typical as soon as we drop a subject a decent teacher comes along." By decent he meant decent looking.

Once the cheers had died down again, Dumbledore continued to speak.

"Now I have some important news that will be very bad for some of you, whilst others will find it very good. Either way you should find it exciting. I'm afraid top tell you that this year, there shall be no school Quidditch matches." As Dumbledore said this there was a few seconds of silence before the hall broke into madness. Several members of the schools Quidditch teams jumped to there feet and started yelling profanity, which wasn't heard over the angry roar coming from the rest of the students.

"The nerve of it!" Ron yelled while waving his hand threateningly. It took several minutes before the hall had finally yelled them selves out. At one point he thought they might storm the top table and demand blood.

"As I was saying before some of you chose to voice your concerns in such a unique way, there will be no school Quidditch matches. That does not however, mean that Quidditch will be off. Not for some of you anyway. For this year, we have decided to participate in an interschool Quidditch tournament instead. We will be competing throughout the year, against three other schools. Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Mirrari. As most of you know from the Tri- Wizard tournament two years ago, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are schools in France and Bulgaria. Mirrari Academy of Magical Arts is another wizarding school, located in Australia."

Harry's mind flashed back to what Adam had said.

"Adam came from that school didn't he?" He asked. Ron nodded as Hermione, in a know it all voice began.

"Oh yes. Mirrari Academy is another wizarding school. It was founded in the early twelfth century by Madam…" Harry cut her off in mid-sentence.

"That's nice. You should stop talking. I don't think Dumbledore has finished speaking yet." He quickly turned his attention back to the announcements before Hermione could punch him. The few people who were talking stopped.

"Now although this will be exciting, there will be some bad news. As you can imagine, we will only be having one team. In order to make it fair, we shall be holding tryouts of for everyone from all houses, to see which players will best represent us." Harry smiled to himself. Without being modest he would have to say he was the best seeker in the school, and he had the best broom as well. "The other bad news is that only one of the matches shall be here at Hogwarts. Each school will be playing a match against each different school. This means we shall be taking part in three of the six matches. The winning school after the final match this May; will receive a large trophy, which I believe would make a nice addition to our cabinet.

"The first match will take place on the fifth of November, At Beauxbatons."

Dumbledore smiled at them all. "I know that it may be dull with only one Quidditch match, scheduled to take place here, but that is why Professor Flitwick has been working tirelessly over the summer to come up with some magic that will allow you all to watch the matches right here in the great hall." Hermione suddenly seemed a lot more interested in Dumbledore's words as he mentioned this.

"The matches will be projected onto the rear wall as it happens in another school. It won't be quite as good as the real thing but we trust it will work well." Harry looked at the wall suddenly expecting to see people flying round. Instead it continued being boring. "Tryouts for the interschool Quidditch team will be held on Saturday the twelfth, in just under two week's time." For a full list of details please look at your house notice boards within the next few days. I think that is all for now except to say, dig in." He said as the dishes in front of them that magically filled with food.

Harry looked to Ron who was eyeing the feast with amazement. He was apparently having a difficult time deciding what he should eat first. Harry decided to help him out by choosing for him. He reached out and grabbed some steamed noodles, and put them down on Ron's plate.

"Would ickle Ronnie like some help with his food?" He asked in a teasing voice. Ron gave him a friendly thump on his arm.

"Watch it mate, you sound like Fred or George."

Harry helped himself to a few things on the table. Hermione picked up some tuna pasta bake, and some sort of vegetables.

"Ron you really will get fat if you always eat things like that." Said Hermione with disapproval as she gestured to the small mountain of food that seemed to have apparated onto his plate. Ron looked as if he thought she was completely insane.

"What do you expect me to have? Some funny green plants?" He asked while shaking his fork at her. Unfortunately his fork had been in a mid journey raid from the chicken on his plate and as a result he ended up flicking gravy all over her face. She glared angrily at him, as she wiped her face clean. "What?" He said thickly through a mouthful of chicken. "It's only gravy!"

"So Ron, I guess we know why there wasn't a tryout sheet on the notice board now don't we?" Said Harry as he tried to draw the attention away from Ron's lack of good table manners.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ron said with apprehension in his voice. There was a few seconds as he berated if he should confess what was on his mind. "I'm just not sure if I will be able to get onto the school team. I will be up against three other keepers, not to mention I don't know how good the others might be, who haven't played before."

Harry tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry Ron, You're a great keeper, and beside, I don't hear any other teams singing songs about how great their keeper is!" Ron gave a brief laugh, though it didn't seem to entirely dispel his doubt.

"Yeah I guess your right." They continued eating and making friendly discussion. As they finished their food the plates in front of them cleared away and were replaced with various puddings. Harry took some Bananas and custard and Hermione took some crème brulee. Ron? Well, he had everything.

When they finally finished, Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet. "I'm sure you have all eaten well. I haven't much to say, but for the first year's benefit, breakfast is available from six o'clock, although I rarely find anyone wants to be up so early. Your timetables will be given out then. I think that is all so I shall now bid you all, goodnight." The students all got up sadly as the last day before lessons began drew to an end. Harry quickly walked over to the teacher's table. He wanted some quick words with Remus and the others before the end of tonight. They seemed to be staying behind as if they had been expecting him to speak to them anyway.

"Hey how come you guys never told me that you were the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers?" Harry asked, surprised that he hadn't been told.

"Well Harry it seemed a bit silly of us to spend the year here at school and be doing nothing but guarding you." Explained Moody.

"So Dumbledore offered us all jobs as Dark Arts teachers." Added Tonks, while rolling up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts is a very important subject during such dark times Harry." Continued Moody. Kingsley stood there in silence. Remus stood looking at Harry nervously as if he was going to ask Harry something.

"We didn't tell you we were teachers because we thought it would be a nice surprise." Said Tonks.

"And it is nice to be able to get paid work for once." Said Remus happily.

"Is that all you wanted to discuss with us Harry?" Asked Moody as he cocked an eyebrow. "Um yeah I think that is all," said Harry. He, Hermione and Ron started to leave when Remus called him

"Harry. I was wondering if… No, never mind. I will speak about it some other time." Harry nodded, and bid them all good night.

They made their way up to the Gryffindor tower. As they walked in Harry found himself being haled by Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Lavender.

"Yeah?" he said as he sat down next to them.

"Well Harry we were thinking. Since you're a prefect you probably know loads of cool stuff don't you?" Harry didn't know what they were getting at.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused. Parvati and Lavender gave each other sly looks before Parvati said.

"Well Harry we were wondering what special events and things have been planned for this year. Are there any?" Harry was about to tell them about the ball that was arranged for this year when Hermione walked up behind him.

"You will have to try harder than that you two." She looked at Harry who was confused. "Prefects aren't allowed to tell students about events that are planned or passwords." She explained sternly. Harry nodded.

"I wasn't going to tell them." He lied.

"That's ok. You didn't know." Hermione said before walking off.

Harry looked back to the four.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you anything." He said with a shrug before going back to join Ron. They played a game of wizard chess that lasted just over an hour. As the game of chess went on, the common room gradually emptied. By the time they finished there were just a few seventh years and Harry, Hermione and Ron. Hermione got up and yawned. "I think I will go to bed now." She said whilst stretching out. She ruffled Harry's hair as she walked up stairs. Ron stared at him, with a look that is normally reserved for when you're curiously questioning someone's hygiene, without them knowing it.

"Hey Harry have you noticed Hermione has been acting a little bit weird lately?" said Ron once she was out of earshot. Harry's thought about What Ron meant. Well there was the kiss earlier. Although it was as friends, she hadn't done that before. Not on the lips.

"No I can't think of anything strange about her." Said Harry as he couldn't think of anything else.

"Are you sure?" questioned Ron. "She seems sort of more touchy. Like messing up your hair. It's just mean. You spend ages doing your hair and she just comes along and messes it up. I don't know what her problem is!"

"Yeah I know, it's a pain." Said Harry while rolling his eyes. He didn't have the energy to explain it to Ron. "Who knows? She is a girl; I don't think we are meant to understand them. Are we?" Harry said unsurely. Ron displayed a panic stricken look.

"I sure as hell hope not. I don't have a bloody clue."

Harry laughed, as they made their way up the staircase. The others in the dormitory were apparently asleep already. Harry went into the bathroom and washed. He splashed some cold water over his face and rubbed his eyes. He walked out of the bathroom allowing Ron to get ready for bed. Harry changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed. He started drifting into sleep, ignoring the loud snoring that was coming from the other side of the room.


	14. Lessons UPDATED

The following morning Harry found himself sat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He was enjoying a bowl of dragon flakes when he spotted Hermione walking down towards them.

"Hey Harry, hey Ron. How are you this morning?" She asked as she took a seat opposite them. Harry considered for a moment before replying.

"Not bad. I'm just a little worried over having to get the consent form to go on the school trips. I can't imagine the Dursley's will make things easy for me." Hermione bit her lip as she considered the matter. Unable to offer any solid advice she simply replied,

"I'm sure you will figure something out."

As they sat eating their breakfast the great hall gradually filled with students.

"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked as he stared at Hermione suspiciously. She was humming whilst eating her porridge.

"We have lessons today!" She replied with a smile, as though this were explanation enough for anyone. As if this were her signal to come over, Professor McGonagall walked over to them and handed them their timetables for the year. Harry carefully took the paper and his eyes scrolled down it as he prayed to himself.

"Please not potions with Slytherin. Please not potions with Slytherin. Please not potions with Slytherin."

"You don't have lessons with your house now. You have lessons with whoever else chose the subject." Explained Ron. Harry was surprised to hear this news, but also surprised that it was Ron teaching him something.

"What?" he asked as he saw the confused looks on Harry and Hermione's faces. "I have five older brothers. I know how these things work."

Harry stared down his timetable. "I have Transfiguration followed by Charms this morning. What about you two?"

"Oh I have those lessons this morning." Replied Hermione.

"I have Charms." Said Ron happily. "No transfigurations though."

"Well that starts at half past eight. We have about thirty minutes before our first lesson." Harry said with trepidation. He hoped his studying had paid off. He never felt like he was a great student at anything really. Would the lessons suddenly seem like another language to him? (It is worth noting that Ancient Runes was actually a different language. For this reason Harry had elected not to study this subject).

The remaining time before the lessons seemed to pass quickly. Harry collected his books that would be needed for the morning and he and Hermione made their way to queue up outside the classroom. As the remaining few minutes trickled away, more students turned up. Harry was trying to recognise the faces of the students he would be learning with for the next two years when he heard the distant clunking of footsteps. As he had learned in the past, the more important the owner of the shoes: the louder the footsteps. Judging by the volume of them it must be someone important, or Moody; who was constantly clunking.

He turned round to see professor McGonagall walking briskly towards them. She unlocked the door and they all made their way in. It was a small class, with only six other students, most of them from other houses. Harry took a seat on the front desk next to Hermione, whilst Neville came and sat down on his other side. It seemed that people would be inclined to sit in their house groups, rather than spread out evenly across the tables.

As people began unpacking their quills and stationary Harry turned to Neville. He was surprised to see him in a class like this. After all, he wasn't good at Transfiguration, no matter how you looked at it, except perhaps by Gilderoy Lockhart standards.

"I didn't know you were doing this class Neville!" He exclaimed in surprise. Before the boy could reply he was cut off by Professor McGonagall, who gave him a stern look and cleared her throat, signalling the beginning of class. Harry could wave sworn that she gave a brief smile before turning her attention to the class.

"Now class, welcome to your first N.E.W.T class. As you will obviously have noticed, classes are a lot smaller. That is because since you now do fewer subjects, there will be less of you. I also find that with Transfigurations being one of the harder subjects this also tends to discourage those with only a passing interest. You will notice that there isn't any defined school house here. From now on your lessons will no longer be confined with the other members of your house. I realise therefore, that some of you may not know each other. I shall be taking a register so that you may become better aquainted.

"I will now make a few points which I take seriously. From now on and for the next two years you shall be my class. That means that you are representing me and my abilities as a teacher. If you do badly then it will make me look bad. That means, you will not do badly!" This sounded more like a threat than a promise. "You will excel in this subject and you will all pass with outstanding grades." Neville nervously interrupted.

"I don't think I will be able to get a very good grade." McGonagall gave him a calculating look and replied,

"You will do well. I will make sure of that, I shall work you as hard as I must until I feel you have reached your potential. If I say you can do it then you will do it. If you don't feel you are up to the hard work required to reach your potential then please leave now. I do not wish to teach slackers with no real interest, for the next two years." Harry looked around to check if anyone was getting up from their seats to leave. No one did, although he did notice Neville eyeing the door with a look of deep longing.

"Good, now that that is out of the way we can get down to work. The register." She said as she opened up a booklet of parchment tied together with some yellowing string. Her long fingers flicked through the pages until she found the correct one. "Here we are. Terry Boot, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Joy Lynn, Mandy Brocklehurst, Harry Potter, and Blaise Zabini." She called out. Her calls were each met with a series of replies. Harry looked over at the Slytherin girl, Blaise. She was the detestable prefect girl who had punched him at dinner the other night. She had brown eyes, which sat below what appeared to be a permanent frown. She saw Harry was looking at her and tutted as if his look was causing her a great ordeal.

"Today we shall be starting with transfiguration of living things…" She began as she drew up points on the board. Harry turned to Neville after about ten minutes into the lesson and quietly asked,

"So why did you choose this lesson if you don't think you're any good?" Neville replied sheepishly.

"Well I had to choose five subjects didn't I. I didn't want to let Nan down so it was just a case of choosing the best out of a bad bunch." By the end of the lesson Harry left the room clutching his hands. He was meant to have turned a hedgehog into a porcupine but somehow managed to give it rabbit legs, and thus ended up with painful results.

"Come on Harry, let's go to Charms." Said Hermione excitedly as they packed up their things from their first lesson. There seemed to be a lot of excitement from everyone regarding the Charms lesson. It wasn't just the fact that Charms was a fun subject, but also professor Flitwick was an excellent teacher. When the professor did appear by the foot of the door to let them in, Harry counted no less than twenty students in the class.

As they sat down Ron and Hermione took a seat on either side of him at the back of the class. "This lesson looks pretty popular doesn't it!" said Ron, while looking round at the various members of the class.

"Well that is because this is a useful subject which serves many purposes throughout everyday life" Hermione explained.

"Oh god Malfoy is taking this class as well!" Ron said, as he saw the Slytherin boy slink in and take a seat by one wall. Harry turned his direction to where Malfoy was sitting, and snaring down at professor Flitwick who had begun explaining today's work.

"Today we shall be learning the living charm. It is extremely useful, especially round the house. It is called the living charm because it allows you to give orders to non living objects, as though they were alive." He explained excitedly. "The living charm will allow you to give an inanimate object simple commands that it will carry out. For example you could charm your hairbrush to brush your hair for you, or you could enchant a spoon to mix the ingredients for a cake." He explained. Harry's thought back to the time he had seen Mrs Weasley cooking in the kitchen. With various objects all whizzing around the room and working away it seemed she was well acquainted with the spell.

"The incantation for this spell is Lithero Animato. That is pronounced Lith-er-o Anim-ato. You need to move your wand in the following." Squeaked Professor Flitwick as they all sat there taking notes. Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to master the spell quite easily and within half an hour had managed to make a quill draw circles on the parchment and a feather duster go backward and forwards over one of the cupboards. Apparently all the revising during the summer had paid off after all. Ron and Harry both charmed the pillows that were kept in the corner of the room, to keep hitting each other, in a pillow fight without person. Professor Flitwick beamed at the excellent progress they had made and awarded them ten points each.

Harry's mood was further improved when he looked and saw that Malfoy was failing spectacularly. He managed to set his book on fire, thump someone in the back of the head and turn his hand green before Professor Flitwick rushed over and told him that he would be given extra homework, and that he was not allowed to practice in class any more today because he was endangering the other students.

As the end of the lesson approached, Flitwick told them that they should all practice the spells because it was very important for the next few lessons. He walked over to Harry, Ron and Hermione, as they were about to leave the classroom.

"You three don't need to do the homework, you seem to have already learned it perfectly. It seems Miss Granger must have been a good influence on you this year! Let's hope you can keep up your new high standard." It felt nice to be praised in class, it was something Harry rarely encountered except for perhaps Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was also nice not to get homework.

They made their way to the common room to pick up their books and things for the next lessons.

"So what do you have next?" Asked Ron. Harry unfolded his timetable and looked down at Tuesday.

"Well I have double potions next." Said Harry with dread. Ron laughed.

"Ha I bet your regretting that choice now. You should have chosen something that you actually enjoy." Hermione frowned at him.

"Well I think that potions will be better this year. Since we no longer have lessons with all the other Gryffindors, he probably won't be as biased. Besides Harry, we revised lots and so should be fine. I'm only hoping he doesn't quiz us on the Thilfor potion. I haven't quite revised all of that yet." She finished of worriedly.

"Don't worry Mione, that is in the very last chapter. He won't be testing us on that yet." Harry stopped for a moment. "Oh no! I know exactly what part of the book that is in. In fact thinking about it, I know everything about it. I need to get out more!" He thought to himself. He walked up to his room and pulled out his Transfiguration and charms book from his bag, and dumped them down on his bed. Harry looked out of the window; it had gotten a lot cloudier outside since that morning. He then pulled out his cauldron and potion ingredients from his trunk, shoved them in his bag and made his way back downstairs.

Harry and Hermione made their way down to the dank, dark, dungeons. He had a bad feeling about this lesson as he stood outside the classroom. Apparently they were the only Gryffindors taking this lesson. Justin Finch- Fletchley was also taking potions and so was Susan Bones. Apart from them it seemed that the rest of the students were all Slytherin.

"Professor Snape can't have been very nice in the other lessons with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," said Hermione, reading Harry's mind. "You would think there would be more students than this."

The door creaked open beside Harry and the dark figure of Professor Snape seemed to glide out of the classroom. He surveyed his class momentarily, as he peered down the length of his rather long nose.

"In!" He spat. Harry trudged in and took a seat at the side of the class. He glared as Malfoy went and took a seat directly in front of Snape's desk, like a lapdog. Susan and Justin took a seat to the other side of Hermione.

"You will be making the simple potion of…" Snape began, he plunged straight on explaining about the simple potion they would be doing, although by the time they had finished, there seemed to be nothing that simple about it.

"This potion was over half way through the text book." Harry whispered to Hermione. It definitely wasn't the easiest on the syllabus. Hermione made a subtle acknowledgement that Snape didn't see.

"I thought we would be working from the start, I don't think I can remember this potion very well." Harry continued. Snape suddenly looked up from his notes having heard them whispering.

"Something wrong Potter?" He sneered at Harry, who glared back at Snape with a look, that he hoped, showed the utter loathing he felt for the professor. There was that whole torture incident in Diagon Alley that he wasn't about to put behind him.

"I just thought that we might have been starting from somewhere nearer the beginning of the book." Harry said simply. There were a few murmurs of agreements from other members of the class. Snape glared at Harry blankly for a few seconds before replying.

"You bothered having a look at the book then did you? That must have been a first." Harry found this comment annoying because it was entirely true. "Is this potion to difficult for you? Perhaps I could ask you to make brew me something simpler, like a cup of tea?" Harry secretly enjoyed the thought of making Snape some tea, because he could smear lots of filth from the underside of the desk inside the mug.

Snape paused to let the Slytherins laugh, as they normally would after a berating. In this instance thought he was met by silence. Apparently the other students had been thinking along the same lines as Harry, well with the exception of Malfoy, who burst out in a pantomime laugh, perhaps exaggerated to make up for the lack of laughter elsewhere.

"Ha ha ha ha. Very funny sir! Ha ha ha." Draco's stupid laugh echoed off the stone walls as Snape stood with an angry glare.

"Silence Malfoy." Snape hissed out of the corner of his mouth. It was known that the silence following a joke is significantly more pronounced, if indeed it is filled with the laughter of but one imbecile. Malfoy stopped laughing on demand and turned his head down to his parchment where he was apparently reading some invisible notes.

They worked busily on the potion for the remainder of the first lesson, As he added the last ingredient it released a cloud of smoke that smelled of rotting vegetation. It turned a bright orange as it bubbled away merrily.

"Oh." Said Harry with surprise. Hermione looked over at Harry's potion.

"What's wrong Harry? It looks to me as if you have done it right." He looked over to her potion and saw that it was the same shade of orange. This meant that it was almost certainly right.

"That's what's wrong. I don't tend to get them right!" He said with a grin

Snape was making his way around the classroom, inspecting everyone's potions like an army sergeant surveying his troops.

"Hmm. I suppose your potion will suffice." Snape said reluctantly as he glared at Harry's cauldron with a look of great dislike. As he started to walk off Harry stood there stunned. He regained his senses and asked,

"Are you not going to find an excuse to fail me?" Everyone's attention turned to this small confrontation. Snape faced Harry and spoke to him as if he was tired of explaining things to simpletons.

"Potter, Pardon me if I'm being rude." He said in a sarcastic tone while curling his lip. "But you really are very thick aren't you. It is my job to make sure you pass, no matter how much I may wish you not to. If you stay out of my way then I think that will make things easier for both of us don't you? Also, if you ever feel like asking a stupid question again, then raise your hand to me first." He walked off inspecting the remainder of the class.

As the bell rang, signalling that they were half way through the lesson, Snape instructed everyone to put away their cauldrons. For the second part of the lesson the class wrote down notes on the potion in silence. Harry was scribbling down uses for the potion when he saw a drip appear on his parchment. He stared at the spot before him until another landed beside it. "Is the ceiling leaking?" Harry asked himself as he watched a third drip fall onto his work. He looked up to investigate the reason for his work being ruined, to find himself staring at Snape who was poised over his work, reading what Harry had written. His hair was looking exceptionally greasy.

Harry watched in horror as a large drip of grease poised itself over his work for a moment of deliberation, before finally deciding that it would investigate. Harry coughed deliberately. Snape looked up to Harry with a questioning look.

"Um you're getting grease on my work." Harry said bluntly. Snape looked down to the work speckled with grease. Another drop fell off his hair and splattered down on the notes. "No I'm not! You are!" Said Snape defensively; despite the fact the truth was incontestable. He then leaned close to Harry, and said in an angry voice. "And if you disagree then your life will get a whole lot more unpleasant!"

The remainder of the lesson passed by uncomfortably in a slow crawl, though thankfully devoid of further dripping incidents. As the bell rang out, signalling the end of the Potions ordeal, and the start of lunch, Harry hastily shoved his things in to his bag and made his way out of the dungeon. As he and Hermione got into the hall they sat down next to Ron and Ginny who were already there.

"You're still alive?" Ron asked in fake amazement. "I bet your wishing that you didn't take potions now aren't you?" Harry considered. It certainly hadn't been as good as Transfiguration or Charms, but it was a definite improvement on last year's potion lessons. "It wasn't that bad actually. It seems to have paid off, doing that revising over the holidays." Ron nodded as he tried to swallow a piece of pizza and ended up choking.

"So how were your other lessons Harry?" Asked Ginny politely.

"Um it was quite good thank you." He replied honestly. "How about you? What lessons have you had today?" Ginny finished sipping her Pumpkin juice and started talking animatedly.

"Oh well this morning I had Arithmacy…" She talked for a few minutes about something for which Harry did not have interest. "…And then I had Divination's." She finished off.

"How was Divination's? Was Fleur any good?" Asked Ron curiously as he speared some carrots.

"Well the lesson was ok. She is a lot better than Professor Trelawney and Firenze at any rate. She told us that Veela have the inner eye and since she is part Veela she is gifted with insight into the world's fate. The only problem is was that some of the boys seemed a bit distracted." Said Ginny whilst picking some food for her plate. Harry could understand why. Veela could be very beautiful at times.

The remainder of the afternoon passed by uneventfully, and it seemed in no time at all Harry found himself sitting back down at the Gryffindor table, this time for dinner.

"After this do you fancy getting a start on our homework?" Asked Ron as he neared the end of his dinner.

"Why do you want to do the homework now? You don't have much do you? Professor Flitwick didn't set us any." Harry asked, surprised by Ron's sudden change in attitude towards homework.

"Well no I don't have much. I just want to get it all done as soon as possible. I want to practice my Quidditch skills you see, and I can play better knowing I don't have homework waiting for me. We need to practice. It is going to be tough getting on the team. Especially for me you know." Harry considered this. While he did have an unfair advantage of owning the best broom he couldn't be afforded complacency. It had been a long time since he had played on a full size pitch

"Yeah I suppose you have a point. I haven't flown for a while now. I bet I'm all wobbly on my broom." Harry joked, knowing full well that this wouldn't be the case.

"No you will be fine Harry. You could definitely go pro if you wanted to." Harry smiled as they stood from the table and made their way to the common room to get started on the small amount of homework they had. "Things seem to be going a lot better today. I hope things stay this good always." Thought Harry to himself as he started scribbling across the blank parchment in front of him.

A leisurely hour later, Harry put down his quill.

"There we go. Four pages of work on the differences of transfiguring live animals and inanimate objects. What's the time?" Asked Harry as he stretched out in the comfortable chair by the empty fireplace.

"It's just gone eight. Should we still do Quidditch? It is just getting dark out now" Asked Ron unsurely.

"Well, I think it's our responsibility to make sure we are familiar with all match conditions, day, night or snow." Harry reasoned as he stood up and made his way to the dormitory to fetch his Firebolt.

A few minutes later they finally found themselves in the entrance hall. Harry ran towards the door and jumped outside, allowing the cool night air to wash over him as he ran onto the shady grounds. They made their way onto the Quidditch pitch.

"Um Harry," Ron said as they stood in the middle of the pitch. "How exactly are we going to practice? We haven't got any balls." Harry hadn't really thought about this much.

"I was thinking of just flying about. Getting used to my broom and stuff." He explained.

Ron considered this and replied,

"Yeah sounds ok. I suppose we should start by just flying. We need to be pretty sure footed for flying." Harry swung one leg over the broom and clutched the handle tight. The broom seemed to defy gravity; which of course it did, as it rose high into the air. He floated in midair as he savoured the anticipation of putting his broom through its paces. Whilst he had been able to play back at Grimmauld Place, it was only a half size pitch, and he wasn't able to get up to full speeds.

He leaned low on the broom and kicked off. He met the familiar feel of lightning acceleration as his broom pulled away before him. As he reached its top speed of one hundred and fifty miles an hour his cheeks were flapping about as he struggled to close his mouth against the hurricane speed winds flying past him. He slowed to gradual stop as he looped back to where he started, rejoicing in the freedom of flight.

"It feels as good as it ever did." Said Harry with a smile as he slalomed around the goalposts.

"Having fun up there boys?" Called a gruff voice from below. He glanced down to see Moody was standing below them, with his arms folded and his wands drawn. Harry took his broom down so that they could talk without the Auror craning his neck.

"Hi." Said Harry as he hovered. Moody gave him a nod as he appraised the early night sky around them. It seemed it was a familiar enemy of his.

"I don't suppose you two would consent if I told you not to fly when it's dark would you?"

"I have my wand with me, and I'm not going past the edge of the pitch." Harry explained, dodging the question slightly. Moody was a teacher, and if he was certain of the risk Harry knew he would have little choice.

"Hey Moody." Ron chimed as he joined them. He had been practicing some saves, diving from one hoop to the other, stopping the imaginary Quaffles which were flying towards him.

"Weasley." He acknowledged. "As I was saying to Harry, you two had better make sure you don't go flying off. I don't want you out of spitting distance. If there was an attack by Death Eaters we wouldn't be able to do much about it! Especially if you are flying off so fast we would think your arse is on fire." There was a few moments silence as Ron and Harry bobbed impatiently, wanting to know when they could get back to flying.

"Come on then," Moody sighed. "Might as well show me what you guys can do. I like fast things you see." Harry grinned as he pulled his broom handle sharply upwards, and shot up in the air like a cork. The wind rushed in his ears as his hair was swept back. Although the sky was overcast the stars could still be seen through the odd break in the cloud cover. Harry flew around the pitch and through the hoops like lightning, testing his limits, pushing the extent of his handling. As he continued to practice, so did Ron. He practiced all sorts of saves; including hanging form beneath his broom, and one that actually involved getting his broom and smacking the Quaffle with it.

As time went on it gradually drew darker.

"I think it best that you two stop now. It is getting dark, and it is dangerous when it is dark. You don't know who is creeping up on you." Said Moody as he sniffed the air. "What time is it anyway?" He looked down at a golden pocket watch. "Son of Merlin, it's five-past-nine!" Harry and Ron landed their brooms whilst looking confused. As far as Harry knew there was nothing significant about five past nine, Unless Professor Delacour had predicted a Death Eater attack at six minutes past the hour?

"Your Occlumency lesson! Get going you're late!" He eventually said, relieving any confusion, but also instilling dread. He had completely forgotten about the lesson. Since they didn't have any lessons yesterday it felt like a Monday today. Without saying another word Harry broke into a sprint towards the castle, with his broom in one hand. He jumped up through the door and ran along towards the dungeons, accidentally running through nearly headless nick in the process. It was a pity that there wasn't a secret passage that could save him about ten minutes. He charged down the stairs into the dank passageway, sighting the classroom at the end.

He skidded to a stop, or at least he attempted to. What he actually did, was trip over his own feet and crash into a statue of armour, which clanged across the floor loudly.

"Bugger." He cursed as he heaved himself up and tried to catch his breath while ignoring the stitch in his side. An ominous creak emitted from the door in front of him as it opened, and he found him self stood before an angry and exceptionally greasy Snape.

"Clearly Punctuality isn't your thing, Potter." He snapped as he proffered a look demanding of explanation.

"Er Sorry..." Harry began to explain. His side was really hurting him now. He might have internal bleeding. He didn't want to rule it out. "I lost track of the time…" Snape interrupted him before he could explain further.

"Now it is very understandable for you to want to skip this twice weekly punishment that Dumbledore has assigned to us both, I know I do, but it is unavoidable I'm afraid to say." He sneered. To Harry's relief he spotted Remus standing just behind Snape. He could see the storm clouds rolling in, and did his best to placate him.

"Come now Severus, he is only…" Remus paused for a moment to look down at his watch. "…Fifteen minutes late." He said in a tone that one uses to downplay significance. The kind of tone Ron would use when he said to his mother. "Please it is only ten Galleons." This didn't seem to work well with Snape as he shot a glare over his shoulder.

"Only fifteen minutes of my time? Well, for every minute you are late you shall spend a minute in detention with me tomorrow night." Snape snapped. A silence fell as Harry considered the meagre detention that lay ahead. Snape seemed to understand their line of thought, and added to his original statement. "Plus an additional fifteen minutes for breaking that suit of armour, and a further fifteen minutes for annoying me." Snape seemed to contemplate whether this was enough and finally added. "And I think we shall just make it an hour because you called my hair Greasy in class today!"

Remus tried his best to step in and put a stop to the injustice that was going on in front of him.

"Well to be honest…"

"Shut up Lupin! Potter has shown a complete lack of respect for the rules, and me!" It looked like Snape was about to take the upper hand in the confrontation when a familiar clunking, that was the noise of Moody, was heard hobbling along towards them.

"What seems to be going on here then?" asked the Auror as his magical eye flicked between the three of them. Snape and Remus immediately went back to normal standing, that is to say, without clenching their fists and pressing their foreheads together.

"Nothing much, just discussing a few things." Remus dismissed.

"Ha. Balderdash. You were facing off if ever I saw it. You should be ashamed of yourself, you are meant to be setting an example for the lad." Snape and Remus stood looking very embarrassed. They looked like two argumentative children who were being told off by their father for trying to paint a cat.

"Anyway I just came down here to explain that it was my fault Harry was late. I wanted to teach him the uses of all of my dark detectors, and I lost track of time." Harry peered towards Moody, who gave him a quick wink before turning back to face Snape. "You know how it is with dark detectors." He said wistfully as he trailed in to silence for a moment. "So if you were thinking of trying to give Harry a detention for being late, then you need give it no further thought." Moody seemed satisfied that his excuse was believable, and turned to leave. As he hobbled down the corridor he took a swig from his hip flask.

They walked into the classroom, which was lit by only a few candles casting shadows against the walls. There was talk of a national candle shortage, so maybe this is why Snape kept his dungeon dark. Alternatively it could be so his hair didn't shine so much. Harry had wisely chosen to bring the pensieve that had belonged to his father. He watched as Snape walked over to a shelf on one wall where his own pensieve sat, and began to deposit some of his thoughts. Harry mimicked him, removing any memories that he did not want the grease beak to see. Memories of him and Cho: kissing, on their date, laughing together. He also removed the memory of Sirius's death. Not that it was embarrassing, but he didn't want to relive it.

Satisfied that he didn't have any other memories that would cause an unforgivable embarrassment if seen, he turned, readily prepared for his first Occlumency lesson of the year. Snape finally finished siphoning his memories and joined Harry in the middle of the room.

"So Potter, you have some memories for a pensieve? What might they be, perhaps you making a fool of yourself in class? Maybe a memory of when you got a pimple, or perhaps that time you accidentally walked in on Weasley in the shower, and enjoyed it?

Harry didn't reply, but simply offered a false smile. He hadn't enjoyed it, and neither had Ron. Snape drew his wand out from his pocket and pointed it towards Harry.

"Now Potter, let's hope you do better than your pitiful attempts from last year." Sneered Snape. "Clear your mind of all your thought. In other words, continue being yourself." Harry concentrated on emptying his mind. He pushed his feelings and concerns to the side of his mind, and focused on an empty nothingness. His thoughts were interrupted as Snape uttered the spell, "Legilimens."

Harry saw his memories flash past him. Strange ones like the time that he had been faced off against Aragog in the forbidden forest during his second year. This memory faded away, only to be replaced by the rebirth of Voldemort, rising in his resplendent glory. He saw a memory of Cho begging him to stop, and he saw the familiar sight of Hermione crying on the floor and images of burning buildings and screaming families. Harry heard his voice yell the Avada Kedavra curse as it echoed around his skull, just as it had done on his first day back, during the order meeting. He heard himself laughing manically.

Suddenly he felt his thoughts return to normal and saw the images disappear as Snape had lifted the spell from him. Harry had expected to be met with the teachers incessant moaning about his poor performance. When his ears were met with silence, he looked up to see Snape, who was rooted silently. His eyes were fixed on Harry's with a wide penetrating stare, unlike his usual calculating scowl. The most striking thing however, was the pale complexion that had beset him in the last twenty seconds.

"How did you see that? That has not happened yet!" asked Snape in barely more than a whisper.

Then it struck Harry for the first time. It had scared Snape. He had scared Snape, and for some strange reason this pleased him.

"I know it hasn't happened" Harry said carefully. "I saw it in a dream I had. The dream I had in Dumbledore's office." Snape managed to regain some of his composure.

"And was that your laughing I heard? You were laughing because those people were dying, they were screaming?" He pressed. Harry suddenly went from feeling pleased with Snape's fear, to being scared for himself. He had no answer, for he did not know why he had the dream in the first place, and especially why he seemed to be laughing in his dream.

Whatever Harry had done in the dream, it was not what he wanted. The person he saw was himself, yet a stranger to him." Snape momentarily retreated to his pensieve to take some more thoughts out of his mind, no doubt a copy of what he had just learned.

"I think Dumbledore should have a little look at this." Said Snape in a voice which was attempting to remain calm, but not doing a very good job of it. "He is highly skilled at deciphering the meanings in ones dreams."

"What did he see?" Remus asked, finally unable to contain himself. "What did he see Harry?" He asked again.

"It is not of importance to you. Shall we try again Potter? Or did you plan on standing round for a chat" Snape asked as he returned to a convincing charade of his usual self.

Snape brushed his hair out of his eyes and then rubbed his hand against his robes. "Legilimens." He spoke, a little too soon to give Harry much chance at being ready. Once again he was met with the feeling of a badger trying to burrow into his brain. Harry desperately tried to repel Snape as he probed further and further, into his mind. The images flashing before him became more obscure as they reeled by too quickly for clarity. He saw himself flying through the air on his Firebolt. He then saw the familiar entrance to the Department of Mysteries. He watched himself as suddenly he raised his wand and pointed it at Voldemort. He heard himself yelling the Arvada Kedavra curse for the third time now, He heard Cho screaming for him and Hermione crying again. He saw the houses on fire, and then he saw something new. Something he hadn't seen before.

He was standing by the great lake, or so he would believe from his view. He looked at Hogwarts, or where it was. The school was now a smouldering pile of rubble on the ground. He could see bodies strewn all around him. He could not make out the bodies, but one thing he did know, was that they were wearing Hogwarts robes. Harry then looked straight in front of him. He saw one lone figure kneeling. It was Albus Dumbledore. His glasses had gone missing and he was breathing heavily. He was bleeding at one eye, as he remained stood on one knee.

"I know why you think this is the right thing to do Harry…" He said in a sunken and weak voice that suggested he had said some of his last words. "But this is wrong. I'm sorry to see you have fallen. The time has changed you. As you are you should have never come back."

He watched himself take a step forwards.

"You are right, the time has changed me, but you should not show regret. It has given me the resolve to do what is needed. The war will end tonight, finally there can be peace. Why do you not understand? Perhaps you have become weak in your old age. This is ok thought. I am here now, I will continue but for you I'm afraid it is time for it to end." Harry stared as he raised his wand, the same wand that he had purchased in Ollivander's during the summer. He pointed it at Dumbledore's face, just between his eyes. The tip of the wand touched him. Dumbledore closed his eyes in a serene resignation. Harry snapped back to reality as he felt himself convulse, and almost throw up on the floor.

The image suddenly disappeared. He blinked as he opened his eyes and looked around the dimly lit room. He found himself kneeling down on the floor. Remus was crouching beside him looking worried, his hand rested upon Harry's shoulder. Snape was standing his distance looking paler even than before. He was giving Harry a grave look, as though he did not recognise the student before him. Gone were the sarcastic remarks and the scathing retorts. He took a few steps and hastily added the newest memory to the Pensieve.

"What did you see?" Remus demanded angrily as he rounded on Snape, as though it were the fault of the potions master that these images existed at all. Snape looked back at him as if he was to worn out to argue at that moment.

"It is nothing that concerns you." He said simply. Remus turned to Harry who placed a hand on the desk and pulled himself up.

"What was it Harry? You can tell me. I will understand." He pleaded. Harry very much doubted that he would. Even he didn't understand and they were his thought, his memories or his dreams. Harry shook his head to Remus.

"No" He muttered quietly under his breath. Remus looked apprehensively at him.

"Are you sure? I won't mind." Harry didn't reply. Snape mopped his head, He looked like he had run a marathon despite the fact he had only cast a spell. Harry felt exhausted as well. "That will be all for tonight Harry." Snape said solemnly.

Though they had only spent twenty minutes practicing, this was more than should be had for one day. Harry gave a brief nod before picking up his things and exiting the dungeon. Remus walked by his side as they strode through the corridors. Harry for once was thankful of the way Snape acted. Rather than pressing him for answers he didn't have, he let him be, to figure things out on his own. And he had even called him by his first name. He must have been disturbed.

"Harry. I don't need to know what happened tonight. But I want you to know that I will always be there for you if you ever need to talk to someone." Remus explained with concern. Harry was glad that he knew he had an adult he could confide in, almost like a parent. The problem with best friends is, they are the ones we are afraid of loosing the most, so it is often hardest to talk to them.

"Yeah thanks Remus. I appreciate that." He smiled as they climbed up the stairs. Remus looked like he was contemplating something.

As they neared the portrait of the fat Lady, his smile faded.

"Harry. I was… Make sure you're not going to be late for my lesson tomorrow" He finished of gingerly. Harry had the distinct impression that the sentence hadn't gone along the path it was originally going to. "Goodnight Harry." Said Remus as he made his final farewell. "Goodnight Remus." He replied.

Despite the fact it was still early he felt tired, and drained. He looked around the common room. Ron and Hermione were talking to some other students about something, which they all found rather funny. They had their backs turned to him and so he made his way upstairs to the dormitory unnoticed. He carefully put his broom back in its box and got ready for bed. He flopped down on to his mattress, and emptied his mind as best he could. As he drifted off to sleep it was with a single thought, or rather a hope. A hope that he didn't have any further dark dreams. They were raising far too many questions.


	15. Eclisis UPDATED

Harry awoke the following morning to see the freckly face of Ron leaning over him.

"Morning, you ready for another fun day? We have Care of Magical Creatures this morning!" Harry sat up and smiled. He had been looking forward to this lesson since the start of term. Whilst it was true that the lessons could be dangerous, and he might not have the same number of fingers at the end of the lesson, it was still a fun subject. He looked out of his window and observed that it was once again going to be a cloudy day.

He got out of bed and made his way down to breakfast. The hall was relatively quiet as they arrived. Harry sat down opposite Ron as he helped himself to his breakfast. He pulled out his time table to check exactly what lessons he had this morning. He had double Care of Magical Creatures this morning. Then after break he had double Defence Against the Dark Arts. After lunch he had two free lessons. That meant he had a completely free afternoon to do whatever he wanted.

"What do you think we will be studying this year?" Harry asked. Ron finished gulping down his pumpkin juice.

"I don't know. I hope it is more friendly than some of the things we have been studying so far. I would quite like to see the Niffler's again. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a full grown dragon." He said sombrely. The two exchanged a dark look, as Harry's spoon stopped half way towards his mouth. Thinking on Hagrid's past lessons, the thought seemed almost a certainty. The only remaining question was when it would happen.

After breakfast Ron and Harry made their way down to Hagrid's for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. It was very cloudy, and looked likely to rain within the hour. Hagrid was standing outside his cabin with the big wooden crate they had seen two days earlier.

"You two are early." He said as they neared him.

"Well we didn't want to be late." Ron explained. Harry looked up towards the castle.

"No one else is here yet." He said to no one in particular.

"There won't be." Hagrid said simply. Harry turned to see the half giant looking at him. "What do you mean?" He asked confusedly.

"Well what I mean is that you and Ron are the only ones taking this lesson." Hagrid said, smiling at them.

It occurred to Harry that perhaps the reason to this was because Hagrid had terrorized his students with vicious animals for the previous three years.

"Really, no one else?" Ron feigned.

"Yeah. t'is a bit strange, I wonder why there aint more students." Hagrid pondered. Harry decided not to be rude by pointing out the likely truth, and instead lied.

"Well that is probably because we can only take five subjects, you should have seen how much smaller my potions class was this year." Hagrid seemed to believe this was the reason and started his lesson.

"Ok, well I was thinkin' that we ought to go through a plan of the next two years'" said Hagrid in a way Harry assumed was meant to sound official. It would have sounded more official if he hadn't asked it as a question. "In first term we will be goin' through some of the boring things. Then after Christmas things get a lil' bit more excitin'" Hagrid seemed to pause as if giving them time to learn this incredibly difficult lesson plan.

"So we aren't going to be doing dragons then." Ron asked with relief. Hagrid gave Ron an enormous grin.

"At' is next year!" Hagrid said enthusiastically. Ron stopped laughing abruptly as this news sunk in. "Won't they be a bit dangerous?" asked Harry with concern. Hagrid looked sheepish as he avoided Harry's question. Did Dumbledore know this would be on the syllabus? Surely not.

"So anyways, After Christmas we can learn about a few larger things. More exciting. Next year we will do other stuff." He said, being disconcertingly vague. "We have lessons three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. But tha's on yer time tables so you probably knew that one. We have double lessons, so in the firs' we will be looking at the creatures and in the second we will be writin' and stuff. Anyways let's not spend all morning talking about it, let's have a look shall we? Hagrid strode over to the wooden box that contained the creature they would be examining. He lifted up a crow bar and broke open the crate lid.

Harry stared apprehensively at the box. As he peered into it he saw a slithering figure of a snake. Harry immediately recognised it from his "Magical Beasts and How to Tame Them" book he had revised over the summer. Hagrid grinned.

"This is called a Runespoor. The thing that makes this creature identifiable from a normal Snake is if you look very carefully then you will notice it has three heads." Half an hour into the lesson they were engaged in watching the creature, and its odd behaviour. Having three minds they exhibited eccentric behaviour.

"Hagrid, will we be learning about Goulad's at any point?" Harry asked as he looked up from his parchment.

"I hadn't planned on teaching about them." Hagrid replied with a frown. "That's pretty dark stuff, if anyone were to teach you I think it would probably be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. That is more their area than mine."

"But you do know about them." Harry pressed.

"Some, not a lot mind. Mainly the basics, that they come from Chimera's, they feed on evil, and they fetch about seventy galleons on the market." Harry didn't feel this last part would be common knowledge to many other people, especially not teachers.

"If they aren't removed from a Chimera they can grow anything up to two an' a half feet long. Without food they will die within about a week to ten days. Also if you have swallowed one (and here he lowered his voice, as swallowing Goulad's outside of the Order was an almost unheard of practice) then for the next two weeks it's probably best if you lay off taking any potions. Particularly ones with Boomslang skin like the Polyjuice potion or the Thilfor potion. Dumbledore told me that last part." He added, explaining how he knew anything about potions. "Why do you ask?"

"Well Ron and I had a bet going that there wasn't a single magical creature you didn't know about." Harry lied. Hagrid was always open to flattery. A few minutes later the clouds which had been growing progressively more ominous, finally started raining.

"Great rain." Said Ron as water started splashing down on them.

"Don't worry." Said Hagrid as he shoved the Runespoor's back in the crate. "Since there is only the three of us we can continue the second half of the lesson in my 'ouse." He explained as he walked over to the front door. He opened it and walked inside. "Come on you two. Let's have some biscuits while we are at it."

They sat in the warmth of Hagrid's hut as the rain pounded down on the roof above them. It was a relaxing sound, which would cause Harry to consider this his favourite classroom. Hagrid came over with three steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Ron reached out for one of the mugs, which Hagrid hastily moved away from him. "You don' want that one. It's a bit fiery if you know what I'm meanin'." He blushed. Ron apparently didn't know what Hagrid meant, but Harry did as he looked over at the table and spotted a bottle of firewhiskey.

They sat sipping their hot chocolate with their text books on the table, so there was at least some semblance of working.

"So, been revising have yer'?" Hagrid asked conversationally. Harry put his mug down.

"Yeah we have revised the whole book." Harry explained. Ron decided to try and justify this by adding,

"Hermione made us do it."

"So you two should be getting good grades then?"

"Yeah we should be. I don't see why not." Said Harry.

"Yer'. That would be good. You know that the teachers all have a bet going of who can have the overall best grades. If you two were to do really well I could win." Hagrid said with a grin. Harry thought he could hear the jingle of coin. Having participated in shady deals, gambling seemed like the logical next step.

Soon enough the lesson had ended and Harry and Ron ran up towards the castle through the pouring rain. By the time they reached the entrance hall they were pretty soaked.

"Flamin Nora! I'm drenched." Ron exclaimed as he walked along, his shoes squelching with every step. They came outside the portrait of the fat lady.

"Patronus." Harry said as the door swung open. He walked in. "I'm going to go and change. I am pretty wet." Said Harry as he made his way up to the dormitory. He could have done it by magic, but he tended to find it made the material feel a little stiff. He quickly changed and then grabbed his books that were needed for their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

As he walked back into the common room he observed Ron standing by the notice board. "Anything interesting?" He asked as he peered over Ron's shoulder. He stared at a newly pinned up piece of parchment.

_Quidditch tryouts _

_All members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team are expected to tryout for the interschool tournament, thought we will also be accepting tryouts from students not previously on the team. Tryouts will be held on Saturday12th of September, at 10:00am. Please write which position you would like to try out for, and sign on the dotted line below if you would like to participate. _

Harry pulled out a quill from his pencil case and scribbled down his name, and the word seeker.

"Hey can I borrow that?" Ron asked. Harry handed him the quill and Ron wrote down his name and the position of Keeper. Harry was just about to put the quill back in his bag when Ginny walked in through the portrait hole, having just gotten back from one of her lessons. She walked over to see what they were doing, her eyes scanning the page in front of them. She took the quill Harry was holding, and jotted down her name. Next to this, for position she Chaser.

"You're trying for chaser?" He asked in surprise. Ginny had been Seeker for every game last year. It was the position she was best at. Ginny gave him a look of disbelief.

"I always thought Ron was the dim one out of you two. I couldn't possibly get on the team if you're trying out. If I try out for Chaser I might stand a chance at making the team." She then turned round and walked off, while pocketing Harry's quill. A Weasley learnt never to pass up the opportunity to palm a quill.

Harry spotted the note about the school trips that he had seen on his first day back. He cursed as he remembered that he would have to write a letter to the Dursley's. He decided to do it that afternoon, since he didn't have any lessons after the Dark Arts class. He wondered briefly what the best way to deliver the letter would even be. He knew the Dursley's wouldn't appreciate a letter arriving by owl, but there weren't any post boxes about. Perhaps if he just stuck a stamp on the envelope they might overlook the owl on their breakfast table.

"Hey come on Harry. We want to get some good seats in Dark Arts don't we?" Ron hurried by the door.

"Where are we anyway?" Harry asked as he made his way out of the common room. He pulled out his timetable "That's weird. It says we are in the Great Hall? Why would we be in there?" Harry asked. Hogwarts wasn't exactly short of classrooms. There seemed to be more empty ones than used ones sometimes. It was easy to find a classroom with a cover of dust it had been that long since last use.

They both made their way down towards the hall. On the way down they met up with several other students who were doing Defence Against the Dark Arts. Then they met up with several more, and then several more after that. It soon became apparent why the lesson was going to be in the hall. The reason was that it appeared that nearly every student in sixth year was taking this lesson. As Harry walked in he looked around the hall. The four house tables were sitting in their normal places, and it didn't look as if much effort had been put into making it feel any more like a classroom.

It seemed that every student was going to sit down at their own house table, so Harry walked down and took a seat on the very front end of the table, about ten feet away from the nearest of the four teachers. As the next few minutes passed the remaining students filed into the hall.

"Good morning class. Welcome to your Defence against the dark Arts Lesson." Moody barked out loudly so that they all could hear him. "To begin with, I'm glad you all chose this lesson. It is a bloody good choice of lesson, in my opinion anyway. To those of you that didn't choose it, but find yourself here anyway, this is because we felt the subject is so important, especially now, that we have made it compulsory for all N.E.W.T level students." Continued Moody, which explained why Harry thought he could see just about every student from his year.

"That is why this lesson is to be held here in the great hall, because there aren't any classrooms large enough to accommodate such a large lesson. Not everything you learn throughout the next two years will be in your books so pay attention." As Moody said this Hermione looked disappointed. Kingsley leaned over to Moody and whispered something in Moody's ear. "What, it will be in the book?" He could be heard sating. "Must be a damn good book!"

"I suppose before we go further, we should introduce our self. I'm Professor Moody!" he said with excitement. There was a long silent pause, as if he had been expecting a round of applause, but for some reason no one felt at all inclined to clap. The uncomfortable silence was only broken when Moody made a cough, and Kingsley put him out of his misery by diverting everyone's attention away from Moody's wooden like face and towards himself.

"I am Professor Shacklebolt." He said in a monotone voice as his face failed to show even the hint of a smile. Several dozen people clapped half heartedly. Tonks hopped forward with a beaming smile. She was rolling on her feet as she introduced herself.

"I'm Tonks." Remus gave her a subtle nudge in the ribs. "I mean, Professor Tonks." She corrected, before she for some unknown reason, bowed to them. Again people clapped, although some of them sounded like they weren't really sure about her. Finally Lupin steeped forward.

"I'm professor Lupin." He said as a large part of the hall broke into cheers. He clearly seemed to be the favourite teacher, though Tonks and Kingsley didn't have the advantage of being known to the students. Remus grinned sheepishly at everyone who was cheering for him and after a moment stepped back into the line of teachers.

"So now that you know all of us we can start. Let's show you what a few substandard Aurors can do." Moody instructed as he referenced the article following the Dementor attack. "You seem to have already divided yourselves into four nice even groups. We will have one teacher for each group, although technically we are all your teachers. It just makes it easier this way you see." He explained.

Remus smiled as he walked over and stood by the Gryffindor bench. Kingsley went over to Ravenclaw table. Moody walked over to the Hufflepuff's who, more than anything, looked scared of him. Tonks grudgingly walked over to the Slytherins table. Harry liked to imagine that perhaps she had drawn the short straw. The Slytherins didn't seem too happy about the possibility of being taught by a teacher who also wanted to be their friend. She was that sort of woman. Remus drew out a small stool from his magical cloak, and took a seat at the head of the table.

"Hi everyone." He said to the general murmur of greetings. The energy around the table seemed high. Apparently Harry wasn't the only one excited by the prospect of having Remus teach them again. "Ok the way things are going to work this year, is that we are all going to be doing the same things and at the same time as the other three houses. It is my job to make sure that you understand it all. It is also my job to make sure that we do it first and do it best. This is a sort of competition. Your house pride is at stake here. I believe you guys can win if you want to." Said Remus, as he got everyone all fired up for the lesson.

"This lesson we will be learning a defensive spell. It is called Shaman Barrier. It is named after Albert Shaman, who invented it some fifty years ago. It was due to be taught later on in the school year, but following the incident on the Hogwarts Express, professor Moody felt this should be the first priority. This is difficult to explain so I will show you what it looks like. Remus stood up and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He raised his wand above him as though he were going to shoot the ceiling, before uttering the phrase,

"Eclisis."

Harry watched, as a shiny golden cloth seemed to slide out of the end of his wand. It grew larger as eventually it reached the ground. It shimmered brightly from the candle light of the hall as it formed into a dome around Remus. He held his wand above him while the dome seemed to float around him. Remus lowered his wand and the dome disappeared. "Wow that was cool." Enthused Ron. "What is it?"

"Thank you Ron" Remus replied. Everyone listened eagerly to what Remus was going to tell them. "That is what the Shaman barrier looks like. Now as I said it is a defensive spell. What it does, is it forms a protective dome around you. This shield is known to block nearly all spells. The main problem is it needs great mental strength to maintain it. It is good because unlike most protective spells this one will guard your back as well, so if you find yourself surrounded it is a good bet

"Now there are of course weaknesses to it. It won't block an unforgivable curse, or a hand full of other dark spells, which are mostly out of fashion these days. This means that if you do find yourself up against an enemy firing an unforgivable curse, you should not use this spell, but instead run. Anyway, you can make the shield as large or as small as you want, well you still need to be able to fit inside it of course." Remus explained, giving exact details of how to use the shaman barrier and what could go wrong. "Now once you are guarding yourselves you need to concentrate hard. Each time they attempt to break your spell you will need to resist. This can be very draining. That is why this shield charm is best used as a temporary protection rather than a long-term thing.

"Its strength lies in team combat. If you are in a fight, with a few allies, one person can cast a Shamans Barrier large enough for several people, whilst the others fight, with the added protection provided. It is also particularly good against magical creatures, such as Dementors. Whilst it's true that a Patronus is the only real protection, this is because a Barrier only delays the attack. It will stop the Dementors from physically passing, as well as preventing them from draining your happiness. However it does nothing in the way of repelling them, so all you would serve to do, is delay the assault whilst exhausting yourself. If though, you are expecting reinforcements, such as during the attack on the train, this would be an ideal situation. It would have brought time and decreased the risk had you known this spell."

Harry considered if Cho would have been alright if she had known the spell. Without the Dementors draining her happiness, she wouldn't be in the hospital right now. Instead she would be sitting in class with her friends, writing down notes. Would she be thinking of him? He turned his attention back to the last of Remus' instructions. Once Harry had all the details he felt he was ready to give it a go. He was relieved when Remus told them that they could all try it.

"Well I think you should all try it now. I should mention it is difficult to hear your surroundings when the spell is in place so if any of you do successfully manage to do this spell on your first time, which is quiet unlikely, then I will signal for when you should stop by sending sparks out of my wand."

"Eclisis" Harry said while pointing his wand above his head. He stood there in amazement and wonder, as absolutely nothing happened. He tired again and again but to no avail, it didn't seem to be going right.

"Remus can you help me please?" Harry called over to his professor. Remus turned round from watching Hermione successfully cast the spell. She was in a dome of about ten foot in diameter. Remus walked over to Harry.

"Harry, it's Professor Lupin when other people are around please. Now what was it you wanted help with?"

"Sorry, professor." Harry smirked. After having spent the summer at Grimmauld place with Remus it seemed odd to call him by surname. "I can't get the spell to work." Remus looked surprised. "

You can't? I would have thought you would be one of the students who did manage it. From what I recall you were near the top of my class when I last taught you. Let me see, maybe you are doing something wrong." Harry once again pointed his wand skywards. "Eclisis." He said. He wasn't surprised, though he was frustrated to see nothing happen.

Remus had a look of understanding.

"Again please Harry." He once again tried.

"It didn't work see." He said in an exasperated tone as it failed once again.

"Yes Harry I know what the problem is. It is very simple really. You're just saying the spell wrongly. It is not Ec-lis-is. It is pronounced Ec-lee-sis." Harry blushed at his rookie mistake.

"Oh right I will try that." He once again raised his wand. He clutched the wand in his hand as he said in a commanding tone. "Eclisis." He felt his arm grow warm as it felt like hot syrup was running up the veins of his arm. He watched in amazement as golden cloth erupted from his wand and arched high into the air. It glided down around him forming a dome of no less than ten foot wide. As it touched down on the ground everything was suddenly muted.

Harry looked through the shimmering golden veil around him at the silent figures all speaking but making no noise. He looked around him to see who else had managed the spell. He could see only three other Shaman barriers up, and they belonged to Hermione, a boy in Ravenclaw and Kingsley who was demonstrating again. He looked two Remus who was standing just outside of Harry's shield. Remus placed one hand against Harry's barrier and pushed. Harry felt inside his brain as if something was throbbing very slightly.

Remus leaned against it and Harry had the feeling that someone was pushing somewhere behind his eyes. Remus smiled at him and then pointed his wand upwards. Harry watched in disappointment as Remus shot sparks out of the end of his wand. Harry was enjoying his new found golden dome of silence (it would be a good means of silence for homework), but he still lowered his wand to his side. A few seconds later the dome flickered into nothing. Remus strode over to him.

"That was great Harry. That was a pretty strong dome. You must have been concentrating really hard," Said Remus proudly.

"No not really." Said Harry truthfully, as he looked over to the Hufflepuff table where Moody was standing on the table barking orders at them all.

"Try harder!" He watched as one girl was actually crying in distress after being shouted at by Moody.

"Gets a bit carried away doesn't he?" Said Remus, following Harry's gaze. Harry didn't reply but moved his attentions over to the Slytherin table. They were still all standing and none of them seemed to have made any attempt at magic.

"No you need to do it like this" He could hear Tonks saying. He got the impression that the Slytherins were either being very stupid or very awkward, both of which were very likely, as one of them said,

"Why do we need to do that? Why won't the spell work otherwise?"

The Ravenclaw's seemed to be making good progress with theirs as Harry watched a second student create a small barrier around them. As the lesson progressed more and more people succeeded in the Shamans Barrier. By the lesson was nearly over about a quarter of the students had managed it. They all varied in sizes as well. Some Harry saw were only a few feet across and not even tall enough for their occupant to stand up in. The smaller the Golden domes were the weaker they seemed. Many of the smaller ones could simply be lasted away with an impedimenta jinx or a well placed kick. Harry's however, that was a very different matter.

He, Ron and Hermione had all created domes large enough for several people to stay inside. According to Seamus, one of the domes Harry had made during the lesson had measured twelve feet wide and about ten foot high. Harry Hermione and Ron, all took it in turns to practice destroying each others shields. Harry stared in wonder as the first time Ron and Hermione had shot jinxes at it, the shield had merely rippled like a drop of rain falling on a lake. As they progressed however, he learned that the more powerful the spells being fired at it, the more thought and effort Harry had to apply to resist the curses.

Hermione and Ron also did very well. Hermione seemed slightly claustrophobic while Ron tried to break the world record for the number of people contained inside a single Shaman Barrier. Remus stepped in and put a stop to this, much to Ron's annoyance.

"No Ron, it is very dangerous if you lost your concentration you could end up squashing the people inside." Explained Remus.

"But sir I won't loose my concentration." Remus gave him a cunning look. "Are you sure about that?" Ron nodded.

"Positive" He boasted. Remus let out a fake sigh.

"Very well then I suppose you can try. Ron seemed very excited about his chance at fame until he realised that after hearing Remus' words of warning no one wanted to risk being crushed.

They were all let out of the lesson five minutes before the start of lunch so that they had time to go and put their books back. When the teachers declared they could leave, they all made their way out of the Great Hall. Harry was feeling particularly happy with himself. The lesson had gone well and Harry had an afternoon with no lessons. Just as they were walking along the corridor Remus caught up with Harry.

"Hey Harry." He called as he walked up to them. "Hey guys I just wanted to say that you did great in today's lesson. You should all take ten points for Gryffindor. I wasn't sure if I should give you lot points, I wouldn't want it to seem like favouritism, but Kingsley gave some to Ravenclaw so I think it's only fair." He explained.

"Anyway, Harry I was wondering if we could talk about Your Occlumency lesson last night. Dumbledore found out what happened." Harry didn't know what to say. He knew that Dumbledore would find out. He always found out when there was something up. Not to mention that fact Snape had siphoned out the memories he had seen, no doubt so that he could show the headmaster.

"Oh" Harry said as he hastily turned to Ron and Hermione. "Could you two go on ahead?" He asked, not wanting them to know about what he had been dreaming.

"Sure." Ron replied. He also volunteered to take Harry's bag so that he didn't need to walk up to the common room, but could just meet them in the hall for lunch.

"Dumbledore will be coming to the next lesson this Friday." He stated, clearly wanting an explanation for what was going on. Harry almost felt sorry for not being able to confide in Remus, but reminded himself that it wasn't anyone's business. Since when had dreamcrime existed?

"That probably won't be necessary." Harry said, downplaying the significance. "I don't want to go in to details. It's just I have been having some unusual dreams. You probably figured that much out though I expect."

"I did." Remus replied with a small nod.

"Well don't worry about me. It's just a phase. It will pass. It could have been something I ate." He gave a hollow laugh.

"Ok, but remember" Said Remus as he ran a hand through his hair. "That if you do want to talk to someone then I'm here. Since it looks like you might have to share more than you want to with Snape, it might help to have someone who isn't a complete ass to balance things out."

"Thanks." Harry replied with a little more patience. "I will see you around." And with that he returned to the Great Hall, this time for a spot of lunch.

Ten minutes later when his friends had joined him and he was making a start on his lunch he posed a question.

"So Ron what do you think we should do this afternoon?" He asked.

"Well I was thinking we could do some more Quidditch practice. We need to finish off that essay from Hagrid as well." Ron said.

"Oh that won't take long. I managed to get most of it done in the lesson." Said Harry. "I need to write my letter about the school trips to the Dursley's." He added gloomily.

"Thanks for reminding me Harry. I need to write to mum and dad as well.

A little while later as lunch drew to an end, the school bell rang, signalling the start of afternoon lessons. Ron and Harry had the afternoon free so they made their way up to the common room, which was all but deserted of a few sixth and seventh year students.

"Shall we get started on our homework then?" Ron asked as he began unpacking his notes from class. Over the next thirty minutes they completed the homework. Harry found the uncommon quietness to be most useful, and made better progress than he normally would.

"Well I think this is going to deserve an Outstanding." Said Ron smugly as he placed down the last piece of parchment. "Shall we get started on our letters? Mine won't take long. I don't need to convince mum and dad. They will just sign it. I can help you with yours if you like." Harry happily accepted Ron's help and over the next forty minutes he sat and wrote the letter. Once it was finished he read over it to make sure there was nothing which might give away his true intentions.

_Dear Dursley's,_

_I am writing to you to tell you about a school trip permission form. This year my school has some day trips planned, and if I am to go on a school trip then I need your permission to attend. The school trips will be really boring, and if I don't go then I get to spend the day without any lessons, which will be nice, so if you could please say no then that would be appreciated. The only reason I'm writing is because I will get in trouble if I don't, so as I said, if you could just reply back saying I don't have to go, so I can have a day to relax I would be grateful. _

_If you did want me to go then I must point out that the chance of me being attacked (and possibly killed) is much higher while I am out of school. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to me would you? Please let me know as soon as possible because I would like to start planning what to do with my free day. _

_Harry _

He was reasonably satisfied with what they had written, and Ron seemed to agree that they would suspect nothing, so he sealed the envelope and made his way to the Owlery. He stepped into the airy room and had a look around the large room. Dozens of eyes where upon him as he searched for his owl amongst the others. Owls flew overhead up in the rafters as he continued his search. Eventually he found Hedwig nestled high up in between to barn owls.

Harry couldn't reach up high enough so he called up to the sleepy owl.

"Hedwig could you come her for a minute please?" Hedwig opened a sleepy eye and looked down at him. She yawned and stretched her wings before gliding down in a spiral towards him. Harry carefully tied the letter to her ankle and gave her some instructions.

"Take this back to privet drive will you? Give it to my aunt because she is the nicest. Make sure you get a reply. But be careful that they don't attack you. Especially watch out for the fat ones." Hedwig hooted in understanding and then flew out threw the open window gliding gracefully through the air.

Harry made his way back down to the common room and sat down. He decided not to dwell on the likelihood of success for now. They would either fall for it or they wouldn't, but either way he would have to wait. After all what is the point in worrying about it now? If they said no then he would still have time to try again. He joined Ron for Quidditch practice on the school grounds, where they played for half an hour until the rain outside became so heavy that they had to retreat back to the dry warmth of the castle.

"It wasn't a complete loss. I got some good practice." Harry said as they made their way towards the common room. Whilst the practice was certainly shorter than he had planned, it was still better than nothing.

"Yeah I made an amazing save. I did a great dive. Did you see it?" Ron asked excitedly. "Ron, you weren't practicing with a Quaffle." Harry reminded him. There was a moments silence before he replied.

"Yeah but if it was a real save it would have been spectacular."

Dinner passed by uneventfully, with people generally a little less excitable now that they had been back at school for a few days. As the evening passed he found himself sitting in the common room helping Neville with some Transfiguration work. Harry wasn't an expert by any means, but it has often been speculated that even a muggle would be able to teach Neville a thing or two about magic.

It was quarter past ten when Neville had just got the hang of what had already been covered in class.

"Thanks Harry. I would have been really stuck without your help."

"That's ok Neville. If you ever need more help you can ask me." Neville thanked him again and then left to go talk to Dean and Seamus. Harry was bored so he decided he would go upstairs and have an early night. He would have to invest in some new board games at the next opportunity since he didn't fancy playing more chess or cards for the time being.

Harry collapsed on his bed. He wasn't that tired and so he didn't fall asleep straight away. He just sat there musing. "I wonder when Cho will get better. Dumbledore said that it wouldn't be long, but what if he is wrong? What if she never gets better? Will she just stay without a soul forever? Why am I having these visions in my Occlumency lessons and in my dreams? Why can't anyone answer my questions?" Harry's mind was flooded with thought and questions before he finally drifted asleep with the sound of the rain pounding down on the window outside. This is why he had the dream.


	16. Dreams UPDATED

Harry was in an uncomfortable sleep. He was dreaming, of this much he was aware. What he wasn't aware of was the reason he felt uncomfortable. He had a sense of foreboding as he looked before him. There was a stone path, which appeared to be floating in the air. He looked below him to see that the some way down was the sea. At the end of the path he could see someone standing with their back to him, so he began making his way over, each footstep hesitant, for walking on floating pathways was a darn good way to get killed.

The sun was shining down brightly making the path seem strangely inviting. He drew closer towards the person, his footsteps sounding loudly underfoot. The only other sound he could hear was the distant roaring of the sea below him. As he drew to be ten feet away from the person at the end of the path he stopped. The figure turned round to face him and the sky seemed to grow dark above him. Suddenly it seemed to become windier as Harry s stomach twisted and he stared into the smiling face of Tom Riddle.

"Hello Harry. It is good to see you again." Spoke the man before him.

"What is Tom doing way out here in the middle of nowhere? What am I doing here? This dream doesn't make much sense. I haven't dreamt of Tom before" Harry thought to himself.

"This isn't a dream." Tom said with an unsettling smile as though he had read Harry's mind.

"What is it then?" Harry asked, without a trace of fear in his voice. Tom riddle answered. "This is merely an illusion of the mind Harry. This place doesn't really exist. You are not standing on a path. The sea is not below us and the sky is not above us. Nothing around you is real. That much is like a dream, and indeed you are asleep. However, unlike a dream, I am real." He said as the smile spread further across his face. Harry felt the familiar feeling of panic creeping through his body.

"What do you want Tom?" He asked, while trying to draw his own conclusion.

"It is Voldemort to you."

"Then why do you appear before me looking as you did then?"

"Well Harry, it is my understanding that you are familiar with this incarnation of myself, I felt that perhaps we would be better able to hold a conversation if you were more at ease. Also, to be a little vain, who wouldn't want to be seen as they were when they were young. After all once you get past twenty its mostly down hill."

"You haven't answered my question." Harry replied, deciding Voldemort was at least partly correct. If he had seen Voldemort he would have dived for cover, even in his dreams. "Perhaps you asked the wrong question. What I think you mean to ask, is what do _you_ want? I know you have questions burning within you I know you are searching for answers. Whilst it is not my purpose in being here, I would be happy to give you answers.

How did Tom know what he wanted? How did he know that above all Harry wanted answers? Then the answer came to him. If Voldemort was speaking to him, then he must be inside Harry's mind. If he was inside Harry's mind then he knew everything that Harry was thinking, and probably everything that he had been thinking. He knew who was in the order. He knew where Harry's friends live. He knew how he felt about things, how he felt about people. He knew all of Harry's weaknesses.

Tom riddle gave a wide smile.

"That is right Harry. I know everything you know, and oh so much more. Now I know how you have been feeling over the last week; that of course was obvious to me for I have sensed your emotions and tasted your anger. I felt your blood boil, but only now do I know why. These images you have been seeing Harry, the ones of the torture, the pain, the suffering, this is not my doing. It is all your own."

"I already knew that." Harry snapped angrily. Voldemort gave a small laugh.

"Yes, you did." Harry didn't like the thought of someone knowing what he was going to say before he had even said it.

"Ok if you're here to give me questions, then give them to me. Other wise leave." Voldemort remained silent, showing that he was willing to answer any questions Harry may have. "Why are you after me? Why do you want my help?" At this point Voldemort's smile faded.

"I see you interrogated that snivelling servant of mine. Well it would seem that you found out what I want but not why I want it. This is a question I do not wish to answer. Please do not think on it any more, a time will come, when you will have the answers, but for now I can't tell you that. It would seem bad luck that the first question you ask if one I cannot answer" Harry cursed to himself. This was something that had been plaguing his mind for a long time.

"Why am I having these visions then? The ones where people die."

"That is a good question." Voldemort remarked as his smile returned. "I shall be happy to answer, for I know that whilst it is an answer you want, it is not the answer I shall give, which is the truth. You are seeing what you desire. A part of you, however small, for some reason desired to see your friends in pain, and many of them dead.

"But I don't want that." Harry retorted, knowing this to be true.

"You don't know that you do. Or rather, that you will. Harry, what you saw, and what I have read from your mind tell me that this is in the future. You looked to me to be some years older, so whilst it might seem confusing to you, you are seeing what you will want, and what you may do. If you offer a man a drink of water he will say yes. Offer him another drink and he may have changed his mind. He probably does not want more water at that point, but soon he will change his mind again. Please, whilst you have little reason to trust me, believe me what I have said, for I have no reason to lie. A truth which causes you displeasure is one I will gladly share."

"How do you know that is what I will want? You only know what I know, and I don't know if it was just a nightmare."

"You know it was more than a nightmare Harry, otherwise you wouldn't have asked about it. The reason I know is because I had similar dreams when I was a child." Harry's blood chilled at this point.

"Why now?"

"Ones magical ability cannot be fully realised immediately. When I was a child it was not known that I would be the most powerful wizard on Earth. It is as you get older that your full potential can be understood. Many wizards continue to grow in power until some point in their twenties. I believe Muggles call them hormones, the part of a person that makes them lust and rage. This doesn't happen until one reaches their teenage years. It is the same with thirst for power, and the willingness to do what is needed. It only comes with time, which is why it all seems so sudden.

"I refuse to believe that is what I will ever want." Harry argued, knowing in some way, that Voldemort spoke at least some truth. After all Dumbleodre hadn't given him a good argument otherwise.

"That is ok. You do not need to believe me straight away, but you will know the truth soon. However, I should add, you do not need to fear excessively for you will die before this happens."

"So you do want me dead after all?"

"Not yet. You will die in time, but as you already learnt from Pettigrew, for now I do want you alive."

"Why did you attack me when I was at Diagon alley then?" Harry asked furiously. Having his fears confirmed was somehow worse than not knowing. Voldemort smiled.

"I didn't attack you, all I did was send some of my men along to investigate the source of magic at Ollivander's. You being there was not the cause of the attack, though it was a pleasant surprise. I thought it would never happen, in which case I would have proceeded with my normal plans, which involve a much more imminent death for you. However now that I knew you were ready, that changed everything. It also served as a wonderful distraction whilst I broke into Azkaban unguarded.

"I may have lost one servant but I gained dozens more. But again I can see you already knew that. Anymore questions?" Harry searched his brain, as did Voldemort.

"Why the attack on the Hogwarts Express?" They both asked simultaneously as Voldemort read Harry's mind.

"Dementors are a good way of taking someone alive, and the Hogwarts Express provided a nice opportunity. Now I have learned what I need to know from your mind, I have answered some of your questions, which I hope you are grateful for. I grow tired of your simple questions, I shall be leaving now. I may stop by another time to check up on what you have learnt, but the next time we meet, will most likely be the day that you die. Dress accordingly." Voldemort instructed, and suddenly he faded from in front of Harry. He watched as the path below him disappeared and he started plummeting to the water below.

Harry woke up with a start. He was lying on his bed, out of breath. He was in a cold sweat and his scar was stinging dully on his head. According to his clock, it was about half past midnight. Harry sat in his bed listening to the sleeping people around him. Apparently he hadn't been sleep talking because they all appeared to be asleep, and for this he was thankful. Everything seemed quiet, except in the distance. Harry strained his ears as he heard a sound. It sounded like a dull tapping, more of a thud actually. Whatever it was it was getting louder, and was therefore headed this way. Harry realised that the sound was actually someone walking towards him. He heard the footsteps on the bottom of the spiral staircase.

There was a moment of silence before the footsteps resumed, growing louder as the attacker approached. Harry looked to his bedside cabinet and picked up his wand. He held it tightly in his hand and pointed it in the direction of the door. Harry suddenly heard the crack of thunder from outside and it was only now he now noticed that there was a torrential downpour. He quickly turned his attention back to the door. The person was now only a few meters down from the door. Harry listened with baited breath as they drew the last few steps between themselves and the dormitory door.

A crack of thunder sounded again in the distance. Everything seemed silent. Then a flash followed by a terrific boom as the lightning struck just outside the window. Harry continued staring at the door, where the handle began to very slowly turn, before, at an equal speed, the door creaked open on its hinges. A tall figure stood framed in the doorway, silhouetted until another bolt of lighting flashed and illuminated the dark room for a moment. Harry stared at the apparition standing in the doorway. It was Dumbledore.

"I'm going to have to give this door an oiling." He said as he began rummaging in his pocket. "That squeaking is really rather disagreeable, it could wake someone up." He continued, finally finding a small antique looking oil dispenser somewhere from his cloak. Harry wondered briefly if he was talking to himself, but realised it was directed to him, when the headmaster looked straight up at Harry with a grave expression on his face. He took a step closer to Harry, the door swinging back to its closed position, though this time silently.

"Come Harry. We have urgent matters to attend to." Harry didn't know what the urgent business could be but at this moment, but when Dumbledore said jump… He put on his glasses, and looked around for his special galleon. Was it a full order meeting? At this hour? Harry slid out of the warmth of his bed and put on his slippers. He pulled a robe on over his pyjamas and walked over to Dumbledore who was waiting patiently. Dumbledore did not speak, but he turned and started descending the stairwell.

Harry followed him down the stairs and through the common room. The fire was filled with a few glowing embers, and for some strange reason the room smelt strongly of rotten eggs. Perhaps one of the students had availed themselves of a Weasley Stink Bomb. They walked out of the portrait hole and along the corridor. Harry recognised that they were headed in the direction of Dumbledore's office. As they walked along the drafty corridor his curiosity got the better of him.

"Um Professor what is this about?" He asked curiously as he walked alongside the headmaster.

"Patience Harry, we shall not speak here. The walls have ears." Harry remembered hearing this saying before. It was however, rarely true. This was one of the few situations where it was. Harry looked to either side of him to see sleepy looking portraits all glaring at them. Some of them pretended to be asleep while they peeked out from one eye.

They reached the Stone gargoyle guarding the stairwell to Dumbledore's office. As Dumbledore walked up to it, the stone gargoyle hopped to the side and did a low bow. If it had had a hat, it most certainly would have taken that off as well.

They walked into his office, which Harry was surprised to see was empty. "Well that means that there hasn't been an attack." He thought thankfully.

"Harry I need to speak to you about your dream that you had tonight." Dumbledore began calmly.

"How did you know that I had a dream?" He asked. Dumbledore sighed.

"Well Harry. Over the summer holidays I thought it wise to install a few simple charms that would alert me if any kind of magic of the mind were used in your dormitory. That means that if you receive a vision from Voldemort or something of the opposite, I would be alerted to it. It seems to have been a good decision. Now please Harry I must know what you saw tonight."

Harry recalled to Dumbledore everything that he had heard and everything that he had said.

"Well Harry it is just as I have feared. Your Occlumency lessons are not progressing fast enough." Dumbledore paused for a moment as he mentioned this. "It now seems that Voldemort knows everything. We had the element of surprise before, but that is no longer to be the case. It seems as if everything is lost." Harry felt incredibly guilty as he sat there in the chair facing Dumbledore. Once again he had ruined things for everyone.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, not knowing what else he could say?

"Do not apologise Harry. It is my fault. I shouldn't have asked so much of you. I see now that it was a mistake to expect you to be able to master Occlumency in such a short time. Also, we may still be able to rectify this situation. So do not be disheartened yet."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. How could things be fixed? It wasn't as if they could just use a memory charm on Voldemort.

"Well Harry, we cannot have Voldemort knowing what he has learned tonight. I therefore suggest that we make use of the time turners." He now understood what was going to happen. They could travel back a few hours and then stop himself from forgetting to empty his mind. "Come Harry, let us correct this mess." Dumbledore opened a draw in his desk and Harry saw shining, a dozen time turners. He took out one for himself and then passed one towards Harry.

"Now Harry tell me, when did you fall asleep?" Harry thought back. He had been helping Neville at quarter past ten, so he must have fallen asleep just over two hours ago.

"Well I fell asleep at about half past ten, I think." Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well then Harry. If you could turn the inside ring on the watch anticlockwise halfway. And then turn the middle ring anticlockwise by two hours. We will be able to stop you falling asleep. Harry looked down at the watch in his hand. He saw there were three brass rings. He turned them accordingly.

"Now what?" Harry asked as nothing happened.

"Now," replied Dumbledore. "Press the button on the top and we shall be travelling back."

Harry pressed a small round button on the top. He saw the office dissolve in front of him and experienced the sensation that he was flying backwards at a very high speed as he saw a blur of colours pass. He was feeling very dizzy by the time he stopped, and fell down into the chair in Dumbledore's office. Harry almost fell backwards off the chair as he regained his balance. He saw a moment later Dumbledore appeared facing him.

"Come now Harry. We must make haste." Dumbledore stood up and made his way out of the office, with Harry at his heel. Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs Dumbledore stopped. "Harry, we need to wait a moment. If you were to walk into the common room things could be very suspicious for those who have seen you already go to the dorimitory. It would also be irregular for me to just stroll into the common room. We must therefore be undetected. In order to do this we must not be seen and to not be seen we must be invisible."

Harry ran these thought through his mind. They made sense.

"Unfortunately Harry I do not posses an invisibility cloak, and I believe I overlooked giving you the instructions to bring yours. I fear that the Dissilusionment Charm would be inadequate, due to the fact that it only makes you partially invisible. I therefore suggest we use a simple Adiverto Charm. I do not suspect you have heard the name, though you have seen the effects of it I believe. An Adiverto Charm will not allow people to pay attention to you. It is the kind of magic that is used on the Leaky Cauldron and at the Quidditch world cup. Muggles cannot get near, or look at the charmed object or persons." This seemed like a pretty straightforward thing, apart from one small fact.

"Um Sir, You said muggles. No one in the Gryffindor tower is a muggle so how will it work?" Dumbledore grinned at Harry.

"Ah well yes it is most commonly used against muggles but that doesn't mean it can't be used against wizard as well. When I cast the wand at you, I want you to imagine that you are standing in a room full of people, and not a single person has acknowledged your presence. I want you to imagine that you are standing right in front of them and they are paying you no attention." Harry scrunched up his eyes and imagined doing a tap dance in front of Ron, who continued staring straight through Harry, as if nothing of the sort was happening.

Dumbledore waved his wand swiftly through the air and muttered "Adiverto." Harry had a strange sensation, one that could best be described as a large sponge swelling up inside him. Harry looked down at his arms and saw they were perfectly visible. He looked at Dumbledore and watched as he cast the spell on himself. Suddenly Dumbledore wasn't there.

"Professor, I can't see you." Harry explained, feeling a little stupid, thinking perhaps he had done something wrong.

"I am right here Harry. Said a voice from the place Harry had seen him standing a few moments ago. Harry looked to the source of sound, or at least attempted to. As his eyes moved in that direction, they suddenly jumped a metre to the left and he found himself focusing on a point some feet to the left of where he had intended. He attempted again, and found that again his eyes jumped over the spot he intended to see.

"No professor, I can't focus on where you are." Harry was annoyed with himself at not managing to see someone standing just a few feet away from him.

"Do not fret. There is a simple reason to that. Your eyes are telling you that I am not here but your brain is telling you otherwise. When your senses don't agree then this is the result. What you must do Harry, is will your self to see me. Close your eyes again. Now picture this exact spot you are standing in and picture the exact view you know is there. Will yourself to see me and your brain will overpower your senses. Harry clearly pictured Dumbledore standing there in his long scarlet robe. He opened his eyes and saw the real article in front of him.

"It worked!" exclaimed Harry in surprise.

"Yes, of course." Said Dumbledore without a hint of surprise in his voice. "Now Harry, lets not delay any further." Dumbledore closed the remaining distance between him and the gargoyle statue. They walked along the corridor swiftly, in the direction of the common room. Harry noticed that Dumbledore seemed to make no sound as he silently moved along, quite the opposite from when he was approaching the common room. Perhaps he had secretly charmed his shoes to be loud when he walked up the spiral staircase; perhaps he enjoyed giving someone a scare late at night as much as anyone else did. Whatever the reason was, it was irrelevant.

They walked past the moving staircases and along another corridor. Harry watched as Filch walked round one of the corners. For a split second it seemed that he was staring at them, but a moment later he was deeply engrossed in an inspection of the wall. Harry silently laughed as the caretaker pulled a vacant expression, as if he realised that he had just forgotten what he had meant to be doing. Harry and Dumbledore finally reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Now what was the password? Dumbledore asked. "Pumpkin juice?" he asked hopefully. Nothing happened. "Oh no, that is Ravenclaw's password." He muttered to himself.

"Patronus?" Harry suggested, helping Dumbledore.

"Ah yes that's the one. Dumbledore exclaimed as the picture swung open. Harry glanced at the fat lady, who looked very confused as to who had spoken. He and Dumbledore walked into the common room.

It was still very busy, being about twenty minutes past ten; most of the students hadn't gone to bed yet. As they walked into the centre of the room, everyone seemed to look away. Any people had had been staring across where they were standing, turned round and looked in the opposite direction. The effect was that a sort of tunnel appeared through the room where no body was standing. He looked to a corner and saw himself standing up and walking up the staircase.

"We are just in time." Said Dumbledore in barely a whisper. They walked over to the staircase and followed the other Harry up. He couldn't help noticing that footsteps did seem magically magnified on the solid stone staircase. When they walked into the dormitory it was empty, Harry looked towards the bathroom and saw the door was closed and the light was on. The room was empty of anyone other than them. Dumbledore pointed his wand at himself and muttered,

"Attendril." Harry watched in a curious interest. Although he could see Dumbledore before, it seemed he could see him much better. As if he had only been visible to Harry as a memory. Now he appeared very real. He leaned over to Harry, and spoke quietly so as not to be heard. "Harry I wish for you to remain hidden from view. I will explain the situation to the other you, and then I will allow you to reveal yourself once he fully understands. It would be a lot more normal for me to be seen than for you, well to yourself any way."

Harry agreed. They waited silently for a few moments, until Dumbledore said. "Will we be expecting anyone else to come along from downstairs?" Harry suddenly realised that two Harry's and a Dumbledore in the dormitory was not the usual sight. It would take a lot of discussion to explain to anyone who walked in, what was going on. Harry heard footsteps in the bathroom and then the light clicked off. He watched as another Harry walked out of the bathroom. The second Harry walked over to his bed just as he had done a few hours ago.

"Good evening Harry." Dumbledore greeted. The second Harry spun round surprised and looked at the source of noise.

"Dumbledore?" He asked in a confused and surprised voice. "What are you doing here, professor?" He suddenly wished his pyjamas were more fashionable. Dumbledore walked out from the corner of the room, over to Harry.

"I'm afraid that I must ask you to momentarily delay your plans of sleeping. If you were to go to sleep now then grave things would happen" Harry looked completely bewildered.

"What do you mean? Why?" He asked as he started staring at the bed suspiciously, as if it nefarious intentions. Dumbledore sighed.

"Well Harry, I have in fact just used a time turner to travel back a few hours. The reason for this visit is that tonight you would have forgotten your Occlumency training and your mind would be penetrated.

"No I wouldn't have forgotten." Said Harry defensively.

"You did." said Dumbledore simply. "Tonight you would have fallen asleep. You would have been to busy thinking about things, and you forgot your Occlumency. Voldemort penetrated your mind and read your thoughts. He found out everything Harry. He found out about the Order." Harry stood there looking stunned.

"How do you know about this?" Harry finally asked.

"Well, that is because I have placed spells around this room to detect any form of mind magic. If Voldemort sent you messages or read your mind, I would know about it. I had to come and investigate what happened. You told me all about what you had seen. The severity of what happened was too large to go by unchanged. You and I both travelled back using the time turners, so that we could warn you." Harry looked as if he accepted this new information. "Where am I now?" Harry asked curiously. "You're standing right beside me." Replied Dumbledore with a small smile.

Dumbledore signalled to the invisible Harry, or rather the Harry who went unnoticed. He walked over to Dumbledore, who pointed his wand at him.

"Attendril." Harry felt nothing, but from the look on his others face, he had now become visible.

"Hi" he said gingerly as he waved his fingers. It felt very strange greeting yourself.

"Hi." The other Harry waved. Is that what he looked like?

"If I may explain." Dumbledore continued. "We need to be quick because I do not know how long it will be before we have intrusion from your fellow students. Now both of you, if you will please come with me." He turned to look at the confused looking Harry. "I am about to perform a simple spell that will make you go unnoticed. I do not have time to go into detail right now but I'm sure you will understand later. When I explain it to you tonight." Dumbledore pointed his wand at the confused Harry. "Adiverto" he said. Harry watched as the other one disappeared. Dumbledore then did the same to himself.

"Where are you Sir?" Harry heard his other say in a non-too confident voice.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to explain at this moment. All I will say is that we both shall go unnoticed." Dumbledore then turned his attention back to the visible and understanding Harry. "Harry, it will be all right for you to walk through the common room, also since you are a prefect you will not be stopped in the corridor. If you follow me then I will lead the way." He spoke once again to the unnoticed Harry. "Harry, just follow yourself." The visible Harry followed Dumbledore as he made his way downstairs. He looked behind him and saw his other self-walking a few steps behind him.

They walked into the common room. They were just near the exit when Harry heard a voice.

"Hey Harry, where are you going? I thought you were going to bed." Harry stopped and turned round to see Ron speaking to him.

"Er yeah I was, just going to attend to some business." Said Harry, hoping to be very vague so he could make up a decent reason later.

"In you Pyjamas? " Ron asked suspiciously. Harry looked down and noticed that he was wearing just a school robe over his Pyjamas.

"Er yeah I just, need to go now." Harry said. Suddenly a look of dawning struck Ron's face. "So thats what you meant when you said you were going to get an early night! I thought you liked Cho? You had better tell me about the mystery girl tomorrow, it is the least you can do." Harry looked round embarrassed and realised that half the common room was now listening to the conversation between him and Ron.

"I'm going on prefect business." Said Harry trying to regain control dispel the belief that he was attending some sort of kinky rendezvous. Harry quickly walked out of the common room, hoping to avoid any follow up questions. As the three of them walked along the corridor Harry turned to his unnoticed self and said.

"That could have gone a bit better." The unnoticed Harry nodded. "Yeah, still at least Tonks wasn't there; she would believe me be a Casanova."

As they walked further along they took a right turn, then another right and then walked down some stairs. Harry found himself in a corridor he did not recognise. On either side of the corridor were a dozen oak doors. "Where are we?" he asked. Dumbledore did not answer but walked forward, apparently counting the doors as he passed. He stopped at one which was the fifth along. He opened the door and they walked in. It was a cream painted room with simple furniture and a plain red bed.

"What is this?" Harry asked curiously. As the confused Harry went and sat down on the bed.

"Attendril" Harry heard twice as the professor and the other Harry became visible to everyone else. "This Harry is a guest room. I can talk about how we shall go about our plan."

"What is wrong with your office?" asked the Harry sitting on the bed. Dumbledore turned to look at him.

"There is nothing wrong with my office, apart from the fact that a few minutes ago I just arrived there." This made sense, there had to be another Dumbledore walking around somewhere. "Now as you both know, it is illegal to alter the course of history using time turners. We have just done so, which means we must be very careful to make sure things end up the same way they started. Or rather, so it would appear that way." Harry's mind raced as he tried to comprehend what Dumbledore was saying and listen to the things that had been said while he was thinking.

"Now As I said, Voldemort infiltrated your mind tonight and read your thoughts. We can stop that happening. But we mustn't stop Voldemort. We must merely let him read your mind, and find nothing. If we stopped him altogether then I would not have left my office to speak to you this evening. Therefore Harry, you would have forgotten about your training and Voldemort would have read your mind. If you understand this then you will realise this would create an error. It would make an infinite loop in time. Something which can be very tricky, and certainly wouldn't go unnoticed by the Ministry. What we must do is get everyone to go to sleep. Once every one in Gryffindor is asleep we will be able to return to your Dormitory once again, and we can then allow you to speak to Voldemort without telling him anything." Dumbledore paused and took a few deep breaths.

"Professor, I'm still slightly confused over a few things. What happened in the dream?" Said the uninformed Harry. Dumbledore looked at the original who was leaning against the wall.

"Harry why don't you tell us what happened?" He looked uneasily.

"Well er, Voldemort was there. He said he came to answer some of my questions. He also told me about how he had read my mind. He said he knew everything." Dumbledore gave a knowing look at Harry.

"Is that what you really saw tonight Harry? Please tell me the truth." Harry shook his head and gave a quiet reply.

"No. You told me to say I had dreamt that, when you appeared in my room tonight, and when I sat on that bed there." He said, nodding in the direction of the Harry on the bed. Dumbledore gave a triumphant look.

"Good then that suggests everything will work. Harry what I told you to say, when I told you to say that you had that dream. That is what actually happened. You did have that dream, at one point anyway. But time is a confusing thing Harry. It means that in the future you have already had this conversation and seen the outcome of tonight, yet while you are in the past you do not know. Time is like a cake with many layers." Dumbledore tried to explain it simply but didn't succeed very well.

"Am I supposed to be this confused Professor? I really don't understand this." Said the uninformed Harry from the bed. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes I believe so. You will understand everything by the time you next visit this room. Which will be in a few hours. But please let me explain. Tonight Harry, when you go to bed, you shall empty your mind of any thoughts, which could be of value to Voldemort. He will enter your dreams in hope of finding something of value. When he fails he will become infuriated and leave. You will wake up and I will walk pay you a visit. I will ask you to come to my office and then you will travel back in time. You will then meet up with yourself in your dormitory. Everything that is happening to you now will happen again in a few hours. You are sitting on the bed now, but later tonight you will be standing over there against the wall where he is." Said Dumbledore nodding in the direction of the original.

"Is this true Harry?" Asked the one from the bed.

"Yeah it is, I was sitting there a couple of hours ago. If you do what Dumbledore says then everything will go according to plan, I think." He said.

"Yes now Harry," continued Dumbledore to the uninformed. "Once we have managed to get everyone to go to bed you will go to sleep, now as I say make sure you empty your mind of any valuable information. You will speak to Voldemort and you will wake up a few hours later. I will walk into the dormitory and ask you to follow me. After that I will ask you what happened.

"Now in order to preserve the balance of time you must lie. You must tell me that you really did speak to Voldemort and that he found out everything. Tell me that he said he came to give you answers. Tell me that he knows about the order. I will then travel with you back in order to alter the events. Whatever you do, don't act as if you have spoken to me yet. Do you understand Harry?" Harry had finally understood. This was meant to happen. But he was meant to speak nothing of it.

"Yes I think I understand everything Professor." Said Both Harry's. The Harry on the bed looked at the original.

"How did you…" he began to say but the Harry by the wall cut him off.

"I said the same thing in your situation. You think this is weird? You should see it for a second time."

"Good, now that we are all clear on what we are doing let us go set things right." Dumbledore instructed before he muttered the Adiverto charm and he and the original Harry once again became invisible. "We shall follow you," instructed Dumbledore to the uninformed.

They silently walked along the corridors back to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Hold on a moment Harry," Dumbledore whispered very quietly." If you two will please wait here for now, you should probably come in in about ten minutes." Dumbledore walked over to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Patronus." Harry said from across the corridor, which resulted in the portrait swinging open and permitting Dumbledore entry without him having to give away his presence. After a moment in which Harry remained leaning against the wall, the portrait swung shut.

"Are you coming in or not?" She asked indignantly. Harry turned to face the portrait.

"No thanks. I think I changed my mind, I will stand here for a few minutes." Harry said. The fat lady gave him a brief scowl, before diverting her gaze elsewhere.

The two Harry's stood in silence, neither speaking in case it appeared slightly strange talking to ones self.

"Patronus" he said to the portrait after what seemed like ten minutes.

They walked into the common room, which was note entirely empty. Harry looked around and saw Dumbledore standing and smiling. This however wasn't the first thing one would notice. Instead it was the overpowering stench of rotten eggs that assaulted ones senses.

"I managed to clear the room of the occupants." Dumbledore said proudly. "And I did it without any magic!" Harry nodded whilst trying to avoid breathing if at all possible.

"What did you do, use dung bombs?" Harry asked, whilst desperately praying the answer was yes.

"Indeed I did. I found them to be most effective, second only two professor Binns 4th year syllabus." Harry gave Dumbledore a surprised look. Surely the greatest wizard around would have had something slightly more impressive than dung bombs at his disposal. "Well the amount of these that have been confiscated since the start of term, I'm quite certain that if I didn't find a use for them my office would be overflowing by the end of term.

"Now the hard part is done, let us move on to the next part of the plan." They carefully made their way up to the dormitory. The door was closed as they stood outside. Dumbledore pushed open the door silently, which proved perhaps the excessive squeaking from the beginning of the night had been entirely optional on Dumbledore's part. They made their way over to Harry's bed. The other students who shared a room with Harry were lying in bed, although Harry wasn't entirely sure that they were asleep.

"I will just use a simple sleeping spell." Dumbledore whispered. He made his way carefully over to Dean's bed. Dumbledore silently muttered a spell under his breath. He did the same on Seamus' and then moved over to Ron's. Just as he said the spell and Ron fell into a deep sleep, a figure moved. Harry's eyes darted over to find Neville had sat bolt upright in his bed. "Who's there?" he heard in a panicked whisper.

Dumbledore took a step forward, bathing himself in the moonlight which shone through the window.

"It is only I. I did not wish to disturb you Mr Longbottom, I simply wanted to come and personally congratulate you on your recent Herbology essay. Neville displayed a somewhat confused smile, before a moment later, flopping back on to his bed. He started emitting loud snores, with the wand in Dumbledore's hand being the only point to reveal what had happened.

"Now Harry, come here please." Dumbledore said, signalling to the invisible Harry, who walked over to him. "This is where things finally end, or at least the first part ends. All you need to do is clear your mind and go to sleep. Tomorrow I will place further charms around this room, to protect you from any more trouble. Remember what to say Harry, when I come along later tonight. It is vital that you don't give away what happened. It could destroy the balance of time." Harry awkwardly climbed into bed. It was difficult to fall asleep knowing that the headmaster of the school was standing there watching him.

"It is sort of difficult to sleep when you know you're being watched." Harry confessed to the darkness.

"You are thinking to much, There is nothing unusual about sleeping whilst an uncommonly friendly old man watches you." Harry closed his mind to the questions and sounds of the night. He emptied his head of all thought that would be relevant to Voldemort.

"I think I have done it Professor. I'm not thinking of any important stuff." Dumbledore did not say a word, he just raised his wand and pointed it at the Harry who lay there with his eyes closed. He muttered the sleeping spell and Harry immediately fell into a peaceful sleep. He would be woken up in a little over an hour, the original Harry thought to himself.

"Now all we need to do is wait." Dumbledore instructed. "Would you care to join me in the bathroom?" He enquired. Whilst slightly uncomfortable, Harry agreed. In a little over an hour another Dumbledore would be appearing, in the dormitory, so they couldn't wait in the main room. "Probably best not to mention this to the other teachers." Dumbledore mused, perhaps to Harry, perhaps to himself.

Sometime later the sleeping Harry started turning in his bed.

"Right, we had best make sure we are especially quiet. If I were to see us now, that could cause problems." Harry pushed closed the bathroom door, leaving them in darkness. Harry couldn't see what was going on outside, but as he listened carefully to the rain outside, and the distant thunder, he began to recognise it as having already happened. A few moments later he heard the familiar thumping sound, which meant the distant approach of Albus Dumbledore.

Harry watched form behind the bathroom door with baited breath, as the footsteps grew louder. Harry heard the same flash of lighting and crash of thunder. The creaked open loudly permitting the second Dumbledore entry to the room. Harry briefly considered, that with two Dumbledore's less than ten foot away, this was probably the safest place around, or at least the safest place on earth. As the headmaster conversed with the newly awakened Harry, he realised why no one in the dormitory had awoken from the thunder, r the fierce banging on the stairs. They were all under a sleeping spell.

As they listened to the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, Dumbledore steeped out of the bathroom.

"Good job Harry, it seems that everything has worked out perfectly. Or rather it has been resolved perfectly. I wouldn't normally consider an evening which required a time turner to be perfect. Anyway, I will be returning to my office, where I was, and you shall be able to go back to sleep. You have now been able to prevent Voldemort form reading your mind, although it did take some time." He quipped. "I advise you get to bed now Harry, You have school tomorrow!"


	17. The Cost of Magic UPDATED

Harry awoke early the next morning. Somehow the events of last night all seemed a long way away, with the sun shining in through the window. He looked at his watch, which said it was two minutes to seven. With a stretch and a yawn he reached over and picked up his glasses from the bedside cabinet. He was just standing up, when everyone else woke up simultaneously.

Harry smiled to him self as evidently the sleeping spell wore off at seven o'clock. As everyone busied them selves with getting ready, Harry looked over and saw a bewildered Neville staring blankly in concentration.

"Hey Neville." He said warmly. Neville looked up.

"Oh morning." He said, not giving Harry his full attention. "I had the strangest dream last night, about my Herbology essay."

"Is that so?" Harry asked with bemusement.

The day past by uneventfully. Harry continued learning about Transfiguration of living animals and they worked further on the Shaman Barrier, with the class making good progress, and with all but the most incompetent students succeeding to some degree. The day seemed to fly by, as did the next. Harry anxiously awaited a reply from the Dursley's regarding the permission slip for the school trips. None came. It was for this reason that Harry was sat on Friday night, without a reply, and wondering if perhaps the Dursley's had murdered Hedwig.

"How would you murder an owl though?" Ron asked as the two took the matter quite seriously.

"I don't know, poison perhaps, or some sort of trap?"

"Like a giant mouse trap?"

"Quite possibly." Harry said, as he imagined it all quite clearly.

"Hadn't you better be going to your Occlumency lessons?" Hermione signed with a little impatience. She didn't enjoy people entertaining any but most sensible of notions.

"I guess so." He replied reluctantly. After how the last one went he really didn't fancy going. The only saving grace was that he hadn't had any more disturbing dreams since. "Wish me luck." He called as he exited the common room and trudged along the corridor down to the dungeon, pensive in his hands.

As he looked down at the small amount of mist in it he thought to himself that it was a pity his father didn't put more memories into it? It was a shame there was only one." Harry had found comfort in the memory, but over the holidays he had seen it a dozen times, and so it was no longer warming to his heart.

He descended the staircase into the dank dungeons and continued until he reached the dreaded classroom, the same one where he spent the worst hours of his week. Admittedly it wasn't as bad as past years, but it did still involve Snape. With one final sigh he pushed open the squeaky door. It swung open slowly to reveal it was dimly lit with candles as usual. This wasn't at all inviting, as one might imagine with a candlelit room. Rather, it seemed that the flickering flames cast an eerie glow on everything.

Snape was stood beside his desk with his pensieve in front of him. He looked up from what he was doing.

"I'm glad to see you're on time Potter. He said, whilst trying to keep the bitterness in his voice to a minimum. "Here Potter." He snapped as he pointed to a spot where Harry would stand during the mental robbery which would shortly be forthcoming. He put down his Pensieve on the table next to him and sorted through all the personal memories he had of things he would not like Snape to see. This mainly consisted of a few personal moments with girls, and the recent visions. Whilst Snape might have seen them before there was no need for him to see them again if it could be helped.

"Are you ready?" Snape asked impatiently when Harry had finally finished.

"Um…"

"Legilimens." Harry who was unprepared felt his mind being probed again. He felt his memory's being searched. He felt painful memories resurface and new ones come to light. As soon as he realised this memory was of a place he had not been before, he cursed. He knew what it would mean.

He looked around the room that he found himself stood in. It was dark, and damp, not unlike the dungeon his physical self was stood in. A light bulb flickered by the ceiling, void of any form o shade. The room was sparsely decorated. The only real item worthy of note was a copy of the daily prophet, set upon a rickety coffee table. The headline read.

"Harry Potter still at Large. Ministry Closing in." Had this been real he would have looked more closely at the article. Unfortunately since it was a memory, or at least a future memory, he had no such control.

"I can't stay." Said a voice he recognised as Hermione. She looked a little older than she did at present, though it was difficult to define how in the poor light.

"I don't expect you too." He replied, with sadness in his voice. At that moment a loud bang could be heard, and the whole room shook. The light hanging from the ceiling swung, and went dead for a few seconds, before flicking back to life.

"They are bombing again." Hermione said as she brushed off the flecks of fallen plaster from her shoulder.

"This is why I can never stop." He replied.

"Do you not feel sorry for the murders?"

"No. I do what must be done. I only feel sorry that you of all people don't understand. You got yourself into this mess…"

"We couldn't wait forever."

"I never asked you too wait. I only asked you to have strength, not roll onto your backs ready for the slaughter."

"The only slaughter is because of you. I'm sorry it turned out like this, and I can understand why you feel this way…"

"You don't understand anything." He shouted. "No one does, except Remus and Blaise."

"Dumbledore understands, I understand, but that doesn't mean we can let you carry on."

"Who will stop me? Will you Hermione?"

"You know I'm not strong enough. I don't even have my wand."

"Then what did you want to tell me."

"That you should leave Harry. You shouldn't have come back at all.

"And let the world burn? You are lucky that my allegiance is to the right, not the people."

At that moment the conversation was interrupted as the small door in one corner swung open, a blond girl stepped through, and lowered her hood.

"Hello Blaise." Hermione said stiffly. The girl scowled slightly as she nodded back.

"Hermione was just leaving." He announced, before turning back to her. "I can see I am wasting my time talking to you."

"As am I." Hermione replied, turning her back on him and striding to the door. She paused as she passed Blaise.

"Try and reason with him. If he doesn't leave, he will be killed. Going back is the only chance he has at a normal life."

At this point another explosion could be heard outside, this time closer than before. The room shook violently, and the memory came to an end. He felt the pang of reality as he came back to the present situation. He was standing in the same spot as before, with everyone's gaze upon him. However, the memory struck his as odd. Whilst the others had involved someone dying, this one was longer, more specific. Where was that room, what on earth was Hermione talking about? What was it no one else understood?

Snape looked perhaps a shade paler than before, but like Harry he seemed perhaps more confused than concerned.

"Was there anything of interest?" asked Dumbledore politely. Harry shivered, although it was unusually warm down in the dungeon.

"No?" Suggested Harry hopefully.

"I think we shall be the judge of that Harry." Said Snape flatly. Harry watched with disappointment as Snape lowered the wand from his head and took Harry's memory with him. He deposited it in the empty pensieve where it floated slowly. Dumbledore made his way over to the pensieve, where he looked carefully at the swirling mist, before poking his wand at it, causing it to form into the memory. He inspected it carefully for about a minute or two before he looked to Harry with a face of seriousness. If he was as confused as Harry and Snape he did not show it.

"Harry, have you see this before?" He asked in a manner lacking his usual friendly tone. Harry replied truthfully.

"No Sir, definitely not." Dumbledore continued to stare at him with a piercing gaze.

"Now Harry, do you know what these memories are about?" Once again he replied truthfully.

"No sir, I have never seen anything like that before. I don't know what it could mean" Harry replied, shifting awkwardly on his feet. He was feeling feint from standing up too long.

"Remus, what do you make of this?" Dumbledore said. Harry spun round to where the question had been directed. Until this point he hadn't even noticed Remus was in the room. He was sitting silently on one of the chairs at the side of the room, in a patch which seemed to be avoiding the moonlight.

Remus jumped to attention and strode over to the pensive in a few steps. What would Remus think of the memory, what would Remus think of him? Remus stared into the pensive and after a few moments turned oddly thoughtful.

"I must admit I am stumped. I don't know what it's about. However there is something I know. I'm fairly sure Harry has never been to that place, I know this, because I think I know where it is."

No one replied to this surprising revelation, and Harry got the distinct impression they would only talk further on the point when he was not in their company.

"Now Harry, I'm sure that you find these images rather, distressing." Said Dumbledore choosing his words carefully. "Therefore it would be in your best interest to learn to repel Severus' magic as soon as possible. May I give you some advice?"

Harry was glad that the topic had turned back to the lesson, and away from the vision he would ponder on for many nights to come.

"Yes professor. I would love any help you could give." Dumbledore replied with a small grin.

"Well Harry, the first thing you can do is put those memories back into your head. I know I'm the one who gave you the pensieve, and it seems strange for me now to tell you not to use it, but I believe it may help you make progress for now.

"But I don't want to, Severus might see them." Said Harry, annoyed that this advice wasn't better.

"That is professor Snape to you Harry, and that is exactly my point! You don't want professor Snape to see your memories. Therefore if you put them back in your mind then you will have an extra reason to resist his attempts. I would not suggest you haven't been trying, but do you believe it is possible that perhaps you haven't been trying as hard as you can. Determination and persistence can go a long way."

Harry took Dumbledore's advice and put the thoughts back in his head. He didn't like the idea of it but at this point he was willing to try pretty much anything. Not to mention Snape had already seen some of the memories, and the others were insignificant, to the teacher at least.

"Ready Potter!" Snape said rather than asked. "Legilimens." Harry felt Snape penetrate his mind. He felt his brain open like a book ready to be read. Flashes of memories played in his mind. Eventually he saw a memory, one he had kept in the pensieve. It was the uncomfortable memory of the kiss that he and Hermione had shared in less than a week ago. He held her in embrace, and so he knew it would be just seconds before that private moment was relieved for Snape.

And then as he concentrated something changed. Whilst before it seemed that his mind had conjured the memories on their own, now he could sense the direction, a force pushing them. It was gentle, so as not to be noticed, but it was there, moving softly, like high tide. He tried to block out the memories which were much louder to him, and focus only on this feeling, this force. It wasn't physical yet he knew it was there. Could he respond to it? Could he stop it?

Hermione stared into his eyes and Harry watched the distance in between them close. He screwed his eyes tighter, on concentrated in this tide, ebbing at his memories. He imagined a wall, a defence against the sea, endless and impenetrable. If he could stop this wave, then he could stop the outside force pressing on him. As the image appeared in his mind, so seemed to increase in intensity the waves before which had seemed so serene. Then he heard a voice. It was one that sounded remarkably similar to Snape's. "You shall let me read your mind." said the voice of the spell. "No I don't think so." Harry replied to it. Now that the intimate moment had stopped playing it felt like he was much more aware. He could afford his full attention, where as before he couldn't think of thinking.

Everything went silent for a moment before he felt the spell attempting again to push its way through his mental barrier. "I said NO." Harry exclaimed inside his head. Suddenly his attention Snapped and the spell had been lifted.

"I think I did it." Harry exclaimed completely ignoring Snape, and instead turning to Remus and Dumbledore. "That helped, about keeping the memories." Harry said with newfound respect for the headmaster's wisdom.

"Yes I thought it might. You won't need to keep your memories when you get better, but at the moment it would seem to help.

"Did he manage to repel you fully?" Dumbledore enquired, turning to Snape, who stood with a look of utter surprise on his face. "He did?" he asked rather than said. It seemed even the potions master was too shocked for certainty. Harry tried not to feel too elated. Finally after all these months he had managed to do what he was meant to do.

"Would you mind me asking how Potter? Normally you offered no more resistance than some floozy after a few butterbeers. What was the sudden difference that enabled you to block my spell so entirely? Why is it after many months of pitiful efforts, you only now succeed?"

Harry stared back at Snape who displayed his usual look of dislike for the boy.

"Well I just became aware of the spell. I could feel it, and then it spoke to me." He said, knowing that it sounded a little silly. At least compared to normal magic that was.

"The spell spoke to you Potter?" Asked Snape in disbelief.

"Yes, it did. With your voice" Harry said. "It told me it would read my mind, as though it were a command, and I said no, so it didn't"

Snape gave him a loathing stare, as if out of all the things that happened this was the worst.

"Well Potter, aren't you special then!" he spat.

"Is something wrong then, did I not do it right?" asked Harry, hoping to hold on to the feeling of success for at least a few moments. If it turned out he had made no progress then he would feel like shit.

"Well it seems you managed to repel him exactly as one hopes. However, I believe the point professor Snape is questioning, is that it has not been described as "speaking" to someone before."

"Now I know we haven't been here long but I feel it would be a good place to end the lesson. After all after such a success I feel one deserves time to enjoy it. Plus we have made good progress with the meaning of your visions. We may finally be able to define something of use from them.

"You mean the place?" Harry asked, glancing over to Remus, who still hadn't elaborated on how he knew the room, or where it was.

"The room, perhaps." Said Dumbledore with consideration. "I don't know about that yet. I will need to look into it further. However there is one thing I do think is quite clear. Whilst Miss Granger was there, so was Blaise Zabini. Do you know her?"

"Not really." Harry replied, remembering the rather detestable girl. "I have spoken to her a couple of times.

"Well it seems you shall speak to her again, for in some way she is linked to these memories, and perhaps your future. She might even know something." Harry considered the point for several moments. It was a shame it couldn't have been someone nicer.

"I shall look into this point also Harry, though in the meantime if you were to speak to her, I imagine this would be quite agreeable. After all you want answers more than any of us. After nothing further was said, Dumbledore excused them, and left the dungeon to return to his office. Remus walked up beside him with a big smile on his face.

"I'm very proud of you Harry; I knew you would be able to do it." He said beaming. The two of them walked along the corridor as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Remus finally spoke.

"So Harry, you have been having some other dreams, different from that one, but still things that have not happened yet?" Harry awkwardly replied,

"Can we not talk about it please? I don't feel ready to discuss it yet." Remus didn't respond for a moment.

"Ok Harry. But I do need to talk to you. I don't suppose you could stop by my office tomorrow, could you, at about noon perhaps?" He asked gingerly. "Harry was thankful that the topic of the previous visions wasn't being pushed, so he readily agreed to the request.

"Yeah, I don't have any plans so I can do. Can Ron and Hermione come as well?" Harry asked clueless.

"Er no. I don't think so." Remus said, while he stared straight ahead.

When they made their way to the common room Remus confirmed. "So remember Harry, my office at twelve o'clock tomorrow." They bid each other goodbye and Harry made his way into the common room. He looked around but couldn't see Ron or Hermione anywhere. "Where have those two got to?" He wondered to himself. "They have probably gone to the library." He thought as he went of searching for them. He made his way down the deserted corridor. No one was around because it was nearly ten o'clock and an hour past curfew. This didn't matter to Harry however, as he strode along, with the prefect badge pinned to his robe.

He reached the library and begun to have a look around for Ron and Hermione, peering between the bookcases. They were nowhere to be seen, nor was Madam Pince, for that matter. The only ones in the library were a couple of Ravenclaw students who had been studying so enthusiastically that they had lost track of time. Harry sent them off with a reminder not to stay up so late again, before heading back to the common room.

He supposed that he must have missed Ron and Hermione, and perhaps they were doing some patrolling, but as he stepped into the warm room and glanced over by the fireplace he saw them. As he sat down beside them he noted that Ron looked quite sweaty whilst Hermione's hair looked rather dishevelled

"Hi Harry," Ron began, before pausing for a moment. "This isn't what it looks like." He continued after wiping his brow on his sleeve.

"No one would think that you idiot!" Hermione hissed. "Ron and I were just out practicing Quidditch and we had to run back here because it started raining." She explained.

"So you were playing Quidditch?" Harry asked as it dawned on him that this was certainly not a normal thing for Hermione to do. He had only ever seen her on a broom a couple of times before, and that was when everyone else was playing. He couldn't imagine what would lure her to get on a broom when Ron was the only other person about.

"Well not exactly, Ron was practicing, He only stayed just off the ground and I threw some balls, and charmed a few others. It's a bit pathetic watching him imagine the balls."

"I'm not pathetic." He interjected. Hermione carried straight on.

"But the main reason I was out there is because I would quiet like to see the other schools, they have some interesting historical facts and this would be a great opportunity to see them." Harry laughed to himself. Even Hermione could turn a Quidditch tournament into an educational day out.

"What position will you try out for then? I mean do you even know how to fly?"

"I do know how to fly." She replied hotly. "But I'm not actually trying out for any position. I think I can get the position of team manager."

"A team manager? Quidditch doesn't have those does it?" Harry asked uncertainly. He knew the team never had one in the past.

"She had given this some thought. The manager washes the uniform and inspects the brooms and stuff." Ron explained proudly. He had managed to remember something she told him over one hour ago. Well done him.

"Don't we have house elves for that?" Harry asked, before receiving a murderous gaze from Hermione.

"I said broom inspection and uniform maintenance is one part. The main part will be tactics. It's all very well for a team captain to try and take that on, but he or she is part of the team as well. Who will critique the captain? Not to mention if the captain turns out to be a Hufflepuff then will probably be too timid to tell anyone what they think."

"Team manager." Have played with the word, letting it roll out of his mouth. It felt strange. "And you think tactics is the way forward?"

"Definitely Harry. In war it is not the soldiers who turn the tide. It is the tacticians. I'm confident that after calculating the team's abilities it can actually be a form of science. After taking into account the variables we could know not only who will win, but also the score it will finish on." She rambled.

"Well you got me sold then." Harry said with a nod.

"I'm pleased to hear that. All I need to do now is explain to professor Dumbledore that we need a captain, and I'm sure he will agree that the omission was an oversight."

After listening for a little while about tactics, and how Slytherin seemed to be the most lacking, Harry started on his Charms homework. After finishing he sat there bored for a few minutes before deciding to retire for the night. Ron bid him goodnight and said he would probably be up in about fifteen minutes. When Ron did finally come upstairs Harry was already passed out on his bed, with a series of snores heard from between the curtains.

The next morning he awoke to the sound of his alarm. Whilst it was a Saturday, and such a day normally afforded one the option of staying in bed until lunch time, it seemed Newt students had a few lessons on Saturday morning. For Harry it was a double charms lesson, which was perhaps the only saving grace of this unwelcome interruption to his weekend.

As he sat at the breakfast table eating his cereal the post owls came along. Harry looked up anxiously awaiting the letter from the Dursley's, which once again failed to come.

"I bet Dudley ate my owl." Said Harry sombrely.

"Don't worry Harry; Hedwig is probably flying here right now. It is a long journey back to where the Dursley's live isn't it? I expect it will probably take a few days." Said Ginny comfortingly, thought she had to agree to herself that there was the possibility Harry was right.

After breakfast, which was quieter than normal since very few students not in their sixth or seventh year were up so early, Harry, Hermione and Ron headed to Charms where they took the three usual seats at the front of the class. Professor Flitwick bustled in a moment later, and over to his desk where he climbed on top and walked backwards and forwards telling them what they would be doing today.

"Today class, we are going to be doing two things. We will be practising a new charm. This charm is highly complex and very difficult to perform." The class were all listening anxiously for the difficult charm. If it was difficult then that meant that it must be exciting, or so everyone thought.

"Because of the complexity of the spell it is therefore important for me to introduce a topic to you." He gave his wand a flick and a piece of chalk began writing on the board. Once it had finished the title could be read.

The Energy Consumption of Magic

"Today is a very important lesson. It is a lesson which will be invaluable to later in life." He began in a serious tone, or as serious as someone can sound whilst speaking in a voice similar to a normal person after breathing in a dozen helium balloons.

"If it's not got any value why do we need to know it?" Ron asked stupidly as he gave Harry a look of disbelief.

"I try not to start of the school year with a lecture based lesson, but we can't proceed to the new charm until we have covered the content of the first lesson.

This is a general topic about magic, and not specific just to charms. If you are from a wizarding family you may have been told by your parents. Every spell, no matter how simple, uses up energy. It uses up energy from which you live. You need to eat and you need to sleep in order to maintain your energy."

Harry looked at Ron with raised eyebrows. Magic used up energy. He hadn't heard that one before. Apparently by the look on Ron's face, neither had he. It certainly hadn't been mentioned in their textbooks, because having read through it three or four times Harry would have noticed. Still, since it was apparently, as professor Flitwick put it, a more general thing about magic, it wasn't that surprising.

"You, listen!" Shouted Flitwick as he spotted a Hufflepuff poking a pen up his nose. "This is very important and it may very well save your life in future. The point is that up until now you have never really had to know it, because it didn't affect you. With however, the increased complexity of magic from which you are learning, you will be using more energy to perform the spells. Let me give you an example. If you were all to take a simple spell that you could perform, say for example the jelly leg curse. I know what students are like and I know that you have all practised on each other over the years. However the reason none of you passed out in the corridor is because it is a very simple spell."

"In fact you could probably practice all day without felling so much as light headed. You must however, when performing complex magic take into account the energy it drains from you, because if you found yourself in a dangerous situation then you wouldn't want to be falling asleep would you?" Flitwick asked as he stared at the class, all of who looked at him with some look of understanding, some more than others. Hermione was eagerly listening and Harry could see her often nodding and making comments such as  
"Oh absolutely!"

"Now, the complex spells take a lot of energy, but one spell that takes more energy than any other spell you will be learning at Hogwarts, is the Crelatio spell which we will be learning later this morning. This charm allows you to create an object out of thin air. Simple items are one thing, but more complex and larger items take an enormous amount of energy, and so it is not wise for you to always use it whenever you want it. This is why, even if you possessed the skill to create a large item, say a pair of expensive trainers, it is often better to transfigure something. Otherwise you might get half way and then pass out for a few hours."

"I therefore don't want you to leave this morning that Transfiguration is useless. A wizard skilled in transfiguration will generally be far more capable than a wizard trained in the Crelatio charm, even if it does take a little longer. Now, the amount of energy that is in fact required to summon an item varies from one person to another, but it is always slightly more than the amount it can make. This means that if you were to say, summon up a loaf of bread, after eating it you would not have any more energy than before. This is one of the reasons Wizards still need to buy food. Otherwise one could live simply with a wand, and no need for a job."

Professor Flitwick stopped and flicked through a text book for a moment before looking back up. "That is the rough basics of it all. Generally, people refer to this energy drain as the cost of magic. You will hear this mentioned a lot from now on. With a lot of your lessons you will be told what the expected cost of magic is. This will prevent you from erroneously attempting a difficult charm at the end of the day."

"I mentioned that it varies from one person to another. An example of this is that whilst you can probably make a quill with the Crelatio spell, I could decorate a house, whilst Dumbledore could fill the great hall with sleeping bags, as he has before, or build a house itself. It is difficult to reduce the energy consumption of spells, but mainly with practice and concentration you can get there." Flitwick explained.

"There will always be a limit as well. Whilst one can reduce the energy needed, we can call it efficiency, whilst one can be very efficient, their body still has a natural limit to the amount of magical energy it stores. For this reason whilst you will of course see improvements over time, I'm afraid it is unlikely any of you will be able to do what Dumbledore does.

Harry wished he had taken notes because he imagined that it was going to be tough to remember it all. Flitwick decided to demonstrate to the class exactly how important it was by having a Ravenclaw girl stand up at the front.

"I believe you have started the Shamans barrier in your defence class?" he asked knowing the answer. The girl nodded. "Excellent. If you are able I would like you to repeatedly cast the spell for a few seconds at a time." The girl did as instructed, filling the room with a small shimmering dome shield before letting it fade out, and then starting again. As she went to mutter her eighth spell she suddenly started swaying, and stammered, before eventually closing her eyes and falling back. Several cries went round the classroom.

"Is she dead?"  
"She's dead!"  
"Professor Flitwick murdered her."  
"Lets kill him and see how he likes it?"  
"Won't we get a detention for that?"

Professor Flitwick allowed then to talk for a minute whilst he removed the levitation charm he had used to stop the girl hitting her head on the floor. He strode back over to his desk and pulled out a potion that several over excited students probably assumed was poison for the next unfortunate student.

"Now now class. She isn't dead. Honestly you will believe anything if you want to. She is merely unconscious. This is because as I said, she consumed a large amount of energy, and in such a short time it decreased the energy flow to her head, and so her brain wasn't able to function properly." He explained as he took the small cork out of the bottle and placed it on the floor whilst standing over the student, ready to revive her.

"Professor, if you decrease the energy flow to someone's brain couldn't it do them serious permanent damage?" Hermione asked as she looked down from her desk sceptically at the girl on the floor. "Isn't there even a possibility of death?" She added.  
Flitwick gave her a quick glance before looking at everyone else to see if they had heard what she had said. Thankfully a lot of people had become attuned to ignoring Hermione's voice, that way the surprise wouldn't be ruined when teachers told them what their homework was. Not that it was a pleasant surprise. It was the kind of surprise they never hoped to have, in much the same way as finding out that your overweight mother is going to be performing ballet at the next school talent night.

He wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead as he gave a small incoherent cough.  
"Now watch as I revive the student." He said as he waved the potion under her nose. There was a moment of silence in which everyone stared expectantly, and in which professor Flitwick prayed. There was always someone. Always the smart aleck of the class who had to complicate things and point out the dangers, and the possibility of brain damage. It was magic for christ sake. It wasn't science. It wasn't like the good old days, where if someone died then he could just say that it was their own fault for performing a spell wrong. These days he wasn't so lucky. The ministry liked to investigate deaths. Or even worse, if they were a muggle born it would be the Please-Men.

Thankfully, after a few moments the girl sprang awake and looked round the classroom before her eyes landed on professor Flitwick and the potion he had in his hands.  
"That stinks!" she said as she climbed to her feet and hastily returned to her desk, blushing from having everyone look at her. Harry and Ron, although glad, were a little disappointed they were not able to see what would have happened if she didn't revive.

They returned to their notebooks and started writing down the rules and properties of the cost of magic and how to avoid overexerting oneself.

"As if magic wasn't dull enough, now I have to try and figure out if I'm allowed to do a spell or not. It's ridiculous is what it is." Grumbled Ron angrily after half an hour. At the end of their first lesson they were given homework to try and calculate their own magical potential and how much magic they could do before it became dangerous.

"He had better not give us homework after the second lesson as well. Damn tyrant." Ron said as he glared down at the teacher. Tyrant was not a word commonly associated with the three foot man.  
"Now that we have the important theory out of the way, we can move on with the spell. Today we are going to learn the Crelatio charm which I briefly mentioned earlier." Professor Flitwick explained excitedly. The class stared at him blankly, not knowing whether this would be a good thing or not. Harry racked his brain for what it could be. Eventually he remembered the spell form the textbook.

"Hey Hermione isn't that…" Harry began to whisper, but was cut off when professor Flitwick continued.

"The Crelatio charm allows you to materialise objects out of thin air. Whilst it can prove draining, it is not too difficult, and it won't be long before you are able to create all manner of simple items" The class suddenly broke into excited whispers.

"I could get some new clothes!" said a Hufflepuff girl excitedly.

"I could make a Firebolt."

"I could create a fancy top hat."

"Now now class, settle down." The teacher squeaked. "We will not be making clothes or new racing brooms. For a start making racing brooms is illegal, and secondly all of those things are very difficult to make. We will start with something simple and useful. We will be creating quills." The class groaned as they realised this would be a lot more boring than they first envisioned. Professor Flitwick then blared on for ten minutes on how the charm was performed. To correctly do it, you had to visualise the object, the size, the shape and then the texture and the smell and just about everything else there was to know about it. "There is no incantation for this spell, all you must do is visualise it as I have told you and then flick your wand." He explained. After five minutes more of talking he set the class off to have a go.

He started walking round the classroom peering over the top of the desk to see if students had managed yet. Harry looked at other people and watched as quills appeared in front of them, all defective. He watched as one person made a quill that bent over like wet paper, while someone else made one which was apparently very hot, as they let go of it straight away and a second later it burst into flames. Ron attempted it, but whilst he managed to make a quill with all the right properties, it for some reason had several small holes in it. He gave a sigh of defeat.

"Well I nearly have it. Professor" Ron called over to Flitwick, who came over and peered up at Ron who was sitting down. "Sir why is my quill full of holes?" Professor Flitwick picked up the quill and then carefully inspected it.

"Very good for a first attempt Mr. Weasley. You have managed to create a usable quill; the holes however, are due to lack of concentration. You need to imagine each part as an individual rather than as a whole." Ron tried again and managed to do make a nearly perfect quill.

Harry had a go, he closed his eyes and pictured the quill, he imagined its texture, size, colour, rigidity and smell. He waved his wand and a perfectly formed quill appeared on the table in front of him. Professor Flitwick stared down at the quill.

"Oh wonderful Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor." Hermione waved her wand and with what seemed like the simplest of ease, a long elegant white quill with a black pattern appeared in front of her. "Oh Splendid miss Granger, I see you have been using your imagination there. Fifteen points to Gryffindor!"

By the end of the lesson Harry had created a large pile of quills which would last him the end of the year. He had them in all different colours and even one that was modelled on a phoenix feather.

"Do you recon we could try and make more complicated stuff?" Ron asked furtively.

"Well I don't know, what sort of thing were you thinking we should try?" Ron cast a look around to see if anyone was listening.

"Maybe some money or something that could be profitable?" Harry sighed at Ron's desperation as he stacked his quills in a pile.

"I'm fairly sure that is either impossible or illegal.

Flitwick rounded off the lesson, by explaining why some people were having problems.

"As you can imagine, and as I'm sure many of you realised from practising the spell in class, that some elements of the creation are easier than others. To get the colour of something is the easiest aspect, whilst texture, temperature, solidity, smell and taste are harder, in that order." He said, answering the common question of why so many of the quills were floppy or smelled of cheese. "However, if you're creating something that doesn't need a taste, then you can simplify it, and it uses less energy to create. With practice and greater mental discipline you can even refine your abilities so that it takes an increasingly small amount of energy, until eventually you will be able to perform relatively complex spells with minimal energy consumption.

A few minutes later the bell rand, signalling the end of lessons, and the start of the delayed weekend.

"It feels all wrong having a lesson on Saturday." Said Ron indignantly as he packed away his things.

"Well we shouldn't really complain, we do have lots of free lessons. It makes it easier to do your homework on time you know." Hermione pointed out. They both had a point, but Harry had to agree charms on Saturday morning did kind of ruin the day.

"Still it's better than potions!" He smiled as they made their way off to enjoy their Saturday.


	18. The Restricted Section UPDATED

It was eleven o'clock, which meant that he had to be visit Remus in about an hour.

"I think I will go and see how Cho is doing." Harry informed his fiends as he altered course for the hospital wing. As he entered he noted that it was as empty as normal. He made his way to the end of the room and sat down in the chair by the side of the bed, putting his school bag down next to him.

He patted the back of her hand gingerly; as he sat and thought of the fun day he had spent with her during the summer holidays. The silence was uncomfortable, but there would be little point in speaking to her. After all, she couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anyone. "Cho's spirit must be so lonely floating around in the middle of nowhere, she must be so confused." He considered as he sat there next to her.

"I'm surprised she hasn't woken up yet." Said a voice from behind, causing him to jump. Harry turned round to find himself facing Dumbledore.

"What are you doing here sir?" He asked as he made sure he didn't have any jam on his face.

"Well Harry, apparently the same thing as you. I have come to check on Miss Chang's condition. I am wondering when my student will be able to return to lessons; otherwise she will have quite the mountain of homework if it takes much longer." Dumbledore said with a smile. Harry stared at Dumbledore questioningly.

"Shouldn't she have woken up by now? Dumbledore gave a sigh and a mildly defeated look graced his features.

"Yes Harry, I would have thought so. I won't lie to you. The longer her spirit remains away from her body the less likely it is that they shall ever be united." This was not what Harry wanted to hear, though it was not unexpected.

"You mean she might never get better?" Dumbledore adjusted his spectacles before finally replying.

"Yes Harry, that is what I mean. Still I would never give up home there is plenty of time before she has past the point of no return, so it is best not to burden yourself Harry. There is nothing you can do at the moment other than believe in her. I am looking into ways that we may perhaps be able to help her. I haven't found anything yet, but I still have a few ideas."

"How long do we have then before it is too late for her?" Asked Harry with concern.

"Well I can not be exact, her case is unique. I believe though we still have another month or so." The two fell into silence after a moment and Dumbledore began reading through the medical notes at the foot of her bed. His eyebrows alternated between rising, and furrowing. Eventually he produced a quill from his pocket, and proceeded to scribble a few notes in an italic scrawl, which whilst neat, was largely illegible.

"I think I will bid you good day now Harry. I came here to check on Miss Chang and I have done so. I will let you know if anything is discovered, since I know you two are good friends. Make sure you aren't late to your appointment with professor Lupin." He added before making his leave. How did Dumbledore know about the plan to visit Remus? Was it an "appointment"?

He still had about half an hour before the appointment, so he decided to head back and drop off his school bag. Upon entering the common room he found Ron and Hermione sat to one side with a large pile of random objects next to them.

"What are you two doing?" He asked as he picked up a strangely jelly like apple.

"We are doing out homework." Hermione informed.

"By practicing the Crelatio charm until we reach exhaustion." Added Ron excitedly. Harry examined the piles carefully. Most of them were slightly deformed.

"It is very difficult." Said Hermione as she held up a misshapen glass jar.

"I managed to make some new socks!" said Ron as he beamed at Harry. He held up two things that could best be described as colourful sacks. Even Dobby would be ashamed to wear them.

"I'm going to go and drop off my bag; I will join you and have a go in a minute. The quills were a bit boring." He explained as he went and took his school bag back upstairs. He dropped the bag down on his bed and was just turning to go back down stairs which he was interrupted by a loud hoot.

He turned round and saw Hedwig sitting on his bedside cabinet. He stared at the owl questioningly for a second before he remembered her errand and noticed the letter tied round her leg with a piece of wire. He hastily ran over and untied the letter.

"Finally, I get a reply." He said aloud as he absent-mindedly placed the owl down next to him and tore open the envelope. He held it in his lap whilst Hedwig appeared to read the letter as well. I was very strangely written, as if someone had tried to express their anger by wobbling the pen rather than actually writing.

_Do you think we were born yesterday? No you can't go on the school trip. You will just have to fail your exams. If it means that much to you then why don't you ask your godfather that you always go on about? Don't try replying. The answer is NO! Never write to us again. Ever! _

Harry stared disappointedly at the reply. "Damn it." He thought. "I probably wasn't sneaky enough. They must have seen through my letter. I guess I will have to write back and ask again." Hedwig looked at Harry curiously, wondering whether he was going to send a reply. "Don't worry." He spoke. "I will let you have a rest for the day. I will write back to them tomorrow ok? I need to think of what to say anyway."

Hedwig hooted in understanding. Harry quickly glanced round for some owl treats he could give her, but none were to hand. He searched in his bedside cabinet and managed to dig out a box of Bertie Bots Every Flavour Beans. As he held them Hedwig gave a loud hoot. "You want these?" He asked in bewilderment. Hedwig gave another hoot. Harry slid the box of sweets across the bed towards her. Did owls eat sweets? She picked up the box in her beak and gave a final muffled hoot before taking off out of the window.

A moment later Harry sat down on one of the sofas in the common room next to Ron and Hermione.

"Hey Harry look what I made." They would say every few minutes as they held up something, which was apparently meant to be impressive. After this had been done for the tenth time Harry grew annoyed. He could see what they were making, and didn't need to be told as well. He pulled out his wand and held out his palm. He screwed up his mind and summoned forth an image, before giving his wand a sure flick. He didn't know how he knew he would be able, only that he would. A crystal cut glass swan appeared in the palm of his hand. The light shimmered of it allowing it to sparkle.

Hermione glanced up at Harry's hand and gave a gasp.

"Oh wow. That's amazing Harry. You made it perfectly and everything!" she said in awe as she took it from him, and turned it over to look and be certain that there was genuinely no fault. Ron looked at Harry's swan.

"Well Hermione it isn't that good. It is nice and shiny but I'm afraid it doesn't look much like a phoenix." Hermione looked mildly offended.

"It's isn't supposed to be a phoenix, it's a swan." Ron blushed at his mistake, though he didn't know what a swan was.

"You must have a really strong mind to make something that detailed." She praised. Harry shrugged. He didn't like to be complimented for things he did.

"No not really. It isn't difficult; you just have to only concentrate on the object you want to make and nothing else." Hermione continued staring at the swan as she spoke.

"But Harry that is difficult. You can't just concentrate on the one thing entirely; lots of other thoughts keep interrupting me. How about you Ron?" He looked up from his pile of strange objects.

"Yeah when I try and think of things I keep getting distracted by food. How do you manage to do it without being distracted Harry?"

He shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. "Well I don't know. I suppose my Occlumency training might have helped. That involves emptying my mind, and focusing on nothing. I guess it is like that, only you imagine an object afterward." Harry said as he looked at his friends slightly unsuccessful attempts.

"Harry I don't suppose that you could try and teach us a little bit about Occlumency could you?" Hermione asked after a moment. She didn't like being bested. She would do everything she could to make sure she had a chance. Harry looked at her surprised.

"Why would you want me to teach you?" Harry asked curiously. "I mean I guess i'm flattered, but I really don't know much about it. I can barely do it at all. I only succeeded once and that was last night. You would probably learn more from a book."

Hermione looked like she might agree, but Ron pushed.

"I'm sure we will do better if you show us. I learn best from seeing things, not from a book." Harry was reluctant to help but after a few minutes of pestering eventually promised he would teach them a bit later. With that decided they had a few more attempts at mundane items, whilst Harry summoned another glass model, this time of a golden snitch. Perhaps he could give it to Cho. Girls liked that sort of thing didn't they?

"Do you feel tired?" Ron asked as he examined this second creation.

"Not really. Not any more than I normally am."

"Really? I feel exhausted, like I have been out shopping all day." Ron remarked. Hermione muttered something about boys having no stamina.

"Well both my items were quite small. I guess if I did something larger, like a coat or something I would probably be pretty tired. I will have to find out later, I don't want to fall asleep before I go chat to Remus."

With that he excused himself, and left the common room. He walked along the corridor towards Remus' office. It was strange he thought. This was actually the office for the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but if Remus was here then where were the other three? Were there four dark arts offices? He knocked on the wooden door and a few seconds later he heard footsteps, before the door swung open.

Remus stood in the doorway grinning.

"Hello Harry, I'm glad you remembered. Come in, please." He allowed himself to be ushered in. With a quick glance around room he could see that it was largely the same as it had been when Remus was previously a teacher three years ago. There was a glass tank by the window, though it was currently empty of any creature. The only noticeable difference was the appearance of three very small tables in the other corners of the room.

"That is Alastor, Kingsley and Tonks' desks." Explained Remus as he watched Harry look at the surroundings. He looked carefully at the three tables in the corners that belonged to the others. On one of them he saw a pile of Dark detectors which he recognised as Moody's. On another he saw some rolls of parchment and a quill that was far too neat to seem real. Everything was arranged perpendicularly. This would be Kinsley's desk. That therefore meant that the third small desk in the remaining corner of the room that was scattered with packets of sweets and a fat looking Lesa the turtle, must belong to Tonks.

"Why have you got a bigger desk?" Harry asked as he looked at a large oak desk situated at one end of the large office. On it were several very tatty looking books and the worn out old trunk that was bound together with string. Remus grinned.

"Well I am actually the main defence against the dark arts teacher you see. The sixth and seventh year are the only ones that have all four of us teaching at once. The others fill in for me when it is my time of the month. It's convenient because it gives them more time to ensure the safety of the students, being Aurors and all"

"So what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked as he sat down in a tatty looking seat that was opposite Remus' desk.

"Well Harry I just thought it would be nice if we could talk about a few things. Would you like a drink? Coffee, tea? Or there is this stuff Tonks likes, she calls it chocolate milkshake." Remus said politely. Um yeah I suppose I will have some of that milkshake then." Said Harry, who new very well what the product was, as he had seen Dudley drinking gallons of it a day.

Remus waved his wand and two mugs appeared, which he proceeded to fill. Harry picked up his mug which looked very old and worn out.

"Remus, if you can just make things with the Crelatio charm then why do you make your mugs so old and tatty?" Remus raised an eyebrow at this question.

"Do they teach you about that already? I thought it was done later in the year." Harry nodded.

"Yeah we did this morning in charms." Remus looked embarrassed as he answered Harry's question.

"Well Harry you see I could make some nice shiny mugs but then that would make all my other stuff seem even tattier by comparison." Harry supposed this was true as he looked at Remus' shabby cardigan that had been patched on the elbows.

"So Harry how was your first week? Have any good lessons?" he said trying to draw Harry's attention away from his cardigan. He couldn't help it if his clothes were threadbare, and his shoes had a hole in, and the tea he was sipping was some of the cheapest money could buy. He was a teacher for Christ sake. He hardly earned a fortune.

"It wasn't bad. It is nice having free lessons in the week but annoying having Charms on Saturday morning. I think your lesson was the best." Remus grinned.

"Really? That's very kind of you Harry. I think you do me too much credit though. It's mainly the material that makes the lesson fun. I could teach history of magic and you would probably still hate it.

"I suppose so." Harry conceded.

Have you read the Gryffindor notice board about the school trips?" He asked anxiously. "Yeah I read about that. I wrote a letter to the Dursley's asking if I could go. They got back to me just this afternoon to say no, not a chance." Harry explained gloomily. "Do you think you could ask Tonks to go and threaten them into signing it? McGonagall said she would give me a month of detentions if I didn't get it signed so I really do need to get it done." Remus put down his cup on tea.

"Well I'm sure Tonks would love to go and threaten the Dursley's, but I was thinking of something else. Harry what would you say if I suggested adopting you?" Harry choked on his milkshake as he was taken aback by Remus' sudden question.

"Pardon?" He said, just making sure he heard correctly.

"I said what would you think of me adopting you?" Remus repeated, as he gradually grew more uncomfortable. Harry was stunned.

"Yes that's what I thought you said." Harry said quietly. He sat in silence thinking about it.

"I know I can't replace your father or Sirius but it could be good for you I think. I would also be able to sign your permission form for you." Remus said, pointing out the immediate positive. Harry needed to think about it.

"I don't know what to say." He answered honestly. Remus sat there on his chair feeling awkward.

"Well, yes would be quite good." Said Remus.

"Why have you only just decided now, or only asked now?" asked Harry. Remus held his gaze.

"Well since Sirius' unfortunate accident last year you seem a bit lonely. We do get along well don't we Harry? I don't have a house yet or anything but I can buy one when I have saved up a bit of money, and you won't need to go to the Dursley's anymore." Harry finally made a decision.

"Well I suppose I could do. If you're sure you wouldn't mind." Remus shook his head.

"No Harry, don't worry it will be great fun. I would love to have you as my son. So is it settled then? Can I adopt you?" Harry pulled a face as though he couldn't really imagine why anyone would want to adopt him.

"Yeah if you want I suppose. I have a few questions though. What happens during the holidays when there is a full moon?" Remus sighed.

"Yes I thought you might find that a problem. Well I would take my Wolfsbane potion and just curl up in a corner. Don't worry you would be very nice and safe. You would also be in charge of the place while I'm not around." Harry shook his head.

"No it wouldn't be a problem to me. I was just curious. Also I have been wondering something for a while now. There is something going on between you and Tonks isn't there? You have to be truthful if you want me to trust you." Remus blushed at this.

"Well I suppose there sort of is a little bit." He said as he hastily changed the subject. I mean I think she is pretty great, but I don't know how serious she is about me. I think she liked me, but she is a bit younger, and I'm me…"He said as he managed to sound like an awkward teenager.

"But I mean I guess you wouldn't have to live with me if you didn't want to. You could stay at Grimmauld place if you would prefer, since it is your house. I just figured with everything that happened you might not like it that much. If you did stay with me then when I buy a house you could invite your friends over." Harry thought this seemed like a decent enough idea.

"Ok then, my answer is yes, though I don't think I should live with you. I think it would be better if you lived with me. I mean I can't really sell the house since we use it for the order, and its way too big most of the time. Plus that way you wouldn't have to save all that money, and you could afford a new cardigan."

"Damn." Thought Remus. So he had noticed how tatty the cardigan was after all.

"So how do we make it official?" Harry said, bringing Remus back to attention. He smiled to himself as he pulled out one of the draws on his desk and removed an official looking piece of parchment and a quill. The paper was embossed. That always meant it was official.

"Well Harry you just need to sign there." Harry looked down to the parchment. He noticed that Remus' messy writing already filled all the other gaps. "Just here." He pointed. Harry picked up the quill and signed his name.

It felt strange. For the first time he could call someone dad.

"Wow. Can I call you dad?" He asked, the word sounding almost foreign to him.

"Well you can if you want. I won't mind if you don't." I guess since you have always known me as Remus or professor they would seem more natural to you." Said his dad whilst blushing.

"I think I will stick with Remus for now. It would be really embarrassing if I accidentally called you dad in front of the class."

"That sounds like a fair idea. I should warn you I don't have experience as a father. In fact I'm probably going to do a terrible job. Outside of school I have barely even been near a child before. However, despite the terrible job I will do, I want you to know that I'm here to chat."

"I don't want to say I know what you are going through Harry, of course I have no idea. I do know though that it must be tough, and confusing, and you have so many questions, without all the pressure."

"Remus I…" He began before being cut off.

"I'm not asking you to explain anything to me. I have no answers and I certainly don't have a right to judge. Your mind is your own, and if you want to share you will. I won't pry. But if there is anything you wanted to ask about, like girl advice, or you just need someone to listen about the boring things, I can do that. Because I understand that sometimes friends can be too close, and telling them the truth is harder than telling a stranger."

Harry contemplated briefly on the wisdom of this statement. He couldn't think of how to respond so he simply gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"So do you think you could sign my school trip permission slip?" He asked after a moment as he searched his pocket for the crumpled up reply from the Dursley's.

"I already have." Informed Remus, producing a signed permission slip. Harry took it and saw it was signed by R.J. Lupin.

"You put a lot of thought into this didn't you?" He asked as he pocketed the form.

"Yes Harry I have. I wanted to ask you a while ago but I didn't really get round to it. Anyway, I wouldn't want to keep you too long. I'm sure you have things to do with your friends on a Saturday." He said as he looked down at his watch.

"There is one final thing you could do actually." Harry suggested as a thought came to mind.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Remus enquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I was wondering if you would be able to give me a permission slip to look at some of the books in the restricted section of the library. I thought it could be good to read some books about Legilimancy, but when I was in there the other day I noted they were all in the restricted section."

"Yes I suppose they would be considered restricted to most students." Remus mused as he pulled over a piece of parchment and began writing. "I trust you not to go reading anything you aren't supposed to."

Harry thanked him before getting up from his chair.

"Oh and Harry, you still need to treat me like a Professor during lessons."

"Ok, I will do." He said with a mock salute, before turning and leaving the office. As he stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind him, he paused for a moment. He turned round and looked at the door. The nametag on the door read in peeling letters, "Professor R.J. Lupin." He slid the nametag out of its holder and then waved his wand. A shiny new brass nametag appeared. It shone brightly on the dark oak door.

"Much better." He said to himself as he slid it into place, before he made his way off to the library.

In truth there were books regarding Legilimancy that he did want to look up, but he also enjoyed the possibility that there might be something else in the library to learn. If he had a better understanding of some of the ancient magic Voldemort used then that could only be a good thing. A moment later as he strode through the vast aisles of books he began to grow excited. In previous years he had never known how Hermione could get so excited over learning a bit of new magic, but now he understood perfectly. The thought of learning new and powerful spells excited him.

The shelves were high on either side, stacked with old books, creaking under the weight. Harry made his way along the dusty red carpet; with each step he left a footprint, like a rabbit on clean snow. There wasn't anything in particular that he was looking for, but he stopped half way along the aisle and reached out in front of him. He started tracing his fingers along the dusty ancient covers. Some of them had peeling text, whilst some of the covers seemed to almost crumble under his fingertips. He felt his fingers dance along the spines of books as he carefully searched until they came to rest on a book bound in brown leather. He slid it carefully out of the shelf, like pulling a tooth. He blew the dust off the cover and read the title which was displayed in a cracked gold text.

Magike o ti Deorc Aetas

Harry read the letters in his mind. They made no sense to him, yet at the same time they felt strangely familiar. He took a deep breath as he opened the book. He looked at one of the pages; it was covered in ancient runic symbols and sign. What did it mean? He wondered as he traced the lines with his fingers. He turned the page, it was made of thin parchment and the ink was faded beyond recognition in some parts. He stared intently at the old language.

He felt his mouth opening as he started wording syllables that crawled into his mind. He wasn't sure of what he was saying, and he was only vaguely aware that his finger was tracing the words along the page as he spoke. He came near the end of the page where the ink was so badly worn that it wasn't even recognisable, yet he still continued to mouth the words as though the writing were there in front of him.

"Exineht sark agisedor eathcery hath renedot drotset yed chenet foh human." Harry felt his fingers tingle and the air around him seemed thick with magic.

For a reason unknown to him as he mouthed these words a feeling of apprehension came over him. He tore his eyes away from the book and cast about him for any possible cause, but was unable to see anyone. He turned his attention back to the book, but found himself unable to continue. The runic symbols no longer made any sense to him. Already it began to feel as though knowing the meaning had simply been a dream, and that now he had awoken, or that a spell had been lifted. He gently closed the book, before sliding it back onto the shelf.

He could look at it again if he felt inclined, but for now he had friends to catch up with, and a strange desire to leave the library.


	19. Legilimancy UPDATED

The next week passed by quickly. Harry's Occlumency lesson on Tuesday went past smoothly, whilst Care of Magical Creatures involved no fatalities. Cho however, showed no sign of improvement, and by the time Friday night had come round, Harry was feeling a little glummer than he normally did at the end of the week. He also had the Quidditch tryouts tomorrow to be nervous about. He would be trying out for the Seeker position against members from the other teams, and whilst he had no false modest regarding his skills, the thought of missing out was enough to make his uneasy.

Ron on the other end had transcended normal levels of nervousness, and had actually been thought dead by a few students who didn't know him well. He sat in the chair clutching his broom in his hands. He was very pale and very quiet. He had even lost his appetite.

"What if I don't make it?" He had asked Harry on Thursday evening.

"Well if you don't you don't. It won't be the end of the world or anything. I mean you can still play Quidditch next year." Harry had told him, knowing that he himself wouldn't be consoled with this. It didn't matter though; for no matter what anyone said to Ron he just sat in a nervous wreck. He had practiced plenty and Harry was as confident as he ever was that both of them could get onto the team.

Hermione however, had no such fears. After talking to Dumbledore it seemed he had concurred that a team manager would be a good idea. The fact that this was not an advertised position meant it was an almost certainty that no one else was trying out for the position. Not to mention that even if someone else did try out, Hermione had devised tactics which would surely outwit even the professional teams. Harry looked at the clock which told him his Occlumency lesson would start in about ten minutes. Dumbledore was still supervising his lessons, although he had hinted to Harry that they would be doing something slightly different this week. Remus of course, was still supervising as well.

He got up from his chair and stepped out of the common room. He made his way down to the dungeons where he would be for his Occlumency lesson. One of the books that he had taken out of the library had told him some interesting things. Apparently there were many more branches of mind magic than he had expected, Apart from Occlumency and Legilimancy, there was also one called Gemyndea. This was a form of magic which consisted of reading someone's mind and then willing them to take a certain action, or feel a certain way, whilst making them think it was there idea in the first place.

Therefore from what Harry could make out from the book, someone could be using Gemyndea magic on someone and they wouldn't even know it. "No wonder that book was in the restricted section. You could cheat on tests and make the teachers give you no homework." Harry thought as he strolled don the dungeon corridor. "Still you would have to be a pretty strong mind to make someone do that sort of stuff." He walked into the classroom and saw Snape Remus and Dumbledore waiting for him as usual. It struck Harry that they would probably be here no matter how early he arrived, just so that he would feel tardy.

"Sorry I'm late" He apologised, despite knowing the fact that he was in fact five minutes early.

"Good evening Harry." Said Dumbledore, as he stood with one arm behind his back. Candlelight silhouetted him against the wall.

"Hello Harry." Said Remus with a smile, as he had done everyday that week. Snape merely made a grunting noise, which he hoped would convey his severe dislike for the boy.

"Harry, we have been thinking that now you have finally mastered Occlumency, it is time that you moved onto Legilimancy." Dumbledore explained. Whoever the "we" was that Dumbledore referred to, it appeared not to include Snape, because his eyes narrowed and his lip curled a little at this comment.

"I would hardly say mastered." He muttered to himself, though loud enough for all to hear.

"If you succeed in learning Legilimancy not only will it improve your resistance in the art of Occlumency…" Dumbledore pressed on, paying Snape no heed, "but it will also allow you to see more clearly. As you know, Voldemort is a master of trickery. If you can see past his lies and deceit then I feel it this would be invaluable to you." After a moments silence Snape finally consented to the plan.

"Well Potter, looks like our unfortunate evening classes shall be continuing." Snape said as he made a pointed effort of staring down the length of his oversized nose.

After fifteen minutes of instructions on how to cast the spell, Harry was ready to begin. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Snape, who stood routed with a glare upon his face. "Don't get any ideas Potter." He hissed. Harry wasn't having any ideas. Not until that moment at least. Perhaps he could mispronounce the spell and set him on fire?

As he held the wand apprehensively he would have felt more nervous about attempting the spell had he not read the whole section about Legilimancy in one of the books from the library.

"It will take more than a petty beginner to crack my mind." Snape sneered, as he contemplated how difficult he would be able to make it for the boy.

"Severus, I do not wish for you to resist the first few times, until Harry has got the hang of it that is." Dumbledore interjected. Snape tuned a sickly grin.

"You can't mean…" He began to say, before he was once again cut off by Dumbledore.

"I mean what I say." He stated in such a tone that it would be impossible to argue.

Snape took a moment to reign in his anger, before he turned to face straight towards Harry.

"Very well let us get this over. But then again, I doubt a beginner like you can even perform the spell in the first place." Snape added with some satisfaction. Harry pointed the wand directly at the point between Snape's eyes.

"Who said I'm a beginner?" He asked with a penetrating state. Snape's smile instantly vanished. He opened his mouth to speak, but Harry allowed only this brief second to pass before he pressed on.

"Legilimens!" He spoke, as he felt the strange sensation of the spell taking effect.

Harry felt himself walking forward. He couldn't see where exactly he was walking to, but images flashed in front of him. He had the impression that this must be what a cinema was like, but couldn't say for certain, having never actually been to one. He felt a slight resistance pushing him away, like wading up stream, he could feel the flow, but it didn't stop him moving forward, all the while watching the images before him.

Things flashed past him so fast that he could hardly make out what they were. Then he saw an image, and he knew what it was. He saw cloaked figures standing in a circle, Lord Voldemort squarely in the middle, glaring at them. Harry knew that one of them had to be Snape. What was Snape doing there? What would he do?" He pondered these thoughts, whilst observing the Death eaters seemed I an excitable mood. Whatever they were looking forward to, Harry didn't find out.

His attention was snapped away as a feeling became him. It could best be described as the sensation of someone who had merrily strolled along a path, only to find out they have a bungee cord attached to their back, and they have far exceeded limit of their strength. He felt himself being catapulted, and he nearly fell backwards off his feet as his vision returned to that of the Dungeon. Snape was on one knee, Whilst Remus had drawn closer to try and read the potion masters expression. Dumbledore had a look of mild surprise.

"Very good for a first attempt Harry." He praised. Snape however had more than enough anger to offset the praise. He hastily jumped to his feet and dusted of his robe. He tried briefly to act as if nothing had ever happened, but upon failing, decided that the next best thing to do would be to have a moan at Harry.

"That wasn't your first time was it Potter? You were meant to attempt, not to succeed and have a good nosy round. Nosy aren't you? That big nose of yours will land you in trouble one day." Snape reeled off, not giving Harry a chance to reply to any of these comments. Snape saying someone had a big nose was notably ironic, but given that Snape was in a perpetual state of anger, and bore a grudge seemingly as old as time itself, he decided it would be for the better not to mention this.

"Whoa there Snivellus." Remus jumped in as he made calm down gestures with his hands, which only served to further anger Snape. "There is no need to get angry just because Harry did better than you were expecting. You should both be happy that he did so well on his first attempt. The faster he learns the faster he will be able to stop having these lessons, and I know you enjoy that thought almost as much as he does"

Snape gave a curt nod before turning his attention back to Harry. He closed the distance between them as he leaned in close. So close in fact was he that Harry could smell his breath, though he wished he couldn't. It smelt like pumpkin juice that had been fermenting in a warm sewer for the last few months, before some very small dirty people had decided to come along and have a bath in it.

"Think you're smart don't you Potter?" Harry decided to be very daring, after all what was the worst that could happen while Dumbledore was around?

"Yes." He replied defiantly. Snape seemed to find this annoyed every part of his body right down to the grease on his hair and the wax in his ears.

"That arrogance will cost you one day Potter, and when it does, I will be standing there laughing." And it was in this statement that he held such a conviction that he allowed an unpleasant smile to grace his face.

"Well Harry I think another try would be good, don't you?" asked Dumbledore as he steered them back on topic. He didn't need another student death caused by a teacher hitting the deadlines. He had enough trouble with Flitwick sometimes.

"Yeah I think I would like another crack at it." Said Harry politely in the way children act politely when their parents are in the room. He once again pointed his wand at Snape. "You will have to try harder this time Potter." Snape said as he cocked a smile.

Harry concentrated his mind on the spell, on everything he had read in the book and on everything Dumbledore had told him. If it was a battle Snape wanted then he was bound to be disappointed. Harry was up to no such challenge.

"Legilimens." Once again he felt the sensation of moving forward, only this time rather than finding himself facing the flashing images of Snape's memory, he found himself facing a wall. It reached as high into the air as he could see. The walls were of a cold stone, aging and grey, with patches of moss scattering the infinitely large surface. He looked in front of him and found there was an opening a few feet wide.

He carefully walked forward towards it, his footsteps echoing for an eternity in every direction. It gave an eerie impression as though he were being watched. He stepped through the gap only to find himself facing another wall, identical to the first, except void of any gap for him to walk through. He looked to his sides, each stretched out into the distance as far as the eye could see. No sign of an opening or any sort of help that would allow him to pass to the other side. "Which way shall I go? Harry wondered. He found himself in a dilemma. Each time he found himself favouring a direction, he them reconsidered that perhaps the other one would be best.

He stood still, hoping for some sort of hunch, but after none came he decided to just make a guess, after all he did usually seem quite lucky with these thing. "Sod it, right is right." He thought as he set off down the path, his mind resolute. He walked along for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably closer to thirty seconds. Nothing seemed different as he continued walking. The walls still scraped the heavens and reached as far as any object could. He decided to speed up his pace. If the passage of time was the same in the real world, then thirty seconds was far too long.

He began to jog. After a while He noticed something that was strange about this place, something that disturbed him. He wasn't breathing, or at least not as far as he could tell. Why didn't he have to breathe?" He started speeding up and soon he broke into a run. "That's weird, why aren't my muscles aching?" He questioned, before finally concluding that since this was all in Snape's mind nothing had to apply to the rules of the real world. After all, if it did then Snape certainly wouldn't be liked much here either.

He pushed himself to speed up, as his feet pounded across the floor. Without the physical discomfort associated with running it was difficult to know if he was truly running as fast as he could. It felt like it, and the walls were passing by at about the right speed, but as he pushed himself he found that he hadn't yet reached his limit. He started moving his legs faster, which seemed effortless and eventually realisation dawned on him. He realised that he didn't have a maximum speed he could go. There was no physical limitation that stopped him moving at the speed of light if he wanted. Harry continued to accelerate until he reached the speed of a bullet, which is to say, the speed you and I would imagine a bullet travels at.

He darted along the endless passage, his eyes flashing from side to side, in hope that he would see something. Then he did, just a thin line on the wall that caught his vision. Harry immediately began to slow down. He came to a stop and then backtracked till he found the point that had caught his attention. The line that he had seen was in fact a turning off. It was several feet wide and led on to a straight path identical to the one he had just been running along.

"Bugger. This could take forever." Harry said to himself as he slumped against the wall in resignation.

After a few moments Harry climbed back onto his feet and once again started jogging down the endless pathway as he headed onward. However, before he could make any more progress he once again felt the familiar sensation of being on a stretched bungee cord, which pulled him from his feet and landed him back on his feet in the classroom. He looked towards Snape, who was standing with a triumphant grin on his face.

"You didn't fare nearly so well that time did you Potter?" Harry stared back at him.

"Yeah there was some sort of maze." He said honestly. He had been bested.

"Yes Potter, mental defences, a wall, a barrier against outside intrusion. I felt you searching; you were much to slow though. Any slower and you would be going backwards. You will have to speed up in future." Snape instructed. Harry didn't like being told what to do, especially by Snape.

"Well I would have been faster but I didn't know what to expect. I will do better next time." Harry replied with determination.

"You should be prepared for the unexpected. Do not use your knowledge of me to try and predict my mind. If you do then you shall flounder at every turn. Now would you like to try your luck again Harry?" Snape asked. The two squared off, each determined that they would prove the victor. Harry wanted to beat Snape, who wanted to prove to Harry that his first success had been his last.

"Good luck Harry." Remus said with encouragement. Being there to believe in someone was important.

"Legilimens." He said as he found himself once again standing outside the entrance to the stone maze that guarded Snape's mind. Harry immediately dashed forwards and then turned to the right. He ran as fast as he could, and then faster. The stone walls blurred as his feet pounded along the path and the air rushed in his ears. Harry continued running all the while carefully looking for the turning on his right. However after a while Harry was certain that he should have reached that point, and eventually he could only conclude that it wasn't there. No entrance appeared before him, and so he just kept running.

"Damn." He cursed, as he realised he had made a mistake. He had assumed it would be the same each time, but perhaps he should have gone left instead of right at the very beginning. He managed to slow himself to a stop before he turned around and ran back in the direction he had come from. He stared intently at the wall that whizzed past him, nothing changed. Bricks continued to stream past his vision, baring no sign of a turning. Eventually he spotted the entrance on his left where he had came in. He was finally back at the start, which meant he could get on with going the correct way.

He doubled his efforts to spot the smallest change in the wall. At such unnaturally high speeds it would be easy to miss a small passage way. He continued running along the straight stretch for the next few minutes.

"Come on, come on." Harry muttered to himself, urging an opening to appear. None did. Suddenly he felt himself being thrown out of Snape's mind, as he was pulled back to reality.

"That was even worse than the first time!" he thought to himself angrily as he regained awareness of his surroundings.

"What happened there? Came the rhetorical sneering of Snape. "You certainly didn't make much progress."

"Well I went the same way as before but I couldn't find a way in. I couldn't find the turning." Harry said as he found himself exhausted from all the mental running.

"Yes I suppose someone like you would naturally assume it would be the same each time?" He let this hang for a moment as Harry wondered what he meant by "someone like you", before continuing. "The persons mind will not always make the same mental walls. If that were the case then defeating mental defences would simply be a matter of time and determination, rather than any sort of skill." Harry sighed to himself. This Legilimancy stuff was proving harder work than he had expected. The book had failed to help him much.

"Well I won't know these things if you don't tell me will I?" Harry said angrily as Snape stood gloating.

"Again." Was the only reply he got. After several more attempts, each one no more successful than the last. That wasn't to say that Harry wasn't improving, but it seemed that Snape was giving him less and less time with each attempt, till finally he barely begun before he was kicked out.

"Well Harry I think you learned a lot of new things today. I am confident with more practice you will be able to make good progress. It is just about time for this lesson to end now so I think we should call it a day, don't you?" Dumbledore asked jovially. Harry didn't want to end the lesson with Snape feeling victorious but he did feel mentally exhausted and had to admit to himself that he wasn't going to crack any barriers tonight.

"Yeah I suppose so." He said begrudgingly as he tucked his wand into his pocket.

"Come on Harry, let's get going." Said Remus as he broke Harry from his thoughts. The two of them left the classroom and walked along the dungeon corridor.

"So what was Snape's mind like then Harry?" Remus asked curiously. Harry considered this for a moment before replying.

"Pretty boring really. Kind of cold and slightly grimy." He said truthfully. Remus nodded as they continued walking in silence. A while later he spoke again.

"So did you see any interesting memories in there?" He asked, failing to sound casual and uninterested.

"No most of it was too quick to see anything. Don't worry if I see anything that embarrass him I will be sure to share it." Remus gave a smile as he considered the possibility of new ammunition.

"I have Quidditch tryouts tomorrow." Harry remarked, changing the topic. Remus looked surprised. "Is it tomorrow? I didn't realise time has going so quickly. I will have to come and cheer you on. If you don't mind that is." Harry shook his head.

"No I don't mind, as long as you don't get carried away." When cheering someone on there was the right way and the wrong way. The right way was casual, and not too enthusiastic. The other way was the Molly Weasley way.

"So what time does it start tomorrow?" asked Remus curiously. Harry searched his mind. "It starts at ten o'clock tomorrow. But I probably won't be trying out straight away. They might do keepers or something else first. They haven't said what order it is in you see" He explained. After Charms tomorrow he would have fifteen minutes before he would have to make his way down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Don't worry Harry you will do just fine. If the teams are anything like they were when I was here last time they don't stand a chance." Harry smiled. Remus had a putting ones mind at ease and making everything seem like it was ok. He could be in the middle of a disaster and he wouldn't mind. If he realised the world would explode in ten minutes he would probably go and make a cup of tea. He was very British like that.

"Well Harry you should probably get going to bed, you have an exciting day ahead of you tomorrow, and need to get a good nights sleep" Said Remus as they found themselves outside the Gryffindor common room. Harry agreed and bid Remus goodbye, he was just about to step into the common room when Remus said. "Oh and Harry, one thing" Harry turned and looked at Remus who shifted awkwardly.

"Yes?" He asked in a kind voice. Remus looked as if he was seriously contemplating not mentioning whatever it was he was going to say. He turned and looked down the corridor, apparently evaluating how likely it was that he could run away. He didn't have youth on his side.

"Well you see the parents of the students that make it onto the team are allowed to go and watch the matches. It has been a long long, time since I have been on holiday. It would be quiet nice if you won." He finished of sheepishly. Harry laughed to himself.

"Don't worry; I will see what I can do." He said while he laughed slightly over Remus' embarrassment. Remus smiled as Harry disappeared into the common room.

Harry awoke early the next morning. The sun was not yet up and the room was still dark. He looked at his clock, which said it was about ten minutes past six. He climbed out of his bed. The morning was still cold and Harry shivered as he put on his slippers. As he cast about the room he spotted Ron stirring, before a moment later he sat up groggily. He paused from rubbing his eyes to notice Harry.

"What time is it?" he groaned.

"It's just gone six. Sorry if I woke you."

"No don't worry. We have Quidditch tryouts later today; I doubt I would have been able to sleep much more. He said as he stifled a yawn before joining him in getting ready. A little while later the two boys made their way down to the great hall. It was very empty apart from a few other students, all of whom happened to be on the school Quidditch teams. It seemed an unspoken agreement that If you played Quidditch you had to wake up about an hour earlier than necessary, although the reason behind this was not actually known.

Harry and Ron took a seat on the otherwise empty Gryffindor table. Just as they sat down Remus walked into the hall. Harry was helping himself to some disappointing corn flakes while Ron took a few pieces of toast.

Just as Harry was about to start his breakfast Remus decided to join them rather than sit up on the empty teachers tables.

"Good morning Harry, Ron." He greeted. Harry looked up at Remus who was smiling largely.

"Hi Remus." They replied in unison. Remus took a seat opposite Harry and next to Ron.

"So today is the big day! You will be going out there in under four hours, showing everyone the best you can do. You will be competing against the other houses instead of your own. That means it will be tougher than any competition you have been in before. If you make it you will have a shot at international fame while if you lose you will be nothing. Are you ready for today's big challenge?" Remus said happily. It was strange that Remus said this because Harry thought he was ready, until he heard Remus' speech. He supposed it was meant to be inspiring, and in a way it was. It inspired fear.

Apparently it didn't help boost Ron's confidence either, as he heard a loud gulp come from him as his eyes widened in fear. Suddenly Harry's cereal didn't seem nearly so appealing as he felt butterflies and worms wiggling in his stomach.

"I'm a little bit nervous." Harry admitted while Ron merely nodded.

"Well that's to be expected." Said Remus as he anxiously watched Harry, who halted any progress on his breakfast. Harry poked at his cereal with his spoon while Ron seemed to be testing the rigidity of his toast.

"Are you two going to eat your breakfast?" Remus asked in with concern.

"Um maybe, I just don't feel very hungry at the moment." Harry said truthfully.

"But you need to eat! If you don't eat then you won't play well today. You need to play your best, so come on eat up." Harry slowly put his spoon in the bowl and lifted out a spoon with just enough cereal to satisfy a runway model. Ron sat with the plate of toast under his nose, as though just smelling it would be enough to satisfy his hunger. Remus started a slow quiet chant, which went along the lines of "Eat! Eat! Eat!" To a bystander this could easily be confused for an eating contest at an anorexia help group.

Once they had finished their breakfast Remus decided that he would go and speak to some of the other teams.

"I'm going to try and give them some pre match jitters." He explained as he walked over to the Hufflepuff table where he sat down next to some slightly confused looking Quidditch players. A few minutes later Hermione and Ginny both came down. They sat down and immediately started helping themselves to some breakfast.

"Hi Harry, Ron." Said Ginny as she poured herself some pumpkin juice. Her change in confidence was so marked from last night that it caused them to look to Hermione for answers. When Ginny was momentarily distracted by a boy with two arms and two legs walking past, Hermione leaned over towards them and whispered,

"She took a no worries, calming potion." Harry and Ron gave a nod of understanding. Why hadn't they thought of that? Over the next hour the hall filled with the remainder of the students. Some patting them on the back or wishing them luck, but all surprisingly eager for what Harry had at one point considered, just some minor tryouts.

From the buzz of the students at breakfast and the snippets of conversation Harry had managed to overhear he concluded that there was going to be a large audience for the Quidditch tryouts. This dashed his hopes that it might be quite a low key event. After all they weren't actually even playing a match. As breakfast ended and they walked into the classroom for Charms the trepidation built, and so it was with anxiety that Harry blinked, and found him self stood on the Quidditch pitch.


	20. Chasers & Keepers UPDATED

A large part of the student body had apparently already made their way outside. No one was exactly sure of what the tryouts would consist of, but there was a general consensus that a ripping good time was sure to be had by all.

"Bloody hell it must be everyone in the school." Said Ron as he eyed the masses of people that filled the stands. Harry looked round and saw that there were even a few people not from the school. One of them appeared to be Rita Skeeter. He cursed to himself.

"A lot of these students live sheltered lives." Hermione explained. Whilst Harry, Ron and Ginny were nervous, Hermione had indeed proved to be the only applicant for the newly created position. "They need something to focus on besides studies"

"Wow, I didn't imagine we would be hearing those words coming out of your mouth." Harry remarked, earning a wink from Ron.

"I didn't say I needed." She pointed out, reminding them once again that she was above the petty world of fun.

The crowd of students applying for the positions was huddled in a small crowd in the centre of the pitch. It seemed smaller than Harry had expected, perhaps as few as fifteen. Suddenly one of the Ravenclaw girls ran off crying.

"I don't want to do this any more." She wailed as her friend chased after her.

"Oh dear that's a shame." Said Remus as he struggled to hide a broad grin.

"Remus, stop scaring the students!" Snapped professor McGonagall, as she advanced upon him with a look that could cut through a log.

"I didn't mean to." He said as he raised his hands defensively. Professor McGonagall scowled at him. "Of course you meant to! That is the fourth student you have made cry today! Any more misbehaviour from you and I shall be having words with Albus. You are a teacher. Behave like one!" Remus gave a sigh of defeat as she strode away from him.

"Hey Remus." Harry hailed. Upon spotting him, Remus cheered up a little.

"Morning guys, are you ready for the tryouts?" Harry looked around at the noisy crowd. They were all staring down at the huddle. This was going to be exciting.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to it. I think I'm ready" He said as he tightened his grip on the broom. His Firebolt had never let him down before. It was trust, it was from Sirius.

"Well that's good. Confidence goes a long way. I expect there are a few less people than you expected aren't there Harry?" He asked as he flashed a Lockhart smile.

"Yeah it is a surprise. I would have though everyone on the school teams would be trying out, but it looks like several are missing."

"Well, I have managed to scare a few people away so you will have a bit less competition. I told them about the pressure, and how everyone will be disappointed if they give a bad performance."

"Remus you shouldn't have." Hermione exclaimed, though there was no real anger in her voice. In fact she was trying to suppress a smile. It was naughty, and she liked it!

"Now, there are only six other chasers and two other keepers excluding you lot. I'm afraid Harry that I couldn't get rid of any of the Seekers, though it is only two others you are competing against since Cho is still in the hospital wing, which is good. I don't mean Cho being in the hospital wing is good but I mean that if she were here then it wouldn't be good for winning." He tried to explain.

"Are you saying she is a better player than me?" Harry teased.

"Well, I had better get going; it looks like McGonagall is going to cause me physical pain soon. Good luck!" Harry turned his attention back to what was going on with the rest of the students trying out. He spotted Professor Dumbledore making his way over to the group of Quidditch players in the middle. Everyone fell silent by the time he had stopped. "Good morning everyone." He said as he stood facing them all. There was a chorus of good morning sirs. "Well I am glad you all have decided to enter the tournament. It will begin as soon as I have explained the rules. Therefore I advise you listen carefully, so that you are entirely certain on what is expected of you."

"The tryouts shall be held for one or two persons, according to the position you are trying out for. We shall not be playing a match but we shall be providing a short test in which you may showcase your skills. First of all, Chasers. You shall each take shots at the goal from a set distance of twenty five feet, and the greatest percentage of scores multiplied by the number of goals will give us a reading of just how good you are. This means that accuracy as well as speed is important. Keepers, you shall be monitored in a similar way with the number of shots saved equalling your final score."

"Beaters. You shall be doing something different. For your test we have magically charmed a dozen Quaffles to fly around like Bludgers. We felt these would make a welcome substitute in this instance, since otherwise it would be far too dangerous otherwise. We shall have somebody flying round the pitch while you must guard them from one of the Quaffles. For each twenty seconds that elapses in which you manage to keep the player safe another Quaffle shall be added. Your time is your score, so whoever can defend their player the longest will win.

Lastly, for Seekers, you shall have three minutes in which to catch as many golden snitches as possible. I hope you all understand. If you don't then you may ask me questions now." He was met with silence. "Good. If I may, I will ask you all too make your way to the changing rooms where you will prepare, whilst I give out instructions to the spectators." He dismissed.

From within the changing room he could here Dumbledore's voice outside, ringing out over the crowd with help from the sonorous charm. As Harry finished strapping on his elbow pads Ron turned and gave Harry a thump on the arm.

"What the heck are you doing?" He asked in a tone that suggested Ron had lost his marbles.

"All the pros do it before a match. To get them psyched up. It's good luck isn't it?" Ron asked Harry who was glaring at him angrily.

"Well I don't think so. It doesn't feel like luck. It feels like it hurts." He admitted. Ron looked like he wasn't about to give up.

"No it definitely meant to be lucky. It's what all the real Quidditch players do before a match. They all hit each other." Harry considered this. "Ron are you sure that isn't just players that beat up players on other teams? I could understand that." Harry said exasperatedly. Ron seemed to consider this.

"I suppose it could be. I certainly wouldn't mind hitting Malfoy…"

They made their way outside and over to the side of the pitch, where a very log looking wooden bench had appeared. Harry sat down at the far end, next to Ron and Hermione whilst Ginny sat down on the other side of Hermione. Professor Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the pitch. As he looked at the headmaster he noticed something out of the ordinary though. Behind him were three Quidditch hoops. But instead of being about fifty foot high they were only about five foot high. There was also a large wooden box that contained dozens of Quaffles, though this part he did understand.

Dumbledore stood facing the crowd.

"Now we shall begin with Keepers." He said in his magically magnified voice. The four head of houses were walking backwards and forwards along the length of the bench, checking that the players from their house were ok.

"Do you four understand what to do?" asked Professor McGonagall as she stared down at them. They all nodded. "You will be up soon Mr Weasley." She added in what she hoped would not come across as her normal excessively stern voice.

"Laurence Elfman" Dumbledore called out. The Ravenclaw Keeper stood up from down at the other end of the bench and made his way towards the centre of the pitch. Harry looked as he carried a battered old broom in his one hand. "Our Keepers job today is to fly back and forth between these hoops, saving as many of the Quaffles as possible. Each one he blocks will count for a point and when we have finished the one with the most points will be the winner and will go on to be our school Quidditch Keeper!" Dumbledore explained as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"We will have an impartial Chaser who will stand on the ground behind the line and take shots." At these words everyone looked round for the impartial Chaser.

"Professor Tonks?" Asked a girl from further down the bench. Harry didn't really recognise her, but she was wearing Hufflepuff colours and must have been in the year above him. He turned his attention to the pitch, where the only person besides Dumbledore and the Ravenclaw student was Tonks.

"Can she even throw in a straight line?" Ron asked as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I think you two will be surprised." Said Hermione knowingly. "If she wasn't good she wouldn't have been picked."

Professor Dumbledore leaned closer to Tonks and muttered the quietus spell allowing his voice to return to normal volume. They spoke for a few moments before once again Dumbledore magically magnified his voice. Tonks went and stood behind the white line on the ground. The keeper mounted his broom and hovered a few feet above the ground in front of the middle hoop.

"He will begin and end on my wand." Dumbledore announced, as he raised his wand to the sky, signalling the imminent beginning.

Everyone watched anxiously as Tonks reached into the wooden box and picked up a Quaffle. She weighed it in herm hands for a moment and then turned her full attention to the Keeper who was concentrating intently on the Quaffle. A bang sounded through the stadium, and Harry watched in slow motion as Tonks pulled her arm back, before a fraction of a second hurling the Quaffle towards the right hand hoop. Harry watched as the keepers broom slowly started chugging sideways. He leaned o his broom to his far right and only just managed to save the Quaffle with his fingertips. Harry saw flashes from the magical cameras belonging to the photographers as they photographed the close save.

Tonks however didn't seem to want to give the keeper a chance as she continued throwing Quaffle after Quaffle at the hoops at lightning fast speed. Harry watched in amazement as the keeper moved backward and forwards doing his best to save the hoops from Tonks' barrage of balls. Ron was on the edge of his seat as he watched the competition fairing much better than he had expected.

"I don't think I can beat that." Said Ron, as he didn't take his eyes away from the action. "Look how fast she is throwing them, and he has saved over half of them!"

"Don't worry Ron." Harry tried to console. "If he you don't beat his score we could always pin drug charges on him."

Suddenly another bang issued, and Tonks stopped, leaving a wide eyed keeper panting, and thankful that he was still alive. The crowd burst into cheers and applause as the total score was calculated. The whole thing had transpired so quickly that no one could be certain what the final score, and so everyone listened with anticipation. Dumbledore flicked his wand and all the Quaffles hopped back into the wooden crate whilst the keeper regained his breath and stumbled back over to the bench where he sat down with some victory pat on the backs from the others.

Whilst to those also trying out for the position of keeper, he was an enemy, in that moment he was a friend, a comrade, and a soldier returning from war. Dumbledore cleared his throat as his voice rang out through the stadium.

"Mr Elfman has just completed the first round of the tryouts. Out of a total twenty shots he managed to save…" Professor Dumbledore paused for dramatic effect as the crowd hung on anxiously. "…Fourteen."

Ron gowned.

"I will never be able to beat that. It might as well be twenty for all the difference it makes." The crowd seemed to talk very noisy as they discussed the score. It was certainly a good start, and could well be the score needed to win. It was going to be a close match. Dumbledore called for silence and the crowd once again settled down.

"Now I'm sure those of you not in Ravenclaw are anxious to see your keepers beat the score so let us more on to the second Keeper."

A Hufflepuff Keeper walked onto the pitch. Harry didn't recognise her which meant that she was probably a new player, perhaps with no experience at all. Keepers tended to change frequently as it was common for this position to only be filled by 6th or 7th year students. A fully grown body made the goals easier to block. Therefore whilst she was of a similar age, it was a fair assumption to assume any previous experience was minimal.

"Don't worry Ron; I doubt she will score more than ten. She doesn't look very confident does she?" Harry asked, trying to make Ron feel a little better.

"No she doesn't." Ron admitted. "But she has a nimbus two thousand which means she won't have trouble with speed." He pointed out. The girl walked up and mounted her broom ready. A bang issued from the end of Dumbledore's wand, followed by the same barrage of Quaffles as before. It seemed that whilst the girl did have the advantage of speed, she wasn't as steady on her broom, and every time one of the balls hit her, it unbalanced her slightly, leaving opportunity for a well thrown Quaffle to slink past.

A moment later the wand sounded again and the second keeper came to rest. They waited while the Quaffles were all counted up.

"The score is…" Dumbledore announced, "…sixteen." The crowd cheered, except for the Ravenclaw's, who could be heard letting out a moan and a grumble as there Keeper was now second place.

"Sixteen? That didn't look that good." Ron said with surprise. Harry had to agree that whilst the score was better she did seem to be the worse of the two. Perhaps it was because there were so many goals that almost went in.

"Good luck Ron." Harry wished, as he and the others all offered words of encouragement. Ron climbed awkwardly to his feet as Dumbledore called his name. Several hundred pairs of eyes swivelled to focus on him as mounted his broom.

"You can do it Ron!" Ginny called encouragingly.

"You really think he can beat that?" Hermione asked curiously. Ginny looked back at him.

"No, he doesn't stand a chance."

Ron hovered a few feet above the ground, moving from side to side, testing the feel of the broom and the strength of the wind.

"Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, Slytherin does not have a seeker that will be entering the tournament." Dumbledore informed the crowd. Harry didn't know exactly where McGonagall was, but there was a strong possibility she was killed Remus. "Therefore this will decide who will be the Hogwarts Keeper. Mr Weasley must score seventeen points to win, in the event of a draw then we shall have a shoot out, with the winner going through to represent Hogwarts." Everyone cheered as Dumbledore finished speaking.

Ron mouthed a silent prayer as he tightened his grip on the broom, which was almost splintering under the force. After a moment Ron nodded to Dumbledore to show that he was ready. Dumbledore acknowledged this and raised his wand into the air. Everyone stared at the wand expectantly, waiting for sparks. The stadium fell silent for a long time. If tumbleweed were present in the school grounds then it would have been an excellent opportunity to blow right past. Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud bang and multicoloured sparks which signalled the start of the worst ten seconds of Ron's life.

Ron flew in every direction as he whacked Quaffle after Quaffle out of his way. Harry could feel how anxious the other Gryffindors were as they watched a Quaffle slip past his ear. Ron shot to his right as he smacked a Quaffle away, but then had to swerve back as hard as he could to save a Quaffle in the left hoop. Harry watched with bated breath as Ron's grasp on the broom slipped and two Quaffles went whizzing past his ear and through the middle hoop.

"He's not going to win is he?" Ginny asked without taking her eyes off Ron.

"Doesn't look like it." Said Harry as he tried to follow if the Quaffles were going straight through the hoops, or missing them. The bench they were on was not directly facing the hoops, so at times it couldn't be seen if Ron was successful or not. The barrage of Quaffles finally slowed to a stop, as Dumbledore signalled the end.

Ron climbed down from his broom and made his way over to the bench. He had a look of defeat on his pale blood drained face. The crowd cheered loudly, especially the Hufflepuff's who by the looks of it would be having their Keeper representing the school.

"Well that didn't go great." Sighed Ron as he propped his head up on his arms. "I tell you it is a lot faster when you're actually doing it out there. They might as well have replaced Tonks with a cannon for all the difference it would make. She wasn't going easy on me that's for sure."

"Did you manage to count how well you did?" Harry enquired. "I couldn't keep track."

"I started counting each one I saved…" Ron confessed, "…but after the second on I gave up, I don't think there was even time to count to twenty, let alone block them."

"Don't worry Ron. Perhaps you can be a reserve." Suggested Hermione, trying to sound comforting. Harry and Ron glared at her darkly. Dumbledore and some of the other teachers started huddling round the pitch as they counted the Quaffles. There seemed to be some debate as they took their time, or perhaps they were merely discussing the weather, as we know the British are prone to do.

Eventually, after agreeing that the storm clouds were disagreeable, but not uncommon for this time of year, the teachers made a decision. The teachers dispersed leaving only Dumbledore cantered as once again everyone fell into silence and awaited the moment of truth. Dumbledore beamed at the students as they all looked down upon him.

"The scores have been counted, twice, thrice and verified and the results are in. Without further ado, I shall announce the score. Mr Weasley managed to pull off a good performance, but did let some through. His total score was seventeen. I'm therefore pleased to announce that the Keeper for Hogwarts this year will be Ronald Weasley."

Harry wasn't sure what the first thing he heard was. It could have been the loud moan that came from the Hufflepuff's, or it could have been the enormous cheers that erupted from the Gryffindors like an earthquake rippling out from the epicentre.

First of all a few of the people with the quickest reactions cheered, and then the people next to them decide that they should probably cheer as well. The final effect was a very strange one that consisted of a circle of enthusiastic people clapping while in the centre were a large number of people who were half heartily clapping, with the occasional "wooh," having done so for the last two minutes, the surprise and enthusiasm seemed to have worn off.

"Should I do something?" Ron asked as he realised most of the school was watching him. Was he expected to give an acceptance speech? He hopped to his feet.

"Probably not, I don't think it's that sort of occasion." Hermione judged, as Ron stopped half way through a curtsey. Harry heard a cough from Draco Malfoy that sounded suspiciously like the word loser.

After a few moments recess, in which a few of the reporters chatted to Ron and made notes, and the more elderly teachers went to the bathroom, the tryouts continued.

The crowd suddenly grew silent, which signalled that Chaser tryouts were about to begin. Harry looked to his side and saw Ginny looking paler than usual. He leaned over to her and whispered.

"Don't worry, you will be fine." She glanced at Harry out of the side of her eye.

"Thanks." She whispered, as Dumbledore began to talk once again.

"Now we shall proceed with the tryouts for the Chasers. This will not only test your aim but also your ability to play quickly. A quick Chaser is a winning Chaser. Therefore that is what you shall be tested in. You will be given two minutes in which to throw as many Quaffles past our impartial Keeper, and through one of the hoops. Your Score shall be the percentage of goals you make, multiplied by the number of Quaffles you throw. This means that if you wish to represent the school you will have to do more than throw and hope for the best!" Two of the Hufflepuff Chasers blushed.

"There are only six Chasers competing which means that there is a fifty percent chance that you will make it through. Now for our impartial Keeper." Everyone's head turned to face the direction that Dumbledore had pointed to. Would Tonks turn out to be the jack of all trades? A figure stepped out of the shadows, causing a roar to rise in the crowd as one of the highlights of the school year unfolded. The keeper was Snape.

"Flip, I didn't see that one coming." Said Ron with dismay.

Snape was making his way along the pitch, dressed in grey Quidditch robes. Harry watched in amusement, as Snape seemed to be rather ashamed to be involved in anything other than the art of potions (Or Defence Against the Dark Arts, though we know that is never going to happen). Harry wondered why Snape bothered if he detested it the idea so much. Perhaps he was doing so only under duress. He wouldn't put it past Dumbledore. Several members of the crowd started laughing loudly, including one particularly daring Ravenclaw, who leaned over the stands and called down.

"Oi Snapey, I like your Quidditch robes! Did your mummy buy them for you?" Snape didn't let them get away with this and with remarkable skills of hearing he spun round to look straight up at the lone student, who suddenly looked very scared.

"Biggs, my office, tonight! Detention!" Snape yelled over the laughter. Everyone suddenly learned that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to laugh after all.

"Imbecile students." Snape muttered to himself as he glanced down at the broom in his hand. He would show them. As for his robes, he had bought them himself, out of his tiny teacher's pay packet. Of course his mother hadn't purchased them. She never bought him anything. He finally arrived in the middle of the pitch where Dumbledore looked out amongst the grounds of the Quidditch pitch once again.

"Now we have our impartial Keeper, we shall begin"

"Miss Zabini!" Dumbledore called out as his voice filled the grounds of Hogwarts. The girl got up and walked over to the centre of the pitch. She looked very confident, and had every reason to be. She was using a nimbus two thousand and one, as were all the other Slytherins. Then there was the fact that the impartial judge was not as impartial as he would have liked. Harry watched her curiously. He hadn't spoken to her since the first day of term, though he had seen her in class. She managed to keep a low profile, and wasn't heard to speak except when a teacher asked her a question.

His interest was peaked. She had definitely been in one of his visions, the one where he was arguing with Hermione about murders, ones he had no intention of committing. For some reason, in his future memory, he had trusted this girl. He couldn't envision what would possess him to do so, but he would have to talk to her at some point. She could very well prove to have answers. Those were in short supply these days.

Blaise swung her broom from over her shoulder, in an intricate movement that ended up with her riding it.

"Stupid Show off." Ginny muttered, showing her obvious dislike for the girl. Harry observed as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, keeping it out of her eyes. As she did this she spotted him watching, and could be seen to give a tut as though he should be minding his own business.

Blaise stared at Snape as he readied himself. She was surprised when she observed him pulling on a pair of long purple fluffy gloves.

"Sir, what are they?" She asked. She didn't want to imply he was a moron, but it was more evident than usual right now.

"They are power gloves." He answered with pride. "All half decent keepers wear them you know."

Not like that they didn't. They reached about half way down his arm and were slightly sparkly. They clashed horribly with his grey Quidditch robe, and did we mention they were sparkly? A few dozen people quietly snickered amongst the stands. Blaise wasn't inclined to join them. A moment later Snape signalled that he was ready.

"If both parties are ready, then Chaser, you will go on my first signal. You shall stop two minutes later when I give the signal for a second time. Any Quaffles thrown after the signal will be deducted from your total." Dumbledore flicked his wand and the Quaffles in the box levitated out and then dispersed to different spots on the field.

Once they were thoroughly spread out he spoke again.

"You will have to throw as many of these Quaffles as you can, through the hoops. Dumbledore then pointed his wand skywards and green sparks shot out of the tip. She floated in the air; glancing round at the Quaffles levitating, before taking the nearest one, and throwing it with an arm that could rival Tonks.

After only a few moments, no matter how Harry looked at it, the Slytherin girl was going to get a place on the team. Her Nimbus served her well as she travelled round fetching Quaffles which she then seemed to chuck through virtually unguarded hoops. Snape was probably not a master on a broom, but his pitiful attempts at saving were surely far from impartial. At one point he even went as far as to fake tripping over his shoe laces, which was difficult to do when on a broom in the air. He then pretended to massage his knee while the next four shots were popped through.

"I hope Snape broke it!" said Ron as he glared at Snape's knee; apparently he was not so quick of the mark when it came to identifying a fake injury. Harry however, had learned to be an expert after all the times Dudley had run in doors pretending Harry had punched him, and he was now in excruciating pain that could only be stopped after several helpings of ice cream and a few strict words for Harry.

Finally after two minutes had transpired, Dumbledore sent off the signal for Blaise to land. She carried her broom on her shoulder as she strutted back to the bench. She was apparently in a very happy mood over performance.

"That was pretty good wasn't it?" Ginny said nervously as she bit her lip.

"Don't worry, even if she does get onto the team there are still two more places for you." Hermione said comfortingly. Ron decided he should probably chip in.

"Yeah, don't worry. If you don't get on the team you can still cheer for us." He said enthusiastically. She glared at him darkly.

Harry sat and watched as the next four Chasers tried out. He had to admit that they were all very good; it looked like it was going to be a close competition. No one was completely sure of who was winning, as unlike with the Keeper tryouts, they had not yet announced any scores. Harry had a good feeling however, that Ginny would both be making the team. A Hufflepuff boy had just finished a very competitive round as the crowd cheered once again.

"Miss Weasley." Dumbledore announced, signalling it was finally her turn. Ginny jumped to her feet and without another word, made her way over to start the test. As she mounted her broom, she hovered, her eyes fixed on Snape.

"You're not a very good Keeper!" she said very boldly. Snape glared at her.

"I would watch your tongue if I were you Weasley." He snapped.

"And I would watch the Quaffles if I were you." Snape looked at her in furious anger. His bottom lipped slid down his face to reveal his bottom yellow teeth. His eyebrows sunk on his forehead so that they mostly obscured his vision.

"Would you like to have a detention Weasley?" Snape hissed at her, while displaying the most extreme frown since the times of Frederick the Frowner, and his decidedly un-merry men.

"What is Ginny doing?" Harry asked in disbelief. Hermione replied in a simple calm tone.

"I think she is probably trying to psyche him out."

"Psychem what?" Ron asked with confusion. Hermione tutted and rolled her eyes.

"It means that Ginny is going to distract Snape by insulting him so that he will play worse." Ron nodded slightly.

"Oh right, I knew that." He lied. They stopped talking and turned their attention back to Ginny as a loud bang issued.

Ginny instantly flew several feet to her right and grabbed one of the levitating Quaffles. She turned her broom round as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast considering that it belonged to the school. She eventually reached a suitable distance where she chucked the Quaffle as hard as she could. Snape made a feeble attempt block to his left as he reached out his hand. Ginny however, had put a spin on it and so it curved up and round and went past his head into the middle hoop.

Several people cheered briefly before she flew back off to grab another Quaffle. Apparently she had been practicing, as she managed to put the majority of her Quaffles through. Either that or Snape was just exceedingly rubbish. Both of which seemed very possible. During one particular shot which was low, slow and an easy one to save, Harry watched in interest as Snape, rather than knocking it away normally, pulled back his arm as far as he could. He then launched it forwards and punched the ball with all his might, sending it flying down towards the other end of the pitch. Snape let out a throaty roar as he did this, which gave the impression that he was some sort of wild beast man.

As the two minutes was drawing to an end, and there were not a large number of Quaffles remaining, Ginny threw one straight for the middle hoop. The Quaffle flew out of her grasp and toward Snape, who seemed caught of guard for a moment before it hit him straight in the face. Ginny stopped dead, whilst someone let out a faint gasp. Snape clutched his hands to his face as the game seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

It was very surprising how in such a short time he managed to turn his pain into anger. As he dropped his hand back to his broom, he flew over to her, and stopped so that his face was mere centimetres form hers. Ginny looked petrified as she leaned back as far as her broom would allow without causing her to fall off. Snape opened his mouth and shouted at her loud enough for everyone in the crowd to hear, and also a few old women in a muggle town a couple of miles away with their hearing aid turned up to high.

"You did that on purpose didn't you, you filthy little weasel!"

Ginny was unable to raise her voice loud enough to be heard, so she just gave a frantic shaking of the head. Snape was evidently not in a friendly mood today as he continued his rant.

"Yes you did! Only Longbottom could manage that by accident." Harry couldn't see him, but he knew that somewhere up in the stands Neville was blushing.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident." She finally managed to utter.

"You planned this all along didn't you? You have been scheming against me! Thought you would deface my face did you? Scar my perfect looks? Tried to assassinate me did you? Death by Quaffle!" Snape shouted like a maniac.

Ginny had tears in her eyes as she shook her head. The match was over now, but Dumbledore, wherever he was, didn't seem to feel the need to signal this.

"You have been caught red handed and found guilty. Do you deny it?" He yelled as he went on.

"No" Ginny said as she broke down in a confused and scared state.

"Then so be it! You shall spend the rest of your days in the dank chasm of Azkaban!" Snape finished off, panting from his tirade.

"Whoa there Severus, leave the chasms out of this." Said Remus, who had managed to summon the courage to help Ginny, who was in a state of extreme shock and fear. She was tempted to wee herself. All around was silence, more pronounced by the recent outburst. Snape stared at Remus for a moment, before he returned to normal, which is to say, he was still a thoroughly detestable human being.

The photographers at the side of the pitch, once they had recovered form their shock, started taking pictures. Snape glared at them in a worried way while they took picture after picture of him. It seemed the papers tomorrow might contain an article about an unstable teacher.

"Severus, perhaps you would like to go inside and have your nose looked over by Poppy. I expect she has a numbing and swelling reduction potion to give to you. Ginny was the last of the chasers as well, so there is no rush." Dumbledore suggested, finally making him self visible.

Without saying another word Snape stormed up to the castle, pulling off his purple power gloves and carefully tuck them into his pocket. Dumbledore turned his attention to Ginny, who was drying her eyes on the sleeve of her Quidditch robes.

"Miss Weasley." He said in that friendly tone that grandparents always use. "Perhaps you would also like to go and take a few minutes to relax?" She gave a nod.

"Remus could you please escort Miss Weasley back to the castle? Perhaps you could have a talk with her, and maybe a few biscuits. I'm sure that will cheer her up"

"Of course Professor. Come on Ginny," he said as he took her hand and they made their way back to the castle. "Let's go have some biscuits."

Biscuits cheered everyone up.


	21. Seekers UPDATED

With Ginny's tryout over, this meant that all chasers had now had a go, and the results were ready to be announced. However, with Ginny being the only Gryffindor applying, the results actually held little interest for Harry. The only thing one might still hope for was for no Slytherins, but then that was unlikely to happen.

Dumbledore announced the scores, with the result being a Ravenclaw boy, Alexander Powers, Milliard Shanks; also a Ravenclaw, and Blaise Zabini; whom we have already had the displeasure of meeting. After a few photos and the reports taking down some notes, on what must surely be a slow news day, they moved on to the Beater tryouts. Thankfully Snape was not involved in this, and so things progressed smoothly, without the need for biscuits.

Two players stood out from the rest, Phillip Bane, a fourth year Hufflepuff with dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and Serenity Fidget, a seventh year Hufflepuff, who seemed timid and quiet, but quite capable.

Harry sat with excitement as this signalled the start of the Seeker tryouts, which also happens to be the point which is of most interest to us. The reason for this is that this book is entitled "Harry Potter", and not "Ron Weasley and the Trial of Indigestion", though you would be forgiven for desiring to read such a book.

"Ryan Collins." Dumbledore called out. A third year Hufflepuff boy with ginger hair and a jaw several sizes to large for his face walked over. He carried his broom in one hand. He stopped next to Dumbledore and stared at him expectantly, waiting for instructions on what to do next. "You will have three minutes in which to catch as many Golden Snitches as possible. Each one you catch, you shall deposit into this leather satchel." He said as he held up a small brown leather bag with a strap. "In order to make this slightly easier we shall be confining the area in which the Golden Snitches may go."

Dumbledore pointed his wand towards the pitch and gave a series of complex flicks. A Shimmering white pyramid appeared in the middle of the pitch. It had a square base, each side measuring about seventy-five foot long. The sunlight glistened off the semi transparent walls, causing many to admire the misty creation in front of them.

"This is a magical shield which will stop the Snitches flying away. You will be able to pass through it, but it will slow you down. That means that if you want to get the best score possible it is advisable not to make contact with it!" Dumbledore paused as Professor Flitwick had appeared. He was skipping along the ground, while levitating a large wooden box in front of him. Harry watched in amazement as the floating box touched the shield. The box seemed to find resistance in passing through and so it slowed down as though passing through treacle.

After a few moments and a strange series of slurpy noises, followed by two brief pops, Professor Flitwick and the trunk had made their way through to the inside of the pyramid.

He knelt down, which didn't make him see at all shorter, and opened the latch on the box, swinging the lid open. After a few seconds in which nothing seemed to happen, dozens upon dozens of Golden Snitches flew out of the chest, moving in every direction. Professor Flitwick fell on his back as one Snitch flew out and hit him straight in the left eye.

A few flashes could be seen as a photographer took photos of the amazing pyramid filled with sparkling golden balls. To the untrained eye it would appear to be a golden looking storm, or possibly a swarm of large insects. To Harry it was a challenge. He watched as one of the Snitches had apparently malfunctioned. It started chasing Professor Flitwick round. Professor Flitwick tried to swat it away as it kept thumping into the back of his head like a miniscule Bludger.

Professor Flitwick quickly pulled out his wand and levitated the wooden trunk. He jumped into it and sailed out of the white pyramid as fast as he could. The Snitch gave chase, but whilst he passed through the barrier, the Snitch bumped against it, unable to pass. Once in the safety of the outside world, professor Flitwick climbed out of the wooden box and dusted himself off.

"All is ready sir!" He reported to Dumbledore as he gave a small salute.

Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement, as he gestured for Ryan to make his way forwards to the pyramid. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"The three minutes shall start from when you enter the area. They shall finish as soon as I send sparks into the air. Whenever you're ready." Ryan didn't hesitate as he made his way over to the pyramid barrier. He paused by the barrier for a moment as he prepared himself, before reaching out towards it. He passed through in what appeared slow motion, before jumping back to normal speed on the other side.

As soon as he was inside he jumped onto his broom. He hastily grabbed hold of the handle and forced the broom up and away, flying round in a figure of eight. His hands flew out in every direction grasping for Snitches. Every now and then one of his hands would travel to the leather pouch attached to his waist. This meat that he had caught a Snitch.

"How many is that now?" asked Harry as the boy added another Snitch.

"I don't know, I think five." Said Ron as they struggled to keep up with the movement of his hands.

"Don't worry Harry, his broom isn't very fast." said Hermione as she tried to reassure him, although Harry knew that within the confined space, having the fastest broom around wasn't going to make a huge difference.

He continued watching, as gradually his confidence slipped further and further away with each Snitch he added to the leather pouch. After what seemed like an eternity, Dumbledore let off a loud bang as a shower of green sparks filled the sky. Ryan landed his broom and removed the leather pouch that was practically hovering with the movement of the Snitch's. He strode over to Dumbledore where he handed over the Snitches, before returning to his spot on the bench.

To Harry's surprise, as Dumbledore counted them, they seemed entirely life less, and moved not on inch. Once the Snitches had been counted up, they were put back into the leather satchel and passed to Professor Flitwick, who ran back to the pyramid where he returned the Snitches. Harry waited expectantly for Dumbledore to announce the score, though it turned out this would all be done at the end.

"That has got to be somewhere around twelve." Harry said to no one in particular.

"I counted thirteen." Came the voice of Draco, who ha been listening in. "For an amateur like you I think it will be a challenge, but I think I can manage twenty no probs."

"Well Harry can manage twenty one." Ron countered, quite childishly.

"Draco Malfoy" Dumbledore called out. Harry let out a sigh of relief as Draco got up and made his way over to Dumbledore, who held out the leather pouch for Draco, who grabbed it off him and then made his way towards the pyramid. Apparently Draco was eager to prove what he could do. After this it would be Harry's turn over, and that would be the end of all the tryouts. He hoped he would be able to accompany Hermione and Ron, but for now all he could do was hope that Draco fell off his broom.

And possibly break his nose whilst we are at it, if we are being hopeful that is.

Just before stepping through the barrier, he turned to Harry a final stare. Harry didn't need to use Legilimancy to know what was being said.

"Beat this Potter" was the meaning. Draco jumped onto his Nimbus and flew straight through the barrier, starting the three minutes.

Draco Malfoy immediately started flying round grabbing at Snitches. From the look of it, he wasn't managing as well as he had boasted. Harry caught sight of some of the Snitches slipping out of his grasp or narrowly avoiding his fingertips, but he did still managed to pocket some. Harry watched in annoyance as Draco caught two more when they flew up his sleeve.

"Just his luck, he catches them without even trying." Harry complained angrily.

"Consider yourself lucky he hasn't opened his big mouth yet, he could catch half of them in there alone." Hermione tartly.

Draco managed to grab three more snitches within the next minute and add them to his collection.

"Well he looks like he is doing about the same as that Hufflepuff boy doesn't he?" Ron hazarded as he peered at his watch.

"Maybe a little better." Harry suggested. The remainder of the time seemed to tick on slowly as Draco slipped more Snitches into his leather satchel. Finally after about what seemed like a year, Draco was signalled to stop, just as he grabbed one last Snitch. He flew out of the Pyramid and landed on the ground beside Dumbledore. He thrust the bag of snitches at the headmaster roughly.

"Thank you Mr Malfoy." He said as he took the bag from under his nose. After they had been counted Professor Flitwick once again returned the Snitches to the magical pyramid. "I'm next!" Harry said as he tried to calm his nerves. He wasn't knock kneed but he understood that he had a lot to loose in the next three minutes.

"Don't worry Harry, you can do it?" Ron said in an attempt to encourage him. The questioning tone did little to reassure.

"Harry when you're ready." Dumbledore said as Harry realised he had been so deep in concentration that he had missed his name being announced. "Here you go Harry." Said Dumbledore softly as he handed Harry the leather satchel. He took it and tied it round his waist. "Whenever you're ready Harry." He said, with an equal measure of care.

Harry took a deep breath as he turned to face towards the enormous white pyramid, and made his way forward to the barrier. He could distantly hear the cheers of Gryffindor and the boos from Slytherin which were no quieter, but it all seemed far away. He was aware of the flashes of cameras as the reported got what they came here for, yet the only thing he was aware of in full detail was the Snitch's before him. He had emptied his mind of everything else, and focused on this single thing.

Harry reached the white shimmering wall in front of him. He stared up at it as it towered over him. After mentally preparing himself he stepped forwards through the barrier. As he cleared the other side he quickly hoped onto his broom and flew up and away. He couldn't help noticing that this actually seemed more difficult than normal Quidditch. In a proper game there was just the one snitch to concentrate on. Now there were hundreds and it was difficult to know which one to go after.

As he flew his Firebolt he realised that moving from one side to the other was a very quick process, and if he wasn't careful he could easily end up flying into one of the walls. As he learned to control his broom in the small space, he suddenly realised that twenty seconds had passed and he hadn't caught a single snitch.

"Come on Harry, you can't let Malfoy beat you!" He said to himself as he dived down to nearer the base where he had more space to fly around and manoeuvre.

He flew forwards towards one of the snitches. As it flew away from him Harry suddenly spotted one hovering to his right Harry quickly reached out and grabbed for it. He felt his fingers close around the struggling Snitch as he quickly put it into the pouch. He watched in surprise as for some reason, no matter how much the snitch tried, it didn't seem to be able to fly out of the leather bag.

He didn't have time to ponder this however, as the time ticked on. He pulled his broom round as he reached out for two more Snitches. He found, that if the Snitch seems to think you are chasing it, then it will fly away. He made this discovery as the Snitches in front of him flew away while those at the side remained relatively stationary. Harry managed to pocket four more Snitches before a problem began emerging. It seemed that all the Snitches were working their way up to the top of the pyramid. He flew higher and higher, all the while being very careful to avoiding contact with the wall.

Harry looked straight above him and saw a Snitch hovering just above his head. Hr reached out for it, his fingertips just scraping it as it flew a few inches higher. Harry moved forwards, and then it happened. The front of his broom made contact with the shimmering white wall. Harry felt the front end sink down as it met resistance in the wall. As he was reaching for a Snitch, he didn't have a firm grip on the broom when this happened, so he to fell forward. His shoulder fell into the shimmering wall as well, and he found himself stuck, like a fly in a web, or a bug in syrup.

He reached to pull the front of his wand out of the wall, and slowly made progress. As his arm came free, and finally the end of his broom, he was free to continue. However this had cost him fifteen seconds which he could hardly afford to loose. If he was going to beat Malfoy and the Hufflepuff boy he would have to pull off a spectacular. Harry focused his mind on the Snitches. He tried to watch every single one at once, where it was moving, how it was moving, and where it would be moving to next. He flew forwards and then shot out both arms.

Harry closed his hands, and to his surprise found that he had just caught two Snitches at once. "Wow that must be a first." Harry thought with surprise at his own luck. Harry quickly put them in his pouch and darted off for the next. He very carefully steered his Firebolt round. If there was one thing more important than catching the Snitches then it was avoiding that wall. Getting stuck again would finish off any change he had of winning.

He clutched the handle tight in his hands as he darted forward and managed to bag another Snitch. Harry did a quick calculation and figured he probably had about a minute and a half left. He desperately searched for a Snitch that wasn't too near to the sides or the corners. After a few moments of hovering in mid air he spotted a Snitch hovering near the ground. "Perfect" he thought as he pointed his broom down and began to dive towards it.

He felt the wind blowing in his eyes just before he pulled out of the dive in a controlled fashion. He suddenly felt half a dozen cameras flash. The light reflected of the snitch and burnt into his eyes. He blinked a few times as his eyes recovered. However, it was too late; the Snitch had disappeared from sight. He quickly swerved round and headed off in the direction of a cluster of Snitches that had appeared right in the very centre of the pitch.

"Damn." He cursed to himself as he had wasted some of the few valuable seconds he had left. It seemed not only did he need to catch the Snitch's; he also needed to do it without doing anything too impressive, less the photographers get carried excited. He concentrated on the task at hand, and reached out and grabbing Snitch after Snitch as he shoved them in his bag. He grabbed one last Snitch just as Dumbledore launched sparks form his wand.

The longest and the shortest three minutes of his life were now over. He let the snitch go because he had caught it outside of the time. He had a glance at the leather satchel. It was hard to see exactly how many he had caught but Harry guessed it was about a dozen. He gently touched down and climbed off Firebolt.

Harry was thoroughly exhausted, and he ached all over. Now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off he felt tired. He could hear the crowd cheering, which meant that he had done well, or at least he hoped that's what they meant. Harry, after much effort, made his way through the white shimmering wall. Harry was surprised at how loud the yelling was from outside the pyramid. "Was it this loud for the others?" He found himself wondering as he met yells of "You're the best Harry!" from some of the Gryffindors.

"We love you Harry." From the Ravenclaws.

"Make love to me Harry." Screamed several excitable fifth year Hufflepuff girls, and possibly Ginny.

He made his way over to Dumbledore and several other teachers. Remus was anxiously waiting, along with Tonks and professor McGonagall.

"That was brill Harry!" Tonks beamed excitedly. "You were awesome." Harry untied the leather satchel and handed it to Professor Dumbledore.

"Thank you Harry." Said Dumbledore, as he sneaked a peek inside the satchel. He raised his eyebrows, which could be a good thing.

"If you would like to take a seat we shall announce the winner momentarily." Harry gave a weak smile and nodded. He trenched back over to the long bench to the vacant seat in between Ron and Hermione. They offered words of praise as he settled down.

"The waits a bitch isn't it." Ron commented rather astutely.

"Yes it is." Harry concurred. Whilst he had played important matches before this was different. He couldn't let Malfoy represent Hogwarts. That would be like Hull representing England.

Nobody wanted that.

But not knowing was the hard part. Harry looked at the teachers who were very carefully counting the Snitches. Once they were finished Dumbledore cleared his throat one last time and spoke to the anxious students.

"We have finally come to the end of our tryouts. We will now find out who our seventh and final member of the team shall be. I know you are all very anxious to find out, so we shall now take a brief pause." Dumbledore stopped talking, and started humming to himself as he became very interested in the air around him. Various students started murmuring to themselves, while Harry just laughed. Dumbledore always managed to find humour in the most sensible situations.

After about thirty seconds of relative silence Dumbledore continued. "Oh yes now for the winner." Anyone who had been talking stopped. "The total number of Snitches caught, are as follows. Ryan Collins, twelve Snitches. Draco Malfoy, fourteen Snitches." The Slytherins howled with delight as Draco received hearty slaps on the back. Good show Draco. Wouldn't daddy be proud! "Finally, Harry Potter, thirteen Snitches!"

Harry listened. Everything was quiet. Nobody spoke. Nobody breathed. An eternity of silence seemed to pass Dumbledore's statement, although this was actually just in Harry's mind. In the real world a tidal wave of mild surprise and half hearted cheering erupted. The Slytherins cheered louder than Harry had ever remembered, though this was largely due to the fact this was the first time he could remember them winning.

Deep down no matter how much Harry doubted his own abilities, he always had thought he would win. It had become a Hogwarts tradition. A rival team would come out and play Quidditch and he would catch the Snitch. That's how the story should have gone. Harry was experienced in the art of winning but very knew at losing, he didn't like it much.

"I lost?" Harry asked, seeking confirmation from his friends that indeed the universe was being torn apart.

"You lost?" Ron replied, equally flummoxed. Harry was vaguely aware of Hermione trying to comfort him.

"Silence!" Dumbledore suddenly called signalling that he had yet more to say. The cheers suddenly stooped, as did the strange mutterings from people that thought somehow fate had cheated them. "If you will permit me to finish." He continued in a calmer tone as he raised his eyebrows and peered at the crowd. "My dear Slytherins, I never would have dreamt of depriving you of your moment of triumph. Alas, a moment was all I could spare. As I said before, Mr Malfoy caught a total of fourteen snitches, however although he caught fourteen Snitches, the last one was caught after I signalled the end of the three minutes. I am afraid to report to all the Slytherins, that this constitutes a breaking of the rules, as outlined earlier today."

"The price for this trespass, I'm afraid to say is to have any points obtained wrongfully, deducted, rather than added to the total score. That means that Mr Malfoy's score stands at twelve, while Harry Potter is the true winner with a total of thirteen." Harry listened for a moment before his brain caught up.

"I'm the Seeker!" Yelled Harry as he jumped to his feet.

"You're the Seeker!" Ron and Hermione both yelled as they also got to their feet and congratulated him. Hermione gave him a friendly hug while Ron settled with a formal handshake. That's what men did. Harry was only vaguely aware of any background noise. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaw's and the Hufflepuff's were all cheering. The Slytherins were in utter protest and fuming anger. Harry glanced over at Malfoy who threw his Nimbus on the floor before storming over to the teachers. Harry couldn't hear what Draco was saying over the cheers and boo's of the crowd, but it involved a lot of arm movement and ended with Malfoy being marched off to the school by Remus.

Over the next few minutes a lot of things happened. The first thing was Harry got hit on the back no less than two hundred times as people congratulated him. The next thing that happened was that some of the angry Slytherins started throwing socks at him. Harry laughed as he imagined that Dobby's idea of heaven was probably something very similar to this. Ron anxiously ran round picking up the socks.

"Ron that's so sweet, getting all those socks for Dobby." Hermione said in a tone of deep respect. Ron looked up from picking up a nasty grey sock that seemed to be about five foot long.

"Are you crazy? Have you seen how much my dad gets paid? I can't pass up on good socks like these!"

Ron continued to run round as he pocketed every sock for himself. He did so at the expense of what little dignity he had. After the Slytherins pathetic attempt to annoy Harry had stopped, and Ron had picked up enough socks to keep the entire British army form foot rot, they sat back down on the bench. Harry let out an annoyed sigh as he saw a swarm of reporters all anxiously making their way over to him.

"Oh god not this." Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione as he braced himself for a barrage of questions and comments.

"So how do you feel Harry?"

"Did you believe you would win?"

"If you could choose your team members who would you choose?" The Reporters continued asking stupid questions for the next few minutes. Harry occasionally answered some of them, if they weren't too awkward.

"So Harry, do you think you having a Firebolt had anything to do with you winning?" Asked one man who looked rather like a bean.

"Well I don't think it helped at all really. It was too fast to fly around in such a small area really. If anything it made it more difficult." Harry said truthfully. He very carefully looked round for Rita Skeeter, and was surprised to see that she wasn't in the crowd of people interrogating him. If anything this was disturbing. Harry wasn't sure what could be so important that she would miss asking him questions and then rearranging the answer so she got at least some words he said, some where in an article, even if they weren't in the right order, and had other made up words in the middle.

"So would you like to consider Quidditch as a profession?" asked the bean man as he grinned at Harry. The questions continued for the next half hour until Harry was finally dragged away by an impatient Ron, who couldn't put off lunch any longer. That afternoon passed by quickly. Harry was congratulated a second time by just about every member of Gryffindor that afternoon. Over dinner he exchanged nods with a few members of the school Quidditch team. Although he didn't know them yet, after hours of practice they would end up being friends. Either that or just get on each others nerves.

That night a party was held to celebrate both Harry and Ron making it onto the team. No one seemed bothered that Ginny had a very bad experience as Chaser. She was easily forgettable, and two out of three was pretty good. Several large banners were hung up around the common room. They had messily drawn pictures of brooms and Quaffles, Bludgers and Snitches. Harry observed that up over the fireplace one particular sign said in big gold letters "Quidditch Kings".

On one side of the room a few tables were laden with trays of food. "Ron must have been busy." Harry thought as he considered that whatever was bought back here had probably been half eaten by Ron.

"I'm impressed." Harry admitted when Ron asked what he thought of the party. "So who did what?"

"Well Hermione and I snuck over to Hogsmeade and bought some snacks and sweets while Ginny went down to the kitchens to get some." Ron said while grinning. He looked like a dog, a ginger dog that had just managed to dig up the entire garden lawn and now looked at its owner expectantly awaiting praise.

"Good boy."

The party continued into the early hours of the morning, gradually becoming quieter, as people went to bed, or simply grew more tired. The music stopped shortly after midnight, and Harry spent the best part of the evening trying to stop people getting too carried away, and tidying up some of the mess they were making. Ron and Hermione had gone up to bed a few minutes earlier, and so Harry was the only one left in the common room.

He glanced at his watch, which said it was twenty minutes past one. He was busy picking up plastic cups which were scattered over all the flat surfaces. After ten minutes more work he plonked down in front of the fireplace. He was tired. Thinking about today, and how he had so nearly not made it, thinking about what would happen tomorrow, and what he might do. It was with these thoughts that he fell asleep right there, on the sofa before the dying embers of the fire.


	22. Magike o ti Deorc Aetas UPDATED

Harry was stood in the Ministry of magic. A dark quietness hung over the room, with the only sound being a distant clanging, from somewhere down the long hall way which reached off the room. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness a feeling of recognition became him. He was in the department of mysteries, in the same room where he had fought last year, the same room where Sirius had died.

He stared up at the arc in the middle that had claimed his godfathers' life, its shimmering black surface reflecting down upon him. He tried to move his feet, to walk closer, but he found himself unable to. Then he turned his attention as quick footsteps broke the near silence. Bellatrix Lestrange was walking up towards the arc. She stared at the arc with a curious glance, and possibly even a curled lip, as though it were an opponent for whom she had very little respect.

"Well Bellatrix, what are you waiting for?" He said as his voice echoed off the walls and gave with a venomous tone. What was decidedly eerie was the fact that it wasn't his voice. It was Voldemort's. He was Voldemort. He was inside his mind, as he had been last year. "If I may my lord, I think that perhaps this is too dangerous to currently attempt." Said Bellatrix with a tone of complete obedience.

"It will not be dangerous. Besides I do not expect you to go through with it. Only see if it is possible so that when the time is right we may. Now do it!" Voldemort commanded in the same voice that often sent people to their death. In this instance there was a hint, that to not obey would result in a significantly shorter. A life about as long as it took to say the words Avada Kedavra.

Bellatrix raised her wand and pointed it straight at the dark barrier of the arc. She muttered a few words which failed to each his ears, before a burnt orange beam or energy shot out of the end of her wand. It hit the veil and then spread sideways like a puddle forming vertically. The black barrier was gradually turning into a golden yellow, the colour spreading like an open flame licking at a piece of paper. The colour crept to the final corners as the black veil was now completely covered.

"Good." He heard Voldemort's voice call out. Bellatrix didn't turn round; she remained staring at the veil, her want pointed and her mind focusing purely on the task. Harry watched in confusion as the mist started to ripple slightly. It began with just a small round circle in the middle, moving outwards like a stone dropping in a lake, then as she continued the movement became more erratic.

Eventually it wobbled like the stormy ocean waves, or perhaps it looked like a dog under a bed sheet, if one were so inclined to think. Harry watched in interest as suddenly Bellatrix stopped and fell to her knees out of breath.

"It can not be broken. Not without the ritual." Harry watched through Voldemort's eyes as he walked closer to the veil, peering up at it. The colour had faded and it had now returned back to its still black form.

"Not by me?" Voldemort asked with a trace of annoyance in his voice and in his mind.

"If the scriptures are true then no, not even you could do it my lord." Said Bellatrix as she turned to face him and bowed her head.

"Very well then. We shall have to perform the ritual." Voldemort instructed. "Now we must make haste, it is dangerous to be in such a place. Bellatrix glided down the steps and over beside Lord Voldemort.

"We shall start right away my Lord." Said Bellatrix as they walked along towards the door. "Of course." Replied Voldemort in a tone that said anything else just wouldn't do. "Where is the first then?" He asked as he stared straight forward.

"It is in Penciville." Bellatrix replied.

"I shall send Lucius along with you. It is safer." He continued. Harry saw Voldemort reach out towards the door handle. Suddenly he was no longer inside Voldemort's head. He was back in the common room in front of the now cold fireplace.

Harry tried to recall the details of what he had just seen. It was somewhere familiar, somewhere he had been before, and yet even as he sat he could feel the details slipping from his mind. He tried to hold onto this feeling, like an ache in his chest. If he could feel it, then he could remember it. However, he failed in even this, and soon he had convinced himself that perhaps he had had a nightmare, but maybe not even that. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch. It was the middle of the night. He must have fallen asleep when he sat down. With a stretch he climbed up, and made his way up to the dormitory to continue his sleep, the vision completely forgotten for then.

Harry awoke late the next morning. He opened his eyes to see sun shining on the floor. Dark ripples swam past as the strong wind outside blew by casting a shadow on any surface it passed. Harry stretched as he let out a yawn. As he peered around he observed Ron was already awake, and was lying on his bed flipping through the latest copy of Quidditch monthly.

"What are you doing up so early?" He asked suspiciously. Ron flashed a bemused smile.

"It's not early. Its half past ten." He explained. "Most people went to bed pretty late though last night, so you aren't running that far behind everyone else."

"Ok then give me a few minutes to get ready." He said as he climbed out of his bed to get ready for the day.

Five minutes later they made their way into the great hall.

"Has the post been yet?" He asked Hermione as he took a seat at helped himself to some cereal. He was quite anxious to know what the daily prophet had to say about yesterdays Quidditch tryouts. In response to this Hermione picked the paper off the bench beside her, and slid it across the table. Harry picked it up and cleared his throat so that he could read out the article to Ron as well, he began.

_Questionable Quantity of Quality Quidditch_

_Yesterday Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry completed its Quidditch tryouts and selected its team members that will be competing in this years International School Quidditch Tournament. Three other schools will be competing, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and the Mirrari Academy of Magical Arts. These schools also selected their team members (see page 84 for details) yesterday. The Quidditch tournament will be taking place throughout the school year and is expected to be the finest gathering of non-professional Quidditch players there is. A limited number of tickets shall go on sale on October 1st (please enquire at the department of international sport and games.) The first match for Hogwarts students is to be held on November 5th, at Beauxbatons._

Harry paused for a moment as Ron exclaimed,

"Cool, now we know who we are up against!" Hermione decided that during this short pause she would try and give them a brief history of Beauxbatons.

"It is a very exciting school from what I have read in my books. It was founded in the middle ages by Sir Herman Ernest III." Everyone had to stifle yawns as Hermione tried to teach them something.

"Fascinating." Ron said curtly. Hermione abruptly stopped talking as she realised perhaps she was wasting her time. Harry continued reading.

_As Rita Skeeter reports, Hogwarts has a promising line up of players, who could fair well against the other teams. Below are pictures and reviews of the player's performances. _

_Beaters_

_Phillip Bane: After a spectacular performance in which he defended a player from six Bludgers simultaneously he earned himself a place on the team._

_Serenity Fidget: A good score of five Bludgers found Miss Fidget a place on the team. She lost due to an error from the impartial party when they touched down on the ground to adjust their shoelaces. At this point however her score was enough to win. We shall have to assume therefore that Miss Fidget would have continued well and is capable of measuring up to Mr Bane, and our expectations._

_Chasers_

_Chasers had to throw as many Quaffles past Severus Snape, the ex-reserve member of the Drandon Dragons, third place winners of the amateur Quidditch cup in 1983. They had to do this with accuracy as well, as this test tried their abilities in speed and precision._

_Alexander Powers: An impressive score of sixteen points was scored as he flew his Cleansweep 7 nimbly, with shooting skills to match._

_Milliard Shanks: Whist he threw an impressive total of 40 Quaffles, Mr Shanks could do with improving his accuracy. If he can master this he would prove to be the strongest member of the team, but for now will remain the wild card._

_Blaise Zabini: A nearly perfect score of nineteen points found Blaise Zabini a well earned place on the team. Riding a nimbus 2001 at lighting speed and throwing with utter precision Blaise Zabini could very well be the next great Chaser. Watch out rival schools!_

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table where Blaise was sitting. Despite receiving such a positive review, she seemed to be in a bad mood.

"She doesn't look very happy." Harry commented as he nodded towards her. Ron turned round and stared at the Slytherins. He shivered as turning back. "She's creepy." He remarked as he stared down at his bowl of porridge that he had forgotten about for the last few minutes.

"Hey Ron this is your bit!" Harry said, as he spoke a little slower and louder, for it was a known fact of nature, that Ron was an idiot.

_The position for school Keeper was won by Ronald Weasley. The test was one in which the Keeper had to guard the three hoops while a series of Quaffles was thrown at them very quickly. This tested their speed and agility. It is however possible that Mr. Weasley's victory was due to having a better broom than the others._ _None the less he still delivered a strong performance and saved a total of seventeen points which was enough to beat his opponents._

Ron tried to scoff at the idea, but Harry could see that the thought had crossed his mind, that maybe if he hadn't had the better broom he wouldn't be in the team.

"Don't worry about it Ron." Hermione instructed. "You won fair and square, because you played the best game. Don't let Rita take that from you."

Thinking about it, Rita had been quite complimentary of Ron, at least compared to what she could have said. He had half expected her to go to town completely and be a thunderstorm to his confidence. Thankfully she had gone easy on him. Harry now took his turn as he looked down at the remaining part of the article, discussing his performance. After a brief description of what was involved in the tryout it had his name

Harry Potter:

_After what can only be referred to as a pathetic score from Harry Potter, it became apparent that Hogwarts has no meaningful skill in the Seeker department. It is with great shame that we should watch his future performances, knowing how woefully inadequate he will prove to be, and how in all likelihood he will compromise the promising opportunity the other young players have._

Harry didn't know what to say. After reading the article he felt strangely inadequate at the sport of flying.

"Well that's not true!" said Neville who had shuffled over whilst Harry was reading aloud. "You played great yesterday."

"Yeah." Ron agreed. "And to be honest, I didn't think yesterday was the best measure of skill there was. Normally you need to be able to spot the Snitch as well, and you are really good at spotting things."

"Yeah I am. Why, I can see that pin over there in the corner." He gestured. The conversation would have continued on longer, but as he glanced at the next page, a small side article caught his attention. It read: "Break in at Penciville."

With a twist of his stomach images of last nights vision began flooding his mind as it all came back to him, Bellatrix and the arc, dark magic, and Voldemort. They had been talking, something about a ritual, something that involved a place Penciville. No doubt the same Penciville that had just been broken into.

"I need to go!" Harry announced as he jumped up from his seat. He looked round, half expecting to see Dumbledore standing there ready for him. He wasn't. Harry glanced round in every direction, hoping for some sort of clue as to where Dumbledore may currently be. None arose. He knew that time was an issue. He remembered the time they had travelled back to stop him having a dream. Dumbledore said the longer you travel back the more unpredictable the course of your actions would be. After a minute of thought he set off towards the headmaster's office, with no explanation offered to his bewildered friends.

"What will Dumbledore say? Will he know about it already? What did Voldemort want in Penciville? What was it that he took?" All these questions ran through his head as he strode down the corridor. Soon enough, yet a long while later, he found himself standing in front of the stone gargoyle.

"Humbug" he aid as the gargoyle leapt to the side and bowed down to him. Harry hastily ran up the spiral staircase and stopped at the familiar highly polished oak door. He reached out one had and rapped on the surface. The knock seemed oddly quiet and he wondered if perhaps he had been heard. He was just about to knock again when the familiar friendly voice of Albus Dumbledore said,

"Come in."

Harry pushed the door open with a loud creak. He stepped into the office which for some reason seemed oddly illuminated considering the sun was obscured by clouds. The room was almost silent, without even the sound of the wind outside being heard, though upon looking out of the window he could clearly see trees swaying.

"Ah, Hello Harry." Dumbledore said as he took a sip of lemon tea. "What is it that brings you to see me on this fine morning?"

Dumbledore was sat behind his desk with a copy of the daily prophet in front of him. It appeared he was currently perusing the financial pages. Harry sat down in his usual seat that he had been in so many times over the years. They remained silent for a moment before Dumbledore remarked upon the article, giving the impression that perhaps he hasn't expected Harry to comment in the first place.

"It seemed there has been a new discovery of warlock bonds in the east. It has lowered the values by three points."

"Well sir it is about the article on page three, at the side there." He explained as Dumbledore flicked to the right page. Dumbledore glanced down at the article for a minute as he read it.

"Yes Penciville is a wizarding museum in the east. It has history and artefacts from over three thousand years ago. You would be having a school trip there, had you decided to take a newt in history of magic. What is it of this article that has bought such interest to you?" Said Dumbledore as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. Harry decided that to be straightforward was the best thing he could do in this situation.

"I had a dream, last night." He said quickly.

Any hint of a smile that Dumbledore had on his face faded. Whilst there was only a small change, the effect was profound. He sat silently behind his desk for several moments, with his hands poised together resting his thumbs against his chin so that his fingers were touching the tip of his nose. The tense silence that lasted but a minute. The silence was broken when Dumbledore finally spoke.

"Well it seems I have made a mistake. I believed your room to be blocked from all forms of mind magic. I must have overlooked something. Is the situation bleak?"

Harry nodded, but at the same time said no.

"You did not make a mistake. My room is protected. I'm sure you did it right. It was my mistake. I was tired last night as I was tidying up. I sat down for a moment, and ended up falling asleep in the common room."

"So would I be correct in my assumption that Lord Voldemort read your mind?" Harry shook his head.

"No, you would be wrong. I read his mind. I saw Voldemort. I was Voldemort." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Well then Harry, what is it that causes this situation to warrant such a sombre tone in your voice?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Well in the dream I saw something of Voldemort's plans. I heard him speak about a plan and about needing something. He said it was at Penciville and that he would send Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy to get it. He was at the Ministry of magic again." Dumbledore for one of the few times in his life allowed irritation to grace his features.

"Voldemort marches once again through the Ministry unnoticed. Perhaps they are in worse shape than I had first thought. What was it you saw Harry? What was his plan? You must tell me. This information could prove to be invaluable to the Order."

Harry felt guilty telling Dumbledore that he had been right there and had not found out the plan. He felt like he had let everybody down. "I don't know. All I know is that he was at the thing. The ark that killed Sirius, he got Bellatrix to do something to it. I don't know what it was but she hit it with a beam of orange light and it started shaking." Dumbledore had a look of intense concentration upon his face. He started muttering to himself quietly "What do they desire with the Arc of Spirits?"

"Pardon?" Harry asked in confusion. Lately the world seemed to be a very confusing place. "The arc that you spoke of Harry is known by many names throughout the lands. Some call it the Portal of Souls; others know it as the Arc of Spirits. It is a most mysterious thing Harry. Little is known about it other than it is where the spirits of the dead reside, and that it was constructed many thousands of years ago when powerful magic ran commonly through the veins of witches and wizards."

"The Spirits are said to have roamed freely through the lands until the Arc was constructed. This is a fact that no one is sure of. As with all stories told over many years, they are bent and twisted by the mouths of the tellers. This does however seem plausible, and most likely the correct history of the Arc." Dumbledore said as if he knew this sort of information by heart. In fact thinking about it there was probably very little the headmaster didn't know like the back of his hand, and considering he had been around for the last one hundred and fifty years or so that meant he knew it pretty well.

"I see." Harry replied through a lack of anything better to say.

"Well Harry this is interesting news indeed. I can not say yet what he wants, but this will lead us closer to figuring out what he wants, and how it involves you." Dumbledore said with enough seriousness to kill a small goat. Harry gulped.

"So are we going to summon the order and use the time turners to stop him?" Harry asked anxiously as he felt in his pocket for the magical Galleon, just in case Dumbledore had already signalled for them.

"No Harry, I am afraid we can not. There is a limit to exactly how far we can travel. Unless you had this dream in the late morning then it is beyond the limit. Was it?" Asked Dumbledore in the tone of one who knows the answer to the question and is asking it for your benefit rather than his.

"No." Harry replied glumly.

"Yes I thought so. I do however think this revelation is cause to be contacting the members, as I shall do so later today, unless you can see a need for it to be done now?" Harry searched his mind.

"No I don't see why it can't wait." He admitted. Dumbledore smiled.

"Well in that case I'm glad I won't be waking up Arthur on this Sunday morning. Any way Harry, I do not believe this merits concern. If what you told me is true, and Voldemort is attempting some sort of ritual then it will take time. They are difficult to perform at the best of times and generally require several different objects to perform."

Harry couldn't help but feel a little better. At least now he knew that the destruction of the world as he knew it wasn't imminent.

"Ok thank you for your time professor." He said as he stood up from his chair.

"No Harry, thank you. With this new information we are one large step closer to understanding Voldemort's intentions and one step closer to foiling them. I shall send Professor Kingsley to Penciville to try and find out exactly what has been taken. Then maybe I will be able to find out exactly what it is he is trying to achieve. I will see you again this afternoon, so try to avoid making any arrangements if possible." Harry smiled as Professor Dumbledore showed him to the door.

A few hours later and Harry could be found in the library, though he wasn't exactly sure how Hermione had managed it. He ha wasted little time in explaining to them his vision from last night and the meeting that he would be attending later today. Hermione had of course immediately started talking about the wizarding museum, and how she would desperately like to visit.

Harry stared down at the book in front of him. It was describing the importance of Arithmacy. The thing that struck Harry as strange was the fact that he didn't even take the subject and certainly had no need to study it. Ron was also looking baffled at the book he was reading about how to give a dragon a hair cut.

"Why are we here again?" asked Ron as he shook off the feeling that he may have been hypnotised.

Hermione sighed.

"Well we are learning aren't we? You can never know too much information." She said as she gestured to a book that was as tall as a goblin. Ron cast a sideward glance at Harry. There was that time he found out about Snape's bunions. That was too much information. "But why am I studying Dragon haircuts and Harry a subject he doesn't even take?" Hermione once again glanced up from her book. She seemed to be annoyed that she had been distracted from her ever so important studies once again.

"Well if you two want to laze around the common room all weekend then that is fine by me, but don't blame me when you fail your exams!" Hermione said this in such a tone that Ron and Harry knew they would be in serious trouble should they attempt to leave before her. She might have suggested they could leave, but this certainly wasn't the case.

"Hey I'm going to go get a book from the restricted section." Said Harry as he decided there must be something more interesting to read, even if it wasn't related to any subjects he did. He stood up and started making his way into the deep recess of the library. He heard the clatter of a chair falling over as Ron came bounding after him.

"Can I come and pick a book as well?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Yeah sure Ron, I don't see it will be a problem while I'm here. In fact you should help me look for some good books. It isn't easy to find them. A lot of them aren't even in English." He explained as him and Ron headed down one of the seemingly endless isles.

He squinted as he stared down to the far end. He was hoping to see some sort of wall but if there was one then it was closely guarded by the shadows and the darkness.

"Wow you could get lost down there" said Ron as he followed Harry's gaze. In fact this was true. It was commonly speculated the main reason the restricted section was off limits was because people did indeed get lost. This rumour resurfaced every time someone several years older than any student finally re-emerged, with clothes in tatters and a long mane of hair.

Harry strode forward about a dozen meters. It was slightly darker here as the light from the flickering candles faded with every footstep away. He looked down at the dusty floor where his footprints were from last time he had been here, like tracks in snow. He traced his steps as he headed further and further in. Eventually the steps stopped and he looked up at the shelf in front of him. Ron was bumbling around somewhere behind him.

Harry wasn't sure why but he had a strange curiosity that was nagging inside him. Telling him that this book he had seen the other day would be well worth a read. He gingerly reached out and ran his finger down the dark leather spine, before carefully taking it from the shelf. The cover was free from dust which showed that this was indeed the book he had read last time he was here. He examined the golden title that was cracked and peeling.

_Magike o ti Deorc Aetas _

Harry opened the pages. They were crispy and thin from age, and had taken on a yellow colour whilst the writing had faded beyond all legibility in parts.

"Oh what's that?" Asked Ron as he had appeared over Harry's shoulder and stared at the strange runic symbols.

"I don't know. It isn't in English so I can't read it. But I think I understand it, if you know what I mean?" Harry said, unsure himself of what he meant.

"Oh you mean you understand the symbols?" Ron asked in surprise that Harry knew such things after apparently taking no lessons.

"No it's just..." He began before falling into silence. There really was no way to put it.

"Hermione would be able to tell you what that says. I bet she could do it just like that." Ron said with a snap of his fingers. Harry forgot what he was about to say as suddenly curiosity over took him.

"Really, you think so?" Harry thought excitedly. For some reason he hadn't even considered her. He snapped the ancient book closed, put it under his arm and made his way back into the section of a library that didn't feel like a graveyard, if there was such a thing.

He found Hermione exactly where he had left her, sitting by one of the tables with her head bent over a book.

"Hey Mione, I was in the library and I found a book." He began before she cut him off.

"Really, you found a book in a library. That is a surprise" She replied caustically. He pretended not to hear this and pressed on.

"Well I was wondering if you could help me with it."

"So what exactly do you want help with, Harry?" she asked as she reached over to the ancient book and opened it in before her.

Harry could tell that she was just about ready to pour every free minute she had into reading something this old.

"Well if you could just tell me what it says that would be great. I can't read it to be honest." He said as he drew his chair close and leaned over her.

"I'm not surprised." She said slowly as she traced her fingers along the line. "This is pretty advanced stuff."

"Can you read it?" Ron asked eagerly.

Harry glanced down at the book. Its faded purple ink seemed to show some sign of importance even though he couldn't read it. It would have been ironic should the symbols actually be depicting a recipe for quiche. This however wasn't likely to be the case, unless the quiche was so tasty it proved to be a danger to the students.

"Well I don't know Ron. I have never seen anything like this before. The runes, they are so complex, like nothing we have studied in class." She said as she ran her hand through her hair, deep in concentration.

"But you will be able to do it won't you?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Well if I can then I won't be able to now. I need my reference books and it will take time to figure out." She said as she gingerly turned the yellowy page.

"How can it take time? Can't you just tell us?" Ron asked impatiently.

"Well Ron it's not that simple." Hermione said testily. "They aren't just words, they are sentences. Each symbol has a unique meaning. The curve or the angle of the lines in relation to the other lines makes a difference. Then there is the length that needs to be considered. As for these dots, we haven't even studied those yet. This is going to be difficult, even by my standards!" If a fat lady had been walking past, upon hearing these words it would be perfectly acceptable for her to scream and then feint.

"I am going to have to make a copy of these images. I don't suppose the school would appreciate me drawing on their books would they?" Hermione asked as she pulled out a sheet of parchment and a pencil from her case. Harry was about to ask how she would copy the runes, when she pointed her wand at the parchment and muttered an incantation that turned the parchment a clear colour. Ron and Harry remained quiet for a few minutes as she traced the complex lines and drawings.

When Hermione had finished the first page she lifted up the first piece of parchment and shook her hand to get rid of the cramp in her wrist.

"I hope you don't expect me to copy every page." She said as she realised it would take near an eternity at this rate.

"Well I don't know how much you need to find out, just enough so that I get a general idea of what it is about." Harry admitted. Hermione got another piece of parchment ready, before she looked to him and asked,

"Why do you want to know about this particular book anyway?" He searched his mind for a reason. If he was honest with himself there wasn't really any.

He was about to tell her this when Ron stated with certainty,

"Well it was gold writing on the front. Everybody knows important books have gold writing." Harry supposed this was as good enough reason as any, and was quiet possibly true as well.

"Yep, the gold writing." He concurred. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment before replying.

"I don't think that is true. None of my books have gold writing." She said with a measure of doubt.

"Well that is because your books aren't about important stuff. Whoever cared about the boring things in your books? Boring stuff like hair potions and a spell to polish your shoes. No one wants to know about those sorts of things!"

After copying down a few more pages Hermione decided that it was enough to be getting on with. Harry returned the book to the shelf, and made her promise to tell him as soon as she had deciphered what the book was about.

"Well Harry it probably won't be anything interesting, just an introduction most likely." Hermione explained as she looked at the traced pages whilst they left the library and made their way to lunch.

"It may be, but I have a feeling it will be much more than that." He replied with a vagueness to rival the best of them.


	23. The Rat Revelation UPDATED

The rest of the evening passed by quietly, for it is known that not all events can be exciting. However, it is also known that the exciting moments in life do follow the dull moments, and so it is here that we shall pick up.

Harry was in the common room sitting down in front of the fire which was gently licking at the logs in the grate, when he felt a slight warmth within his pocket. As the warmth increased he reached into his pocket and his fingers closed around the magical Galleon that had drawn his notice. He drew to his feet casually so as not to draw attention.

"Going somewhere?" Ron asked as he glanced up from a book. Harry glanced around him for any nosey people who may be listening. There were a dozen or so students on the other side of the room but then to speak of the order aloud would surely earn Moody's disapproval.

"I need to go to the you know what." Harry said as he raised his eyebrows and gave a slight nod of shared understanding.

"You're going for a poo?" Ron asked as he wrinkled his nose.

"The other you know what." He replied as he flushed before leaving the room.

After a few minutes of walking, and passing the gargoyle, he drew up to the large oak door. He wrapped his knuckles on the door. Even though his arrival was expected, he felt it best to announce it, much like at the doctors. The door swung open as though on its own, revealing a large part of the Order. There were a few party hats on one table, which Harry supposed were there to cast the illusion that this was nothing more than a soiree should a student happen to stumble into the headmasters office.

Mr and Mrs Weasley were sitting at one side with Bill, who was wearing some sort of jacket made of animals and a pair of dragon hide boots. When he saw Harry he made a friendly nod of recognition. Guys didn't hug. Snape, Remus and the other Aurors were sitting on the other side. Professor McGonagall was leaning against the wall by the side of the door. Dumbledore stood behind his desk wearing a long flowing robe of midnight black, probably velvet by the looks of the dark shade.

"Sorry I'm late." Harry apologised as he realised he was the last to arrive. He wondered briefly how everyone else managed to arrive before him, even those not at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore enlightened him a moment later.

"That's quite alright Harry. Many of us simply used floo powder to arrive in my office. However I would thank you for walking. After all we must all spare a moment to consider carbon emissions." Dumbledore said with the faint hint of a smile.

Tonks looked slightly confused.

"Now that we are all here we may begin." He spoke kindly as he sat down behind his desk. He had a piece of parchment in front of him which was covered in a purple ink; it was apparently notes, although the scrawled hand writing made it illegible to Harry. "I have called you all here for a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, for certain events that have arisen need addressing. Some of you I have already spoken to you. Others you will be hearing this for the first time. I apologise to those who have heard, and must endure my tired mumblings a second time."

Harry listened as Dumbledore told everyone of the robbery at Penciville and Harry's dream that foretold this. Everyone remained silent, although he felt the furtive glances caressing him. When Dumbledore had finished speaking there was a chorus of mumbles from everyone.

"That doesn't sound like good news." Said Mrs Weasley worriedly to no one in particular.

Dumbledore pressed on.

"The first thing we must do is try and calculate exactly what Voldemort is after. The second is to try and stop him achieving his goal. I have already gone about attempting the first. I sent Kingsley to Penciville to attempt to learn of exactly what was stolen. Were your attempts successful?" Dumbledore asked, though it was likely he already knew the answer. Everyone's attention turned to the Auror, who rose from his seat and cleared his throat.

"Today at approximately twelve hundred hours I travelled to the wizarding museum Penciville, located in Russia, in an attempt to gather information about the break in and the stolen item in question." Harry glanced around to see in anyone else was curious about the apparently rehearsed speech. Everyone else seemed to be paying attention, so he quickly turned back to Kingsley. "I engaged in conversation with other Ministry officials who were also investigating the scene. Apparently the break in must have been a well organised attack by at least thirty highly skilled wizards to break the magical barrier placed around the museum in question." Harry could feel the anticipation in the room build up as everyone listened with bated breath to the monotone account that was being largely drawn out by Kingsley's need for precision and details.

"After learning of this information I then proceeded into the museum in question where I continued carrying out my investigation."

"Get on with it!" Tonks whined impatiently. Kingsley stopped in the middle of his description of the museum floor. Everyone gave a brief chorus of agreement before blushing at their own daring. Kingsley looked slightly apprehensive as he tried to summarise but not miss out what he thought was important.

"Ok then. Upon questioning they refused to reveal any information relating to the break in and/or the robbery. I was unable to find out what was taken." He finished off as he sat back down.

"Those damn Russians, they are too arrogant to show their chips." Arthur grumbled with unusual anger as he clenched his fist.

"Didn't you get the memo?" Bill volunteered sarcastically. "The cold war is over dad."

Dumbledore displayed a peaceful look which screamed very loudly, that he would be speaking next.

"Well whilst this is unfortunate news we are not at a complete loss. Just because we haven't been told what was taken does not mean we will go without the knowledge. In order to find out we must look at every item in the museum and then simply find the one that is missing. This may prove a time consuming task but if it helps us understand Voldemort's plans then I believe it will be worth it." Once he stopped speaking Harry tuned his attention to professor McGonagall whose eyes were wide with shock.

"You can't be serious Albus? That museum contains over thirty thousand magical objects. It could take months!" She said in shear disbelief that Dumbledore was actually considering such a time consuming thing.

"Yes Minerva, I am deadly serious. Even if it did take months would it not be worth it if it leads to us saving lives?" Dumbledore questioned as he smiled slightly and peered over his glasses at McGonagall who stood thoughtfully.

"Yes I suppose so." She said after a moments pause.

"Good in that case I shall need some volunteers. I am afraid that My Professors will not be able to dedicate the needed time. They may be able to assist at the weekends but most of their time is taken up teaching or guarding Harry…" Dumbledore said as everyone turned once again to stare at Harry, who was tempted to apologise. "…and that is the most important task of all. We know Voldemort is trying to perform some sort of ritual. We don't know what it may be and we may not find out. We might not even be able to stop him at all but we know he wants Harry and we can stop him there!" Dumbledore finished as Moody thumped his arm on his leg and cheered. "Here here."

"Now can I look to any of you to assist in the investigation of the stolen item?" Dumbledore asked as he addressed everyone in the room. Everyone shifted under his gaze, everyone except Snape, who simply not consort with such silliness as shifting. The truth was that no one wanted to do it because they knew it would be boring.

"I would love to help Albus but I'm afraid I'm dreadfully busy down at the Ministry. With Cornelius' recent dismissal things have been a little bit hectic." He said as he tried to justify himself. "Yes I understand Arthur." Dumbledore said reasonably.

Just when Harry thought that no one would volunteer Bill stood up.

"I will do it." He said in a resigned tone. Everyone looked at Bill who gave a deep sigh. "Someone needs to do it and I feel as If I haven't done much to contribute to the order." He explained as he put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet in the alarmingly familiar way Tonks did. At that moment everyone had a deep respect for Bill, who took one for the team.

"Thank you Bill, I shall have to discuss the details with you at the end of this meeting."

Dumbledore was just about to press on when Moody stood up. One might think that he too was volunteering for museum duty as well, had he not been barking to an apparent stranger.

"Say what?!" He said, his eyes fixed on the wall with an anger that suggested it had wronged him in some way. "Does no one have a clue?" Harry wondered who it was that Moody was speaking to, and indeed to this day he sometimes wonders still, for it never was revealed, much like the many other mysteries of Moody.

"Got to do it myself!" He finished off, what could best be described as a telephone call. "Seems there has been a development, just this moment discovered." He explained, finally addressing someone real. "About Peter Pettigrew; seems the buggar escaped." Miss Weasley let out a small scream whilst several people gasped. Dumbledore had an unreadable expression on his face. Tonks however looked rather excited. "Dum dum dum!" she said in a dramatic beat, as though it was a murder mystery show.

"How did it happen?" Arthur Weasley asked after a few moments in which they all took in the news.

"Well from what I gathered down at the Ministry…" Moody began hesitantly. "They don't know. He just up and left. He always was a Weasley devil. No offense" He added turning to Arthur. "Albus, there is very little time to spare. Peter escaped just under three hours ago. We don't know where exactly he has gone to but it is likely that he has returned to lord Voldemort. We should use the time turners to stop him."

"Agreed." Albus said with a nod. "We have just enough time left to travel back to before the event.

"My, that's convenient." Tonks remarked to the 4th wall.

"Peter Pettigrew, with the ability to morph into a rat makes him a valuable spy for Voldemort. He can easily slip by unnoticed and as we have learned in the past is good at getting out of situations where he is in trouble. For these reason we must not let him return to Voldemort. We must stop him and we must do it now." Harry watched excitedly as for the first official time, although the third illegal time, he would use a time turner. There was a chorus of oohs from everyone, as if it had been practised many times.

"I shall briefly explain our mission." Dumbledore said as he passed round the basket of time turners to everyone. "We shall travel back to three hours from now. From then we will have just a few minutes to make our way to Azkaban and stop him. This will be a covert operation, which means that we will be sneaking in unseen and unnoticed. Therefore you will not need your disguises. Our discretion is essential here. If we are seen then the guards will have no choice but to attack without question. In these times any hesitation on their part and they may never get the chance to act again."

Dumbledore said as he made his way over to the centre of the room. Harry gulped at the severity of the situation. It hadn't begun and already he was feeling very nervous.

"Professor…" Harry asked as he got Dumbledore attention. "…How will we go unnoticed? Will we use the Adiverto Charm?" He asked curiously. Dumbledore glanced at him as he pulled on a matching dark velvet travel cloak that he seemed to have produced from thin air.

"Well Harry the Adiverto Charm could produce a bit of a problem. Many of you will not know this because you have never been there before, but Azkaban is a very dark place. It has thin corridors and many guards. The problem with the Adiverto Charm is that currently there are eleven of us. If all of us where to try and move around in such a way it would cause problems. You see, if a guard tried to look at one of us then he would have to look somewhere else. If he then looked at somewhere else and someone was standing in that place he would again have to look somewhere else. The human mind is a thing easily obscured Harry. The trick with the Adiverto charm is that people often look around. But if for some reason you found your eyes dancing around several times you would realise something strange is going on. These guards especially. They may not be as effective as the Dementors used to be before they joined the dark side, but they have been trained to recognise these sorts of spells and they would almost certainly catch us in the act."

"We will be going undercover with the help of the Disillusionment charm. That is the same one that you used when travelling in the advanced guard last year, if I am correct. He said as he stared questioningly at Harry.

"Yes that is the one we used." Said Moody as he hobbled out of his seat and answered for Harry.

"Well that is what we will be using this particular time. We may not use it in future but for this situation it is ideal. Whilst it only camouflages you with your surroundings, the darkness of Azkaban does reduce visibility to a level in which we will not be seen. It is quiet likely that a small black rat could have gone unnoticed and Peter could have slipped straight past the guards unchallenged."

After Dumbledore had finished giving everyone details about the mission ahead, they all stood up from their seats.

"Harry" said Dumbledore as he lowered his voice and took a single large stride over to him. "I don't want you to feel that I do not trust you…" He began to say in the tone of one who doesn't trust you.

"You're not going to let me go?" Harry asked flatly. Dumbledore hesitated for a moment in which the unspoken agreement was made that Harry would not interrupt him any further.

"No Harry, I will allow you to go, but only under one condition. I would like you to wear your invisibility cloak. I know we will be using the Disillusionment charm but I feel that for you we must take extra precaution. Whilst you do show magical skills beyond your age, the fact still is that you have had less magical education, and are probably unable to handle yourself as well, should you, for some reason be discovered. Your past experiences would suggest differently, but that is beside the point." He said as Harry opened his mouth indignantly.

"Also you are under threat from Lord Voldemort and whilst there is no reason we should encounter him, there is always a possibility. Therefore I must ask you to wear your cloak. Please Harry, if we could afford them I would insist the entire order wear them, but unfortunately due to the recession that just isn't possible. Instead we will have to make do, but there is no reason for you to do so." Dumbledore said as he stared straight into Harry's eyes.

"Ok then professor." He consented with a small nod. Once it was apparent that they were all ready Dumbledore straightened himself up and pulled the long thin wand out of his pocket.

"Now Harry where would your cloak be kept?"

"Probably in my trunk, in my room." Harry said as he struggled to remember if he had put it away or simply shoved it under his bed.

"Hmmm yes I suppose that is possible." Dumbledore said as though he was deep in thought. "Or, perhaps it is up my sleeve." He said with a chuckle as he pulled the cloak from his sleeve, causing Tonks to give a small round of applause.

Harry stood dumbfounded.

"We shall be travelling in groups, for safety and discretion. If you could please work with the groups I am about to assign you to, without complaining." He said as he cast a quick glance in Snape's direction. "I shall be forming group one whilst Minerva shall assist me."Harry you will be in group two along with Bill." Harry looked over at Bill who had been sitting with his head in his hands. Apparently he was bored over the whole affair. When he heard his name called out however, he sat up and looked over towards Harry.

"Cool. This will be more exciting than the mission with Kingsley no doubt." He said as he rolled his eyes. Harry wasn't exactly sure what mission they were talking about, but glanced over at Kingsley. If he had been offended by Bill he certainly wasn't showing it.

"Arthur and Molly. You two work together well so you will be going in group three together. Group four." Dumbledore said as everyone waited anxiously. No one wanted to be in Snape's group, or at least that was what Harry was guessing. "Alastor and Kingsley." You shall be the forth group, and also if you don't mind, the head group, should something go wrong. That just leaves group five which consists of Nymphadora and Severus." Tonks who had been anxiously drumming her fingers on her knee suddenly stopped. Harry could see that she was displeased, but to his surprise she didn't complain. It seemed at least when it came to serious matters she could act like an adult, at least some of the time.

Snape however, was about to open his mouth before he was cut off.

"The decision has been made." Said Dumbledore in a quiet tone that still stated with full effect, that anyone who tried to argue would get nowhere. "And finally Remus. You shall be the backing guard. It will be your responsibility to make sure we are not followed or tracked." Dumbledore explained as Remus stood up and stuck out his chest importantly. "Yes sir." He said as he gave a little salute and a bow, as he seemed apparently unable to decide which would be more appropriate.

"Now if you are all ready then we shall begin." Said Dumbledore as everyone held their time turners in their hands. Harry looked down at the watch he had been given. It was shiny brass and looked as if it was probably quiet expensive. "If you can all turn your time turners back by three hours then we shall be ready." Dumbledore said as he watched everyone carefully.

"Er Sir. Won't you have been in your office three hours ago?" asked Harry, suddenly remembering the strict rules concerning the use of time turners and seeing yourself.

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a moment before replying.

"Well Harry thank you for pointing out this possible problem." I have however taken the necessary precautions to make sure that my office has been empty for the last several hours of everyone, myself included." Harry couldn't think of anything to say to this so he just nodded. "Well then let's be off shall we?" said Dumbledore in eagerly. No one spoke but one by one they shimmered in the light and then vanished. Harry glanced back down at his watch. "Let's go catch a Death Eater." He thought to himself as he turned the dial and travelled back three hours."

He felt the sensation of flying backwards for a few moments before he found himself back in Dumbledore's office. He swayed slightly as he managed to keep his balance. The office seemed somewhat lighter, as the sun was still up, which was perhaps the only proof they had travelled at all, as everyone was exactly where they had been standing.

"Well everyone, now we have the next task ahead of us." Said Dumbledore as he moved out of the shadows. "We have the small task of making our way to Azkaban. Due to the magical barriers in place there we will be unable to apparate. The only other way would appear to be by floo powder, except that the floo network is very closely guarded. It would therefore prove a serious error in our judgement should we try that way, as the last thing we want to do is be fighting our allies. What would you suggest Alastor?" Dumbledore asked in a tone that implied he knew the answer already, and to be fair, he did.

"Well the best bet, the safest that is, would be to fly. Azkaban is however, a thousand miles away. I suggest we floo to the nearest convenient location and then fly from there." Moody finished off with a small cough and a comment about that being the way Death Eaters would do it.

"Good well unless anyone has any other suggestions or objections then that shall be our plan of action." He said as he looked at everyone.

"Seems sound to me." Said Bill as Tonks and Remus murmured in agreement.

"Alastor would you happen to know which is the nearest convenient fireplace connected to the floo network or should I get out my floo chart?"

"I know it Albus, and best of all, it won't even be on your network charts. It's always best to know a couple of secret ones about. Can't guard a place without knowing how to break in I say. The nearest one would be about a mile and a half away."

"Are you certain?" Dumbledore asked cautiously. "I don't mean to doubt you of course." "Certain, it is at a place called the Gara's palace. It has been deserted a long time. Real long time" Said Moody with a lopsided grin.

"Very well in that case let's get going. Arthur the floo powder is by the fireplace. I will just fetch the brooms." Said Dumbledore as he pointed to the mantelpiece before disappearing into the room behind his desk. Arthur reached over to the pot of floo powder and started handing out some to everyone.

"Here you go Harry." He said as he put some in Harry's hand. A feint clattering sound could be heard coming from the other room before Dumbledore emerged holding a large pile of brooms stacked in his arms and obscuring his face.

"If you could all take one." Came his muffled voice as he staggered forwards. Everyone gathered round before taking one of the brooms. There seemed to be a rush as everyone attempted to get the best brooms, or rather avoid the old one that gave you splinters, much like at Quidditch tryouts.

Eventually a single broom was left and the only person left without one was Snape. He didn't appear disappointed that he would have to fly the rubbish broom, just annoyed that he would have to fly at all.

"I shall go first." Said Dumbledore as he closed the gap between him and the large fireplace in a single stride. "Kingsley, Alastor. You go last." He instructed as he took a pinch of floo powder from the pot. With one final look at the room Dumbledore stepped into the flames, which were gently licking just a few inches above some well-burnt logs. He dropped the powder and the flames erupted into a mass of green and a shower of sparks. "Gara's Palace." He spoke crisply before disappearing.

Once the flames died down everyone was left in the office. "Well Harry you should be going next." Moody instructed as he gently nudged him in the direction of the fireplace. Harry slung his invisibility cloak over his shoulder so that his body was only partly visible.

"Remember to say it nice and clearly Harry." Mrs Weasley reminded him with concern. Harry took a deep breath and threw the floo powder down. He tried to ignore the green flames that shot up around him. He could feel their gentle warmth tickling around his ankles.

"Gara's Palace." He said as he made sure to clearly pronounce every syllable to such an extent he could probably make the queen feel ill spoken. He watched as the scene in front of him dissolved. He quickly tucked his elbow in as he remembered from the past. He could feel the familiar dizziness taking hold of him as his head started spinning. Finally, after what seemed like a time far longer than it really had been he shot out of the fireplace.

He took a few steps away from the fireplace so as not to block it, and glanced about the room. It was rather dark and he found himself squinting as he waiting for his eyes to adjust. Once his vision came to him he identified the room as small, perhaps no larger than his bedroom back at home. It was very dirty he concluded as he took in the dusty surroundings. There were several large boxes that looked like they were rotten from damp. If there were windows then they must have been covered in dirt for none could be seen. The only light was coming from a small hole in the ceiling, and even that was a dull light.

A smack cloud of dust could be seen in the shaft of faint light that pierced the room. To the far end of the room was the bottom of a pair of old stone stairs. Dumbledore was a few placed in front of him, when Bill appeared from the fireplace.

"Wow the name doesn't do this place justice." Bill said with a mock whistle as he ran his finger along one of the dusty edges.

Remus appeared a moment later. Upon arrival he also started taking in the surroundings. "Wow." He remarked as he took a few steps forward to where Harry was. "It's like home." he said to no one in particular. Harry wondered briefly what kind of place Remus grew up in, but found himself distracted by a similar sense, that this place did seem familiar somehow.

A moment later Harry turned to see that Moody had just arrived, signalling that they were all present. He was brushing some soot out of his robes.

"The floo network is getting into a right state!" He complained loud enough so that anyone who hadn't noticed his arrival surely would. "I'm telling you it could do with a good old clean." He said as he continued speaking, momentarily distracted from the mission.

"Azkaban is a few minutes fly away, and It seems possible we will be late. Whilst it isn't essential that we arrive on time, we must catch Peter Pettigrew. If you can all cast your invisibility spells. Then we shall be ready. Remember, it is the Disillusionment charm, not the Adiverto or any of the other." Dumbledore said as everyone in the room raised their wands to their heads.

Harry watched in interest as over the next few seconds everyone faded from vision and instead was replaced by a very faint image of themselves, which was all but invisible when they were still.

"Bill could you please take Harry. We won't be able to see each other very well and Harry shall be completely invisible under his cloak. Therefore it is likely that we will get separated if measures are not taken." Harry looked in the direction of the voice, towards where Dumbledore had been standing. There was a faint image of an old man, barely recognisable against the wall.

Harry felt something brush past him, causing him to look to his side where he saw a camouflaged looking Bill standing next to him. He reached into his pocket and drew out what was presumably his wand. It was difficult to see exactly what he was doing but as he moved it did make it easier to see him.

"Ok Harry, I'm just going to do a binding spell, ok?" Bill asked as he pointed his wand at Harry's wrist. He muttered a spell under his wrist and a moment later Harry felt something itchy climb round his arm. He looked down expecting to see something.

"What is this?" Asked Harry with some confusion. The sensation that could only be described as a very fat caterpillar trying to strangle his wrist. It was not nearly as enjoyable as one might imagine, if one were deranged.

"It's ok Harry. This just means that we are magically connected. Like an invisible rope basically, or a rubber band. It means we can't be separated. This will stop me losing you." He explained as finally the furry sensation subsided. Harry gave his arm an experimental wave to see how it felt. It felt like he had a piece of elastic attached to his wrist as it met a very small, but still noticeable resistance when moving away from Bill.

"Wow its like elastic." Harry said in slight bemusement.

"Er yeah something like that." Said Bill with uncertainty. God, Harry said some weird things sometimes. Probably some muggle lingo. He never bothered to think that not everyone grew up with muggles.

Now that is sorted we shall be going." Dumbledore prompted as he made his way to the bottom of the worn steps. They all filed up the narrow staircase which eventually gave way to not another floor of the house as he had expected, but rather the outside world which was shrouded in dark rain clouds.

Harry stood in the vast deserted wilderness looking about him. Within ten seconds his clothes were completely drenched from the rain. He looked down at the staircase behind him to see some of the other members huddling in its shelter. Apparently they were none to keen of the rain. From what he could make out through the thick sheets of water pouring down from the sky above, a large house had stood here once upon a time. Now all that was left was ruins. He could see piles of old corroded bricks and some rotten wood. It stretched a long way two either side of him.

"A great house stood here once upon a time Harry. It was once constructed some hundreds of years ago for the guards at Azkaban to stay. It seemed however that it was rarely used for should there ever be a break out then it would be a dangerous place to be. You and your whole family could be killed in their sleep and you would never know a thing of it. Or so the guards all thought" Explained Moody in a way which made the story sound like a threat. It was abandoned and eventually burnt to the ground. I know this because it was me that burnt it down, but that's another story mind." He sighed, leaving Harry wondering if he would ever hear the rest of the story.

He drew his invisibility cloak tighter around him with the illusion that it might provide a little more warmth than it currently did. He mopped his brow and for a brief moment could see, without the rain running in his eyes. The others had now all drawn themselves out into the open surroundings. It was actually easier to see them as a patch of no rain rather than anything else. He glanced at the rest of the surroundings and saw nothing stretching in every direction, as far as he could see in the distant night, which was not very far.

"Mind the cliff" Dumbledore remarked to the group, drawing their attention to the pitch black sea of dark waves some hundred meters below.

"I hope you are ready." Tonks said as she came up behind Harry. "We are here." She pointed to a vague point in the distance. "Welcome to Azkaban."


	24. Night Flight

Chapter XXXII  
  
Harry glanced back down at his watch. "Oh well, here goes." He thought to himself as he turned the dial and travelled back three hours." Harry felt the sensation of flying backwards before he found himself back in Dumbledore's office. Harry swayed slightly as he managed to keep his balance. He found the office seemed somewhat lighter, as the sun was still up, well just about. Harry could see the sun setting in the distance and it was casting an orangey glow through the window casting a long shadow upon everything, giving it an impressive look. Harry noticed that all the other members of the order were already there. All except Dumbledore who appeared a moment later. He appeared by the window, staring out at the setting sun with his hands behind his back. The light silhouetted his finger in a way that would probably make someone like Dudley pause from eating his cheesy puffs and say "wow."  
  
"Well everyone now we have the next task ahead of us." Said Dumbledore as he moved out of the shadow. "We have just the small task of making our way to Azkaban. Due to the magical barriers in place there we will be unable to apperate there. The only other way would appear to be by floo powder. Except that the floo network is very closely guarded. It would therefore prove a serious error in our judgement should we try that way, as the last thing we want to do is be fighting our allies. So how would you suggest we get there Alastor?" Dumbledore asked in a tone that said he had complete confidence in Moody's choice. "Well the best bet, the safest that is, would be to fly. Azkaban is however, a thousand miles away. I suggest we floo to the nearest convenient location and then fly from there." Moody finished off with a small cough and a comment about that being the way Death Eaters would do it. "Good well unless anyone has any other suggestions, or any problems with this then that will be how we get there." He said as he looked at everyone. "No seems fine with me." Said Bill as Tonks and Remus murmured in agreement. Miss Weasley however, seemed to have noticed a problem as she chose to make a point, in a rather nervous manner to. "Well I would say that it is a nice safe way, well as safe as can be expected in the circumstance. But I think there is a problem in this whole plan." She said as her confidence increased as she went along. "You see while we are flying over there it will be very windy. We don't want Harry to catch a cold now do we?" she said in a fussy motherly tone as she smiled at Harry.  
  
"Mum!" Bill hissed indignantly. "Harry will be fine." Harry couldn't help but like the fact that miss Weasley worried for him. It gave him a warm feeling knowing that someone was looking out for his well-being. "Don't worry. I have my cloak." Said Harry as he waved his invisibility cloak. "Yes molly. Now if that is all we had best be making haste." Said Dumbledore without a trace of annoyance in his voice. "Alastor would you happen to know which is the nearest convenient fireplace connected to the floo network? Or do I need to get out my floo chart? After all, it has been a long time since I needed to sneak into Azkaban." Dumbledore asked as he stared at Moody who fidgeted under his gaze. The way Dumbledore said this gave Harry the distinct impression that there had been a previous time. "Well yeah I do happen to know." Said Moody as he scratched his head in thought. I suppose the nearest one would be about a mile and a half away. "Are you certain?" Dumbledore asked cautiously. If it were Harry's decision he would have wanted a second opinion. The last thing they wanted was to end up in the middle of nowhere. "Yes, it is at a place called the Gara's palace. It has been deserted a long time." Said Kingsley who also apparently knew of the place. "Ar yes that name does ring a bell." Said Dumbledore as his face wrinkled slightly in concentration. "Very well I that case we shall be going. Arthur the floo powder is by the fireplace. I will just go and get some brooms." Said Dumbledore as he pointed to the mantelpiece before disappearing into the room behind his desk. Arthur reached over to the pot of floo powder and started handing out some to everyone. "Here you go Harry." He said as he put some in Harry's hand. A feint clattering sound could be heard coming from the other room before Dumbledore emerged holding a large pile of brooms stacked in his arms and obscuring his face. "If you could all take one." Came his muffled voice as he staggered forwards. Everyone gathered round before taking one of the brooms. There seemed to be a rush as everyone attempted to get the best brooms, or rather avoid the old one that gave you splinters. It was rather similar to the way muggle children at school would have to get into pairs and everyone would rush to avoid being stuck with the girl called "smelly shelly" or "sweaty betty." Eventually the last broom was left and the only person left broomless was Snape. He didn't look like he was disappointed to have to fly the rubbish broom. Just annoyed that he had to fly at all. Despite having flown during the Quidditch tryouts Harry knew that Snape simply didn't hold with such things. He was the sort of person that would walk along sensibly, even if he were being chased by a pack of angry Death Eaters. He liked to be thought of as a sensible man thank you very much! "Well now we really are running late so we must go." Said Dumbledore as he closed the gap in between him and the large fireplace in one large stride. "I shall go first. Kingsley, Alastor. You go last." He instructed as he took a pinch of floo powder from the pot. With one final look at the room Dumbledore stepped into the flames, which were gently licking just a few inches above some well-burnt logs. He dropped the powder and the flames erupted into a mass of green flames and sparks. "Gara's palace." He said before disappearing.  
  
Once the flames died down everyone was left in the office. "Well Harry you should be going next." Moody instructed as he gently nudged Harry in the direction of the fireplace. Harry slung his invisibility cloak over his shoulder so that his body was only partly visible. "Remember to say it nice and clearly Harry." Mr. Weasley said encouragingly. Harry took a deep breath and threw the floo powder down. A moment later he saw green flames shoot up around him, obscuring his vision. He could feel its warming heat tickling around his ankles. "Gara's Palace." He said as he made sure to clearly pronounce every syllable to such an extent he could probably make the queen feel ill spoken. Harry watched as the scene in front of him dissolved, and found himself flying past fireplaces. He quickly tucked his elbow in as he had a near miss. He could feel the familiar dizziness taking hold of him as his head started spinning. "Finally, after what seemed like a time far longer than hit really was he shot out of the fireplace. He had to keep running for a moment so as to avoid falling forwards from the sheer momentum he had picked up. The room he had appeared in was rather dark and Harry had to blink several times as his eyes adjusted to it. He found himself standing in a small room no larger than his bedroom back at home. It was very dirty to say the least. "Aunt petunia would probably have a seizure!" Harry thought to himself as he took in the dusty surroundings. There were several large boxes that looked like they were rotten from damp. If there were windows then they must have been covered in dirt for none could be seen. The only light was coming from a small hole in the ceiling, and even that was a dull light. It did noe the less brighten the room to a point where visibility was manageable. Harry could see a cloud of dust in the stream of the light the shone down where it reached the bottom of a pair of old stone stairs. Dumbledore was standing against the wall opposite the fireplace and was Staring behind Harry where Bill had just appeared. "Wow the name doesn't do this place justice." Bill joked as he ran his finger along on of the dusty shelves. Remus appeared a moment later. Upon arrival he also started taking in the surroundings. "Wow." he said as he took a few steps forward to where Harry was. "Hey Harry. I'm glad I don't have to be in Snape's group, aren't you?" he asked as he stood close to Harry. For a brief moment e wondered if perhaps Remus was afraid of the dark. "Yes." He said as he glanced over his shoulder just in case Snape had appeared behind them. Suddenly a thought struck Harry's mind, one that he had wondered a few times before now. "Hey Remus, Hasn't Snape found out anything of Voldemort's plans?" He asked suspiciously. If there was one thing Harry found annoying it was being left out. "Oh yes." Said Remus in a tone that suggested he had meant to speak to Harry before now about it. "Well Harry." He said as he lowered his voice to avoid being overheard by anyone else in the room. "Snape hasn't found out anything else because he quit!" Remus paused to give Harry time to gasp, or at least give a small "oooh." Remus nodded excitedly. "Yeah I know. Well it turns out that Lord Voldemort was suspicious of him or something so he had to get out of there. I don't know the full details but that is what I gathered from speaking to Albus."  
  
"But would Voldemort just let him quit like that?" Harry asked slightly suspiciously. In Harry's opinion anyone like Snape couldn't be trusted. Although there was probably not even one other person in the universe remotely similar to Snape. "No Harry. Voldemort usually kills his followers before he gets the chance. You see the thing is Voldemort is pretty clever in magic of the mind. Legilimency and things like that, so it is difficult to conceal information from him. If Voldemort picks up on any sign suggesting that your loyalty to him is wavering, then he apparently tests to see. From what Snape said every Death Eater who denied him and didn't go to Azkaban had a loyalty test. I guess if you pass then you live and if you don't." Remus didn't have to finish off the conversation because Harry already had a good idea of what would happen. "Apparently Voldemort picked up on something in Snape's mind so he ran while he had the chance. It's all a bit of a scary for him right now. Voldemort has probably figured out that Snape was the spy and I expect they after him. I wouldn't want to be him right now. In fact, I don't think I would ever want to be him." Remus admitted as he told the story in a way usually reserved for ancient myths and horror stories. The same sort of stories that tell of how an enormous monster appears every one thousand years to seek revenge on the descendants of its slayer. Coincidently these stories only get recited around a fire, in a dark forest exactly one thousand years since the event. Also, strangely enough this one thousand year anniversary seems to come every Tuesday night after a round of bingo and a quick tip to the local pub. "What sort of loyalty test?" asked Harry curiously. Remus thought for a moment before replying. "I don't know I suppose dangerous stuff that involves death." In a tone of someone feeling rather intelligent over there own simple, yet accurate assumptions. Harry was about to ask when Snape had run away, but had to catch his tongue as he heard the snide voice behind him. "This house would be to your liking wouldn't it Potter" He turned round to see Snape standing by the fireplace surveying the scene around him. His face was displaying a look of disgust at the filth and dust that had congregated over the time this house had been empty.  
  
"Hey, Harry had a very nice house before it got burned down, much better than yours actually." Remus said as he stepped in to defend Harry, who was grateful for this. Snape however didn't seem at all surprised by this action and without even looking up from the floor that he was apparently regretting having to stand on, he said. "Oh I'm sorry, did I say Potter? I meant you werewolf! Last time I checked your home was little more than a cupboard and a sink. If you can call it a home that is." Harry watched as Remus bawled his fists. His broom and wand tightly grasped in both hands. Remus made a motion forwards that suggested in a second later Snape was about to get reacquainted with the floor, in one way or another. Harry wasn't sure whether to grab Remus' wand arm to stop Snape being jinxed or his broom-wielding arm and stop him being clobbered. Maybe he shouldn't stop Remus at all? "The greasy git deserves it." He thought as he weighed the pros and cons of standing aside and watching the scene unfold in front of him. Harry didn't get to see what would have happened, whether Remus would have gotten into trouble or not as professor Dumbledore announced. "Good well I'm glad we all got here safely, not it is time to get going."  
  
Harry turned round to see that Moody had just arrived and was brushing some soot out of his robes. "The floo network is getting into a right state!" he said loud enough so that anyone who hadn't noticed his arrival turned round to stare. "I'm telling you it could do with a good old clean." He said as he continued speaking, apparently unaware that Dumbledore had been speaking. "Anyway as I was saying." Said Dumbledore over the mutterings of Moody, whilst he brushed his clothes clean. "Now Azkaban is a few minutes fly away, and I'm afraid to say that it looks as if we are going to be late. Whilst it isn't essential that we arrive on time it, we must catch Peter Petigrew. So now if you can all cast your invisibility spells. Then we shall be ready. Remember, it is the Dissilusionment charm, not the Adiverto or any of the other." Dumbledore said as everyone in the room except himself raised their wands to their heads. Harry watched in interest as over the next few seconds everyone faded from vision and instead was replaced by a very faint image of themselves. Although Harry had expected this it was still interesting to watch. The ten figures around him took on a ghost like quality. They looked like reflections in a window, barely visible. It for some reason made Harry feel like he was being spied on. Knowing that a dozen eyes where upon him, but not being able to distinguish the onlookers from the dark walls. "Bill could you please take Harry. We wont be able to see each other very well and Harry shall be completely invisible. Therefore it is likely that we will get separated if measures are not taken." Harry looked in the direction of the voice, towards where Dumbledore had been standing. There was a feint image of an old man, barely recognisable against the wall. He felt something brush past him and Harry looked tro his side and saw a camouflaged looking Bill standing next to him. He reached into his pocket and drew out what was presumably his wand. It was difficult to see exactly what he was doing but as he moved it did make it easier to see him. "Ok Harry, I'm just going to do a binding spell? Ok?" Bill asked as he pointed his wand at Harry's wrist. He muttered a spell under his wrist and a moment later Harry felt something itchy climb round his arm. Harry looked down in shock to see nothing. "What is this?" asked Harry in slight panic. The sensation that could only be described as a very fat caterpillar trying to strangle his wrist, was not an enjoyable one. "It's ok Harry. This just means that we are magically connected. Like an invisible rope basically. It means we can't be separated. This will stop us losing you, or vice versa." He explained as finally the furry sensation stopped. Harry gave his arm an experimental wave to see how it felt. It felt like Harry had a piece of elastic attached to his wrist as it seemed to meet a very small, but still noticeable resistance when moving away from Bill. "Wow its like elastic." Harry said in slight bemusement. "Er yeah something like that." Said bill in a way that displayed all the signs of not understanding. The same tone that is usually used when a teacher is explaining the principal of foot path erosion for the seventh time during lunch break, to a student who pretends to understand in able to be able to leave. Usually the sort of tone Neville adopts in his regular lunch times spent with Snape. "Oh I have heard of this eel-plastic." Said Arthur Weasley excitedly. "Its that stuff that holds your trousers up!" he said excitedly before becoming very quiet after seeing miss Weasley's stern gaze. "Well Harry there is just one final thing. You must be careful with this bonding charm. The further away the stronger its effects. Also you must make sure that no one walks in the path between you two because they will feel it. If someone were to touch it then they would most likely be alerted to your presence. Now that is sorted we shall be going." Dumbledore said as he made his way to the bottom of the rotten steps. Harry would not have walked up them unless he knew they were safe, for they certainly didn't look like it. After however, watching miss Weasley ascend the stairs safely he figured they must be safe enough after all. As Harry reached the top of the stairs, rather than seeing another layer of a house as he had expected, he saw the outside world, and it was raining.  
  
Harry stood in the vast deserted grounds. He looked around him. The sky was clouded darkly and rain was pouring down in drops of size practically inconceivable. Within ten seconds Harry was completely drenched. He looked down at the staircase behind him to see some of the other members huddling in its shelter. Apparently they were none to keen of the rain. From what he could make out through the thick sheets of water pouring down from the sky above, a large house had stood here once upon a time. Now all that was left was ruins. He could see piles of old corroded bricks and some rotten wood. It stretched a long way two either side of him. "A great house stood here once upon a time Harry. It was once constructed some hundreds of years ago for the guards at Azkaban to stay. It seemed however that it was rarely used for should there ever be a break out then it would be a dangerous place to be. You and your whole family could be killed in there sleep and you would never know a thing of it. Or so the guards all thought" Said Dumbledore as a shiver went down Harry's spine. "Over time it was abandoned and eventually fell into a state of disrepair. This is all that is left now." He finished off. When Dumbledore stopped speaking he actually realised how loud he must have been speaking to be heard over the rain. Harry went to reply but soon realised that his voice was drowned out by the roaring rain pounding against his face. He quickly threw on his invisibility cloak and pulled it well over his eyes. He mopped his brow and for the first proper time could see, without the rain running in his eyes. The others had now all drawn themselves open into the open surroundings and were standing closely against each other. It was actually easier to see them as a patch of no rain rather than anything else. He looked at the rest of the surroundings and saw nothing stretching in every direction. As far as he could see in the distant night, which was not very far considering the dark clouds, was flat ground. He took a few steps forward, into the apparently empty wilderness before he felt a very strong, firm grasp on the back of his cloak. Dumbledore didn't look at Harry, or if he did it would have done no good, but instead he showed a look of understanding, of where Harry was, and where he was going to be. "Watch out Harry. You wouldn't want to be falling over the cliff now would you?" He said whilst staring straight ahead into the distance. Harry looked round in confusion till he saw it. It was not muddy ground in front of him but a sea of dark waves some one hundred meters below. He hastily took a step back away from the brink of death. Even the sea here seemed unfriendly he thought as he crossed his arms in a pitiful attempt at maintaining some level of warmth. "Harry, welcome, to Azkaban!" said Dumbledore as he pointed to a spot in the distance. Harry followed Dumbledore's point to somewhere in the sea. Harry squinted as his eyes tried to focus through the dark clouds. After a moment of nothing, something appeared. First of all it just appeared to be a line in the sky. Then a point. As a low cloud blew past the full scene was revealed to him. The sight of Azkaban!  
  
Describing Azkaban as a prison would be a lie. It was a fortress. Guard turrets, or at least what looked like then surrounded it on all the corners. The fortress was set on a small rock in the middle of the ocean. It was difficult to judge just how far away from them it was but Harry guessed it to be about two miles. The building was so large that it appeared to actually be over hanging the sea. As Harry took in the sight a bolt of lighting struck above the tower. This was shortly followed by several more, accompanied with loud claps of thunder. Each loud enough to make you seriously consider jumping to the floor and putting your hands over your head. The whole place looked like the lighting had been told to hang around and cast an eternal gloom on everything in sight. Harry could simply not imagine the castle on a sunny day. But then judging by the temperature, which felt about one hundred degrees freezing, this was probably the sort of place where it never does stop raining. He could vaguely make out a couple of lights in the castle. They themselves looked out of place and Harry guessed were in the room where to guards would sit playing cards. The sort of guards named "Bob" and "Pete." They would most likely sit around rocking on their chairs with some stale biscuits and cards in their hands, discussing things along the lines of "so Pete, how is the misses?" And if anyone was ever brave enough or stupid enough to breaking in, and happened to make a loud clatter they would say. "Hey did you here that?" and with which the other would reply. "Oh its probably just a cat, or the wind." Despite the fact there were probably no cats in the entire vicinity. This sort of carelessness usually led to a terminal alteration in their expected life. All of the things about Azkaban gave Harry a bad feeling, but then again that could be Snape's breath making him feel nauseous. "It is a horrible place." Said Harry as for the first time he began to really understand how Sirius felt. He wasn't in there yet and already he hated it. It must have been an entirely different matter for Sirius who spent years in the hopeless, friendless walls. "Yes I expect its occupants would agree with you Harry." Said Dumbledore without a trace of humour in his voice. Harry turned around and saw Snape and Dumbledore standing just behind him. Harry figured that it probably took all of Snape's self control so that he didn't give Harry a quick nudge over the edge of the cliff. "Flying may prove difficult." Snape said To Dumbledore, as though they were both calculating the dangers of the whole mission. Dumbledore did not reply but instead turned his attention to the remaining members of the group, as if he was going to consult them. Harry looked and saw Remus and the others all standing looking relatively dry. By the looks of it they had used the water repelling charm, either that or they had reached a near terminal static charge. Tonks was drying there feet off with a blast of hot air that was coming out of the end of her wand. "You fool's!" Dumbledore suddenly shouted at them, all of who seemed rather shocked. "Take that spell down right now. When was the last time you saw the rain moving out of the way for no one? If any of the Guards were to look out of their window and see the rain avoiding you then they would most certainly realise the situation. Remove that charm right now before it costs us this mission!"  
  
Harry watched as Remus and the others exchanged glances before reluctantly taking down their charm. Within seconds they were as soaked as Harry and they looked upset about it. "Oh no I'm all wet." Said Tonks as she gathered up a hand full of her robes and squeezed enough water out to keep a man in a desert happy for a week. "Oh that's strange. I thought you were always wet!" Shouted Snape over the raging weather as he attempted something Harry assumed was meant to be a bad joke. Tonks obviously didn't hear him because she didn't reply, or if she did then she was clearly very confused over it. "If we shall all mount our brooms then we begin!" Dumbledore commanded as he waved his broom to signal what he meant. Just in case there was any doubt over what he had said. "Harry climbed onto his broom, which he had to admit was less comfortable than his Blue Storm. "The cushioning charm must have worn out." He thought as he tested his eight on it by hovering just above the ground so that his toes could just touch the muddy ground below. He looked to his right and saw everyone else has on their broom. Miss Weasley looked particularly unsure as she clutched her hands tightly on the handle and gritted her teeth as though she was having to endure some terrible ordeal. "We shall be flying in single file as to avoid visibility. This will also be safer, so should anyone fall they will be instantly spotted and we will be able to save them." If this was meant to ease miss Weasley's apparent fear of flying, it certainly failed. She gave a small whimper and a pleading look in Dumbledore's direction. "Perhaps I should just stay here and keep a look out." She suggested hopefully. "Molly, if I thought you were in any danger when flying then I would not have asked you in the first place. I do however feel that we are perfectly safe, and the risk is slim to none." Dumbledore explained as he to mounted his broom, and flew much steadier than Harry had actually thought. Although it was difficult to imagine it seemed that Dumbledore had flown before in his life. "Maybe he played Quidditch as a child?" Harry thought in mild surprise. "Yeah Molly that real danger is in Azkaban." Said Moody, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "Thank you Alastor." Said Dumbledore as he flew past Moody and to the edge of the cliff. "If you will fly in your pairs and follow me. I shall show you where we will be landing." Harry glanced round for bill and found him flying just a few feet behind him, smiling. "I finally get to see you fly then Harry. People say you are a better flier than me, and that is a pretty bold statement if I do say so myself. Which I do." He said whilst grinning. "Well I can't show you on this broom, it is rubbish." Said Harry as he gave a quick wiggle on his broom to test out its pitifully poor response. "Yeah they are aren't they." Said bill as he rolled his eyes at the thought of being seen riding something so slow. Suddenly without warning, Bill flew past Harry and over the edge of the cliff. Harry turned his broom round and saw that he had joined the line of people. Harry took this as his queue to follow and flew on after him, with Remus being the last person, went behind Harry.  
  
Whilst Harry flew along, although he wasn't higher than he had flown before, it certainly seemed scarier. Maybe it was the icy waters below or the howling wind battering against the side of them, or maybe, and most likely, it was the bolts of lightning that were narrowly missing them. As Harry looked in front of him he could just about make out that everyone was still on their brooms, although it was difficult to tell due to the fact that everyone was partially invisible and the thick rain obscured his vision further. "Are you keeping up Harry?" He heard Bill shout as loudly as he could, Harry barely caught his words as the wind attempted to sweep them away. "Yes I'm fine." He yelled back, although he could hardly hear his own voice so he wondered how Bill would. Harry had to swerve out of the way, or at least he did in his mind if he wanted to dodge a bolt of lightning. Whilst Harry had never been struck by lightning before and no one had ever actually told him what it felt like he had a good idea. It probably felt rather similar to the time Dudley decided to wire up the door handle to the mains electricity, knowing Harry would be the first one to use it. It was difficult to tell exactly how fast they were flying but it felt incredibly slow, they seemed to be crawling along inch by inch as they flew, frozen to their brooms. They carried on in silence through the wet rainy desert of the sky. They flew in silence over the sea, "I wonder if there are sharks down there?" he wondered, hoping he wouldn't have to find out. "Is everyone all right?" Dumbledore called to them from the front of the line. He must have used a sonorous charm because his voice seemed very loud and was heard by everyone. "Yes, all are well." Called Kingsley as he gave each of them an appraising glance." Speak for yourself." Bill said with a laugh as he flashed Harry a grin. "Yeah it's really fridgey. Like something big and cold.like a fridge!" Tonks said as she struggled to find the right words to describe the temperatures. "If Harry was going to tell the events to Ron and Hermione, which he undoubtedly would, he wouldn't be using words like "a little nippy" but would instead use more appropriate ones, ones along the lines of "freezing, Antarcticish" and maybe even "absolute zero."  
  
Finally after what seemed like an eternity they were nearing the prison. As with all tasks that seem to take an eternity they are broken down into fractions. That way Harry could look and say "Ooh we have done half of it now." A few minutes later he could say "two thirds" then "seven tenths." Then "twenty nine fortieths" The point was that they were now just a hundred or so meters away from the prison. "As he looked down below him he saw that large jagged rocks and risen out of the water around the base of the rock that Azkaban rested upon. Just as Harry was starting to be thankful that it was nearly over, and that in a few minutes time he would be out of the wind and the rain, something unexpected happened. As with all well thought out plans something has to go wrong, it could just be luck or it could have been divine intervention by the gods, but Harry was clutching his broom when a bolt of lighting split through the sky and struck his broom.  
  
As does happen when a lot of things happen in a very short amount of time, the brain speeds up and gives the feel that time has slowed down. The first thing Harry noticed was the flash of light. The next thing that came to his attention was that while he was still holding the handle of his broom, the handle in question was no longer attached to the rest. The lightning had caused the broom to explode where it had struck and now Harry was left floating in mid air on a bit of broken wood. Bill and Remus turned round, apparently to look at where the lightning had struck. Harry watched as there faces both slowly formed into one of shock and horror. It is about this time that you finally recover from the shock and time returns to normal. It is also around this time that you suddenly realise the broom remnants don't seem at all inclined to fly. Harry sat in dread as he felt the broom slipping away below, with him following. "Oh darn" he said as gradually gravity took hold of him and he began to plummet towards the ground. "Dumbledore should probably just whip his wand out and rescue me about now." Harry mused as he plummeted towards the jagged rocks below. "HARRY!" Bill yelled, as he was the fastest to react and plunged his broom down after him. All of the people that hadn't been looking before stopped flying and turned round to look. Harry saw different reactions strike everyone's face. Miss Weasley looked horrified whilst Tonks looked like she has in trouble for knocking over her bowl of soup at the dinner table. Dumbledore's eyes darted backwards and forwards calculatingly. Harry could feel the wind rushing past him as the distance between him and the ground grew ever thinner. Despite Bill's valiant effort it didn't look like he was going to make it in time. "STOP." Dumbledore commanded in a voice of such a tone there seemed no alternative but to obey it. "STOP THIS INSTANT, BILL." Bill looked in complete bewilderment as He reluctantly pulled his broom up out of its descent. "He looked At Dumbledore angrily, hoping for an explanation as to why he should leave Harry to his death. "Maybe he has a better plan?" Harry desperately hoped. Everyone watched in horror as no one made any movement. "Leave him." Dumbledore commanded to Bill with a slight grin creeping across his face. 


	25. Bob and Pete

"Leave him." Dumbledore commanded to Bill with a slight grin creeping across his face. Harry couldn't believe his ears. He would have asked Dumbledore to repeat it just to make sure, if the situation hadn't been one of terminal danger. "Dumbledore is going to leave me? Why would he do that? Maybe he doesn't think I'm worth it?" Harry wondered as he risked a glance down at the ground. "Maybe he is tired of helping me and he can't be bothered any more." Harry knew that whilst these thought seemed ridiculous there must be some reasoning behind Dumbledore's words to Bill, and at the moment he couldn't think of any others. "It will all be over in a few seconds. I will hit the ground ant that will be the end. After all these years of battling Voldemort and I'm going to die from falling off a broom? That sucks." Harry thought, maybe his last thought. "Hold On Bill." Dumbledore said cautiously in his magically loud voice. "What does he mean?" Harry wondered, but soon found out. Bill looked at Dumbledore and then Down at Harry. He looked blank for a few seconds before his eyes widened in realisation. He clutched tightly onto the broom. Not a second later Harry suddenly felt himself slowing down. He glanced suspiciously up at the adults and realised that no one had cast any sort of levitating spell. Suddenly he felt a yank at his wrist before his descent slowed to a stop. Harry was left dangling in the air, supported by nothing. But then he realised, he was being supported. The magical charm that tied Harry and Bill together. It really did act like a big piece of elastic. As with all people who had faced death and lived to tell the tale, he didn't know whether to start laughing or crying. Harry looked up at Bill who was still on his broom but was now hanging upside down with having the force of Harry hanging on his arm. Harry was left blowing in the wind and the rain, which he seemed to have forgotten until just now. "Er could you help me up a little?" Harry asked as his wrist began to protest. Remus and Kingsley both flew to Bills aid and gradually they helped Bill raise his broom up. There was something just slightly disturbing about hanging over jagged deathly rocks by an invisible string. If Harry had to choose one thing he would say it was the death part that bothered him. It didn't look like they were to bothered about helping Harry up out of mid air. Instead they just flew on with Harry dangling underneath like a piece of toilet roll stuck to the bottom of your foot. All the time Harry's wrist was throbbing painfully. "God I need to go on a diet." He thought to himself as he decided he couldn't put up with much more of this. Thankfully he wouldn't have to as he could see they were nearing the edge if the cliff. "Could you go up a bit?" Harry asked nicely as he realised he was on a collision course with a solid wall of rocks. Also to Harry's surprise he realised they were flying much faster than he thought. If he had to guess he would say it was about twenty miles an hour. He remembered when Dudley rode into him on his bike which had been going at about that speed. Dudley was a solid wall of fat and that hurt enough so Harry grimaced to think how much this would hurt.  
  
As he neared the edge of the rocks however he felt himself rising, being dragged up by the people above him. "Where are we landing?" Harry asked slightly concerned. At the current moment the answer was going to be on the face of a cliff. "On the roof." He heard Dumbledore shout in a loud whisper. Harry took his hint that now they were close he had to be quiet. Harry tried to pull himself up on the invisible elastic rope into a more comfortable position, but as people tend to find in such situations their arms have a distinctly different intention than their minds. After a few moments of intense struggling Harry gave up, and looked down again to find that he had just flown over the rocks and his feet where now a few feet above the crumbly rock where patchy grass had managed to find life. "Probably about the only real life here." Harry thought to himself as the cold atmosphere cast a dark cloud upon them. Still they continued to rise. As Harry glanced over the fortress, or perhaps a citadel would be a more fitting name, he would have estimated it to be about two hundred feet high. If Harry tried to imagine it then he would have expected something quiet similar. It did however differ in a few ways. Rather than having spiky towers in each corner the whole place was scattered with round dome looking rooms. Each probably measuring between three and eight meters across. As Harry looked up he could just about make out the figures flying above him. It was easier to spot them by their shadows which glided soundlessly over the stone structures like a pack of Leithfolds. Harry watched as they flew on, towards the tower with the light on inside. "I' going to hit that if they aren't careful." Harry thought as the stone mass drew ever closer. He desperately hoped that whoever was in that room wouldn't look out, because if they did they would see him. Then Harry realised that he had on his invisibility cloak. "Well at least they won't see me." Harry thought as his attention was drawn away from the imminent acquaintance he was about to make with the wall. The first thing Harry noticed was a sort of tingling in his arm, shortly followed by what could best be described as excruciating pain, as Harry found himself suddenly flung against the wall. There was a dull thud on the cold surface as his body slapped into it like a sock full of custard. Harry looked to his side where the window was just a few feet away. The light was on and he could hear noises coming from inside. "Hey Pete, did you hear something?" He heard a male voice from inside. Harry held his breath as he heard a chair scrape and then footsteps. A medium sized man appeared by the window, who looked around and actually looked right through Harry for a moment. Just when Harry felt he could hold his breath no longer the man stuck his head back in. Harry relaxed and glanced up at the barely visible Order members he were hovering anxiously above them and out of sight of the window. "I don't know Bob. It must have been a cat or something." he heard a second voice say as he resumed something probably involving cards and biscuits.  
  
Harry was tempted to pear round the window to see what the guards were doing, but found himself unable to as suddenly the magical bind pulled tight on his arm and he found himself pulled up the rounded wall and dragged along the roof. Harry probably would have complained but with the way things had been going today he decided that it would probably be best to save it until later, when undoubtedly more unfortunate events would have transpired. Harry, after a bumpy ride found himself on the highest looking flat surface there was with the other Order members. "Oh Harry. I'm glad your fine." Said Remus as he dismounted his broom. "For a minute I thought we might have been flying to low and you would be bumping into walls all over the place." He said with a bemused chuckle. Harry however, having experienced it first hand wasn't inclined to agree that it was funny. "Yeah heaven forbid if that happened." Harry said sarcastically, as would anyone who finds themselves in a lot of pain and in very cold rain. "Well now we shall be proceeding inside." Dumbledore said in a barely audible whisper as he glided across the stony roofs as silent as the night itself. Harry wasn't exactly how they were going to get from the roof to inside but he expected it wouldn't contain a large door leading to a pleasantly warming room with towels for wet visitors. Everyone followed after him. Trudging half asleep with the only sound splitting the otherwise deathly silence being the rain and the squelching from their wet shoes. They finally reached the edge of the roof, where they all lined up, anxiously awaiting the next instruction that would no doubt enlighten them as to how they would break in. "We shall be entering down their." Dumbledore said in a thoughtful tone, as if he had put a lot of consideration of this statement. Everyone leaned forward a few inches as they stared down into the black emptiness that was caused by four walls surrounding a square area and blocking out any light that may have been interested in wondering in the general direction. The whole area was as dark as could sensibly be considered, without using some sort of special anti light device. It was impossible to tell what was down there but Harry decided it wasn't likely to be an enormous entrance with a "welcome" doormat. He found his answers however, when a bolt of lightning ripped through the sky and illuminated the scene around them. Harry was quite thankful that this wasn't one of those times when a large monster would choose to be lurking near by. The same sort of monster that is only ever illuminated by lightning, and only for long enough so that you have time to notice its extraordinarily large teeth and its eyes staring at you. The same sort of monster that will make sure you never notice it again afterwards. This bolt of lightning however, revealed no such thing, and could therefore be considered a friendly bolt of lightning. In the fraction of a second that Harry's eyes managed to capture the sight below him he noticed only a few things. He noticed that there were a few small buildings located in one side of the court and a very dark door, perhaps even a door of death. The last and possibly most important thing was that there appeared to be a general spiky theme running throughout the area, as not a bare inch of wall or rooftop seemed to be left unguarded and un-pointed.  
  
"So are we going through that door?" asked miss Weasley in a hopeful tone. Dumbledore remained silent for a moment before replying. "We could go that way, but if we do then we won't be coming back out the same way, or anyway for that matter." Harry felt that this would be an appropriate time to let out a gulping sound. So he did. It fell nicely into place with Arthur Weasley's comment of "Oh my." Snape gave the whole thing a thoroughly disapproving look that suggested he simply wouldn't contribute with such silly things. "Yup that whole bit is more charming than me!" said Tonks with a silly grin and a small laugh. "It is set as a trap for anyone that may be wanting to find away in. Very dangerous it is to. You would be better off trying to tunnel your way in, through fifty meters of solid rock under water that is!" said Moody in a way that suggested he was going to add the word "Ha" as he said it in a "I showed you tone" Harry stood wondering while Dumbledore turned and looked at him. "Can you guess Harry? What is it that always gets into Azkaban unnoticed?" Dumbledore asked him in a suggestive tone that involved eyebrow movement. "No I can't think of anything. Unless you mean the guards?" Harry asked hopefully. Maybe they were going to dress up as guards and sneak in. after all no one stopped and checked the guards did they? "No Harry. Whilst that is a good idea I do not believe it would succeed. Maybe if it were just one or two of us it could, but the truth is anyone would spot you or Alastor off a mile away. Think Harry what is there that is all around us?" Dumbledore said whilst continuingly staring at Harry with eyes that said he was going to understand the answer before anyone else, or be the first to say it at least. "The rain?" Harry asked in a completely clueless tone. "Yes that's right!" the headmaster replied in a triumphant expression. If the rain can manage it then so can we A key with prisons and situations of the sort is to look for something that has made its way in. if something can get in then it shows you can get out." Remember that Harry, it may be useful later in life." "so how will the rain help?" asked Bill who looked very confused over the whole idea of rain serving any practical purpose. "Well Harry it will show us the way." Said Dumbledore in a slow deliberate tone as he raised a long finger and once again pointed down into the dark courtyard below them. Harry strained his eyes as he tried to make out anything other than the rooftops of the two small building below him. Another welcome bolt of lightning flashed through the air, as if coming on Harry's demand, and revealing a small metal grid on the floor. He saw the rain that was pounding down on the roof was running off and onto the stone floor where it formed a stream. That stream of rain was running down into the metal drain.  
  
"We shall be travelling through the drain." Dumbledore said as he confirmed Harry's suspicion. "It is very wet but relatively safe." He said as everyone exchanged glances. "Relatively?" asked Arthur Weasley on behalf of everyone else. "Well it is a prison. Of course it is dangerous." Moody said in his ruff growling voice. "What do you expect? To just stroll in there and have the guards greet you with tea and muffins?" he finished with a laugh that echoed through the cold night sky. "Hat hat hat hat hat hat!" "Yes thank you Alastor." Said Dumbledore in his commanding tone that said the level of noise was too high. "This is a thin drain only wide enough for one person at a time. Therefore we shall be going one after another in order. The drain will slope down at a progressing angle until it reaches the main water duct at the bottom of the fortress. The water is very cold and so we will only have about eight minutes before your bodies freeze to death. Therefore Harry, I want you to be the last down the duct, due to the fact that you are the most important to us." He said as he rested his hand on Harry's shoulder in a fatherly way. "Is it really that cold?" Harry asked as he started worrying about all the various things that could go wrong. "What if I get stuck and they wait for me until they all freeze to death?" Harry wondered. "Don't worry Harry we will be fine." Remus said as if reading his mind. "Well the drain is fairly simple. You must go straight forwards, ignoring all other turnings that in on from the sides. However!" Dumbledore said very clearly so there was absolutely no way he could be misunderstood, Not even by Neville who got things so wrong he once magically glued his head to his bed. "Just out of curiosity, how do you know all these things professor? All the stuff like the turnings and the eight-minute water thing?" Harry asked suspiciously. He had a feeling this wasn't the sort of information you would pick up in "Azkaban: A history," if there was such a thing. "Well Harry. The fact that you are likely to die after eight minutes, I know from past experience." An eerie silence followed this statement as everyone contemplated exactly what this meant. "Not all missions were as successful as we hope this one shall be." He said in a dull whisper. "Harry resisted the urge to ask what past experiences there may be ands instead decided to break the silence by saying. "Lets get going then shall we?" As if by Harry saying this in the way that he did, apparently the whole prospect seemed to become a lot more liked as everyone started saying things like "Oh yes of course." And "Oh yes I can't wait."  
  
"So how do we get down then?" Bill asked as he peered over the edge of the rooftop at the courtyard where the drain was located some one hundred feet below. "Well I believe the best way would be to levitate down. Unless anyone has any better suggestions?" Dumbledore said as he glanced at each of tem individually. "Levitating is good. It will be silent." Kingsley said in a monotone as he stood with his arms crossed. "Ok then Molly, Arthur if you would care to go first." Said Dumbledore as he rolled up his sleeve and pointed his wand at them. He held it carefully between two fingers before he gave it a quick flick and the Weasley parents rose off the roof. After about twenty seconds they were safely on the ground and looking up at the others. "Harry would you like to be next?" Dumbledore asked politely. "Yeah ok then." Said Harry unsurely. Flying on a boom was one thing because with that you knew what to hold onto, where as this was completely different. Having nothing reliable and solid enough to stand on left Harry waving his legs in the air as he made a desperate dash back for the roof in the same way a cartoon character would try and run towards a cliff some several seconds after being suspended in mid air by their own stupidity and the fact the laws of gravity forgot that things were meant to fall. "Please hold still Harry." Dumbledore commanded with a look of concentration on his face. Harry finally gave up any movement and just closed his eyes whilst clutching onto the hem of his robes very tightly. The last thing Harry wanted in a situation was for a gust of wind to blow up and for him to loose his soaking robe that was apparently providing him with some sort of warmth. After what seemed like much to long in Harry's mind, he felt his feet touch down on the solid ground below him. It felt strange. Harry having been wobbling in the air had managed to get a lot of his blood to have a party in his feet, leaving him slightly pale and dizzy. As his feet touched down the first thing that struck him was just how solid it was. This wasn't just solid stone. This was super solid. It was the kind of solid that all sane objects wanted to be but could only ever dream of. It made all those other things like metal and wood that he had once considered solid to feel like they had been diluted with jelly and were only half sure of just how solid they were meant to be. This stone wasn't any different from normal stone, except perhaps colder and wetter, but to Harry he was glad to be back down on the ground. Once he was sure that his legs could support himself he took his wait off of the high wall that he had been leaning on and looked up at the sky. He couldn't see anything of the other members through work of the camouflaging charm and the rainy night as they stood high above him. As a bolt of lightning struck, it gave only just the chance for everything to once again show its real non black colours and for the shadows of the eight people above him to cast menacing glares across the stone floor.  
  
Over the next two minutes the other members were levitated down beside Harry. He watched in interest as the various members all reacted in various ways. There was Arthur Weasley who looked rather like a wobbly jelly, then Tonks who spread her arms and flapped them occasionally like a bird, and then to the likes of Snape. He stood completely straight, probably straight enough to get a decent place in the straight standing Olympics. Finally Dumbledore drifted down through the night sky. Once they were assembled on the ground, round the drain Dumbledore spoke. "Furns." He said as an orange glow sprang from the end of his wand like a circular pyramid. It wasn't amazingly bright but given the fact that for the last half an hour they had been in near total darkness it burned there eyes for a few moments. Once Harry had finally got used to the light he watched in fascination as the orange light washed over the metal bars of the drain, until eventually they took on an orange colour, and then dripped down into the dark tunnel below. Everyone stood round closely as they warmed up a little from the heat. Harry could feel his trousers shrinking slightly as clothes do when washed incorrectly. He looked down at his soggy school shoes, which now had steam coming off them as they warmed his feet like a hot water bottle or an old dog that sneaks into the end of the bed as soon as you fall asleep. "We could do with some marshmallows." Tonks said as she giggled at the thought. She and a few other of the members were warming their hands over the liquid hot bars. Harry wasn't, and to tell the truth didn't see why they bothered. Being cold was bad, but when your hands are so cold you cant feel them then the coldness doesn't really seem to matter. Harry turned his attention to Remus who was no fumbling in his jacket pocket. After several attempts in which he produced a random assortment of tatty looking objects he pulled out a bag of marshmallows. Or at least Harry assumed they were meant to be. Now all that was left in that plastic bag was something only very slightly white, and looked as if it wasn't even entirely sure of what exactly it was supposed to be. "Here you go" Remus said as he handed the bag to Tonks. She looked at it for a few minutes before deciding the best way to avoid eating these diseased marshmallows (marshmallows so diseased they were probably, terminal marshmallows!) was to say "I will save them for later." The conversation was cut short when the light and warmth from around there feet disappeared and the rain seemed to return in full effect. "I believe that will suffice." Said Dumbledore as he gestured towards the now large melted hole. The corners had been bent down so that it was nice and safe, or at least as safe as can be when it is in the same sentence as words like "Azkaban" and "secret entrance." It measured about two and a half foot across and could probably just about accommodate for someone of miss Weasley's size. She must have been thinking the same thing because she was eyeing up the gap very suspiciously, as if it was personally challenging her to try and squeeze through.  
  
Dumbledore crouched down by the whole and peered down into the empty darkness. He rummaged in his pocket for a moment before producing something small and rock like. Most probably a rock. He dropped it into the whole for a second. There were three distinct sounds, all of which Harry didn't particularly like. As they pulled their cloaks over their heads and shielded their ears from the rain the first thing they heard was a thud. It sounded like it came from about fifty foot below. The next noise that followed was the sound of the object bouncing from the sides of the dark drain. The last, and possibly most eerie sound, was nothing. Everyone stood listening intently for a sound that would signal everything was safe. After a long pause in which everyone anxiously awaited some sort of dull "thud" or maybe even a "plop" as the rock reached the end of its journey. "What are we waiting.." Harry asked after a long silence. He was cut off by Dumbledore who gave a brief "Shhh" sound and raised a finger to his side, signalling that no one was to talk until he said so. Harry watched the headmaster curiously as he was apparently counting something in his head, with his lips moving very slightly. After about another five seconds he stood up and turned to address everyone. "Well now that we know the root is safe we can go." Everyone exchanged glances. Apparently after hearing the stone bounce around down there they had every reason to believe their bodies would do something rather similar. "Kingsley and I will be first if you don't mind. It's a safety thing you see. Who knows what unnameable creatures are down there." Moody said as he hobbled over the short distance between him and the drain. "SHARKS and what nots!" He barked. "Can't have Potter endangered now. Couldn't live with myself." He started muttering. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody shouted, making everyone jump slightly, including Kingsley, who with a little bit of a push from Moody had apparently jumped over the drain, and was now displaying the look of a knight who comes along and says "Never fear, I shall rid your kingdom of the dragon." In a heroic manner, whilst secretly knowing the kind would say. "Oh you don't need to worry about that. The dragon has migrated south for the winter. Here marry my daughter anyway." But then to the knight's horror, instead the king replies "Well you bloody well better. He is killing everyone in sight, and even those not in sight!" Basically Kingsley displayed the only to common face that said he wanted to be anywhere other than over a big pit of death (or at least one deep enough to contain an ill tempered elephant and a pointy stick). Harry watched as Kingsley disappeared into the hole, shortly followed by Moody who hoped in after a quick salute. After about twenty seconds Dumbledore instructed for Tonks and Snape to go. "Ooh it will be just like the slide at granny's house when I was little." She said excitedly as she bounced over the deep darkness. Harry wasn't sure what "Granny's slide" was but his mind flashed of images involving an old woman terrorising small children with her slide of doom and then chuckling manically. All the while Tonks, who in Harry's imagination acted just as childish as she did in real life, was jumping up and down in frenzies of excitement shouting in delight.  
  
"Come here Harry" Said Dumbledore as Snape climbed down in drain in the most dignified manner he could muster. "Harry I just need to remove the binding spell from you and Bill whilst you go down the drain. I will put it back up once we are safely inside. It is just that should I not remove it then you would find yourself inclined to follow him down head first, which I must say would be a very dangerous thing." Harry didn't object and Dumbledore removed the spell with a simple flick of his wand. He gave his arm an experimental swing to check everything was working fine. It was. After about a minute in which they various members had slid down just Dumbledore Harry and miss Weasley remained on the roof. "You next molly." Dumbledore instructed as he gestured towards the hole. Miss Weasley glanced down as if doing a quick evaluation of her circumference. She gave Dumbledore a quick look as if saying perhaps he had forgotten to make the hole in the drain a little larger. "No it is fine." He said with a trace of impatience in his voice. Without another word she sat down on the wet floor and swing her legs into the drain, which was a feet in itself. She then pushed her self over the edge of the whole. Harry watched as she disappeared into the whole with the outer boundaries of her stomach following a few seconds later. "Now Harry I want you to follow after me about twenty seconds after me. It will be very cold down there and a fear a wait any longer could have terminal consequences. Suddenly there was a splash could be heard from what sounded like the very bowls of the earth itself, but was in fact only a few hundred meters lower than they were. It must have been a tidal wave if it could be heard all the way from up hear. This worried Harry at the thought of having a large drop into water. Harry had vague memories of Dudley watching a program about bad divers. People who jumped and landed on there stomach with dire consequences. "Still if the others can make it, so can I. I think." he thought as he braced himself. In one fluid movement Dumbledore had swung himself through the drain in a second as silent as space itself. Harry quickly started counting in his head what he imagined twenty seconds to be. The problem is that time doesn't always flow smoothly as many people believe. It actually moves in large dollops and oozes like a lumpy custard. This was one of those times where time slowly oozed itself along and whilst Harry only counted to ten seconds it felt like he had been standing on his own for about a year. He decided that perhaps he had been counting to slowly and in the end jumped in as he was. He kept his arms and legs tightly tucked together incase he would hit anything on the way down.  
  
It was a strange feeling whizzing along as his body accelerated down the wet tunnel. It would probably be described as a water slide, except Harry having never experienced on before didn't know this. After a few moments he dared to open his eyes, just a little, after all there was no knowing what manner of unpleasant things he might see. Spikes, pointy things, long sharp poles. Jagged metal sticking down from the ceiling all ready to investigate the inner Harry. Luckily he saw none of this. What he did see was what can only be described as a lot of darkness. This was extremely dark. Like no darkness he had ever seen before. This wasn't like when you woke up in the middle of night and it would take a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. This was the darkness that if you found yourself in, it would take a few thousand years before you could make out the fact you are incredibly old. This wasn't black. If there was something black in here it would jump out at you like a glowing light bulb. Harry wasn't at all relieved to see this. For some reason whilst he had known there wouldn't be pleasant candles he had imagined the whole thing to be different. It was rather disturbing. At least when you saw yourself hurtling towards something pointy you knew what to expect. Here it was a whole new game. Whoever had constructed this tunnel had built it with the sole intention of making it dark. The walls were black and the turnings were black. The bricks were black and the ceiling was black. The floor? Well put it this way, it wasn't white.  
  
As Harry hurtled down the drain he could hear a constant humming noise coming from his trousers. As he tried to pinpoint exactly what the cause could be it came to him that it was likely caused by the friction. When something rubs against material it will make a brushing sound. If this is speeded up the brushing changes to a "shwip" sound. Now as it gets faster still, two things happen. The first is the "shwip" sound becomes a constant hum and the second is your trousers start smoking. Now not many people have gone past this stage. Well not many that had lived anyway. But the few that have, would know exactly what Harry was experiencing. First of all the trousers in question attempt to remove themselves from the unfortunate person wearing them. The second thing is the rather pleasant humming sound elevates to the level where it can subconsciously speak into your mind. Generally, the first things it says is the phrase "Yikes my bum is on fire." The point being that Harry was moving very fast. A little faster than was considered enjoyable, and most certainly much faster than leisurely. But still not quiet as fast as Dudley eating. To Harry's luck fate intervened when suddenly he plunged out of the darkness into some cold water that was, whilst not light. The kind of darkness that you can manage with. Instantly his piping hot trousers fizzed with a satisfying sound that again spoke to his mind, this time saying "thanks guv." 


	26. The Hunt

Instantly his piping hot trousers fizzed with a satisfying sound that again spoke to his mind, this time saying "thanks guv." Now in Harry' sudden relief he didn't notice the fact that the water was extremely icy. By extremely icy it meant that for reasons beyond anyone's knowledge, it should have been ice. This fact hit Harry with full force as he plunged under water like a speeding bullet. He barely had time to take a breath before he found himself in a quiet icy void. The fact was that whilst this water did a considerable amount to reduce his speed, it was built with one intention and that was to be a drain, not an entertaining water slide. This meant that the floor was considerably closer to the surface than things should be. Harry hit the cold bottom and found himself being drummed onto it with the weight of pounding water like a cannon blasting him down in every attempt he made to get up. After a long struggle he crawled along the floor a little where he bumped into a pair of legs. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say a pair of legs kicked him. He would have opened his eyes but the icy water around him said that would be a considerably stupid thing to do if he wanted to be able to see within the next few hours. Harry felt a hand plunge down into the water and heave him up to the surface. When he was on the surface he blinked several times, or attempted to, to his surprise he learned that his eyes were considerably more frozen shut than usual. He rubbed his eyes whilst the unknown person next to him let go of his invisibility cloak. After considerable effort he looked into the whispy semi visible face or Remus. This was most welcoming after the extreme darkness that made you feel alone and wish you were anywhere else, and after the extreme coldness that made you wish you were back in the snug darkness. "It's a trifle cold." He said between chattering teeth. Considering Harry's current predicament this was not the most revelling of news. Harry having very little practice of swimming most certainly wasn't the kind of person who could instantly master floating in water, as could the majority of his fat relatives. Harry carefully made his way over to the sloping wall that the various members were clinging to. It looked rather crumbly and was actually rather easy to hold onto. The ceiling was low, hardly two foot above them. "Let us make haste." Said Dumbledore as he shimmied along the wall much quicker than Harry felt was expected. He himself would have swum along, if he could feel his legs of course. They all pulled themselves along the wall as fast as they could. They apparently didn't want to be in the water any longer than possible. Harry didn't blame them. Being told that they are likely to die after eight minutes is not the best thing to ease your fears. It was however probably the best possible thing to tell someone who is shoulder high in water and shimmying along a wall. After a few minutes in which they all had arm cramp the pace had slowed. "We are about half way there now" Said Dumbledore in a quiet whisper that drifted to the people behind him. As they continued along the icy voyage they passed what a gap in the wall where there were some metal bars and the water was flowing out into the sea a few meters below. "Couldn't we just have broken our way through there?" Harry asked curiously. Moody, who was apparently rather enjoying the cold water, turned to him and said in a manic tone. "Yeah I suppose we could have, but it shouldn't be advised. Not if you enjoy the shape you are now!" and just to make there was no doubt in anyone's mind he finished with some well- deserved hats. "Hat hat hat hat hat!"  
  
If anything this statement from Moody urged them all to move along faster. Away from the dangerous metal bars. Harry couldn't feel his lower body and with each breath he sent a cloud of warm air that hung around like a mist. "How much further is it?" He heard Tonks ask from somewhere near the front. "Not to long" Dumbledore replied in a confident tone that eased the worry in your heart. Harry however, had the distinct impression this is what Dumbledore would say no matter how far away they were from their final destination. The tunnel turned a corner and the water started to pick up some speed, not much but a little, as it flowed down hill slightly. This meant that it was easier to pull yourself along by the wall and it saved them a little bit of time, although maybe not enough. As the gradient of the floor changed and the stone underneath them sloped down again the water picked up some speed and quite soon they were being carried along, whether they wanted to or not. Since they were only a few meters above sea level it wasn't long until it flattened out again. They continued along where they passed some more metal bars where they could see the waves flowing in and out with the tide, outside each wave smashed against the wall. Unfortunately at this point they turned a corner and had to go back up against the flowing water that had apparently come from some other place high up, like a stream of rats fleeing from a raging fire. They had to pull theselves up against the walls and with much effort from their num protesting bodies, managed to make their way along until it flattened out again. After an eternity Harry felt that they had made some progress, although the walls still looked as plain as ever. No one had been bothere to be considerate enough and put up signs saying "Exit this way" or "for a nice change of clothes and a mug of hot cocoa followed the arrows." They turned another corner and this time rather tan just being confronted with a dark corridor that stretched as far as the eyes could see, which was admittedly not very far, he saw light coming from a glowing torch on the wall and some exceedingly inviting looking stairs raising out of the water and up to a door with a brass door handle and a matching brass sign which read in bold engraved letters, "Please Knock."  
  
The sight of this spurred them all on like athletes on the final lap of a ten-mile marathon. What happened next was probably not expected. In fact if this was to be told as a story that went smoothly then it wouldn't have been mentioned at all. It seems that they were in fact a lot nearer to the eight-minute danger point than they thought, or hoped at least. This was indicated when suddenly Tonks' limp body fell from the wall. She plunged into the water which considering the fact it was up to their shoulders wasn't a particularly impressive sight. Her head flopped back on her shoulders as her head slipped under the icy dark water. This was one of those points were people suddenly become acutely aware of all their senses. They learn of their surroundings in a way only achieved when in mortal danger or watching a terrible event unfold in front of you. Remus was the first to react by letting go of the wall and diving, or rather paddling his way over to her with a comically slow "Noooooooooo." He swum under and with a splash disappeared under the icy depths as had Tonks. He was down there for what seemed like an eternity that was in fact only about eight seconds. When he did finally burst through the surface, he did so like a hero. A hero has to do things in a certain way. He couldn't just say. "Oh just a second I will attempt to assist you." No one would remember something like that. A hero would sound witty and heroic. A hero would also emerge from the water in the same way Remus did. The water splashed in every direction as if he had propelled himself upwards with great force. The pale Body of Tonks was slung over his shoulder. He had the solemn yet determined look of a warrior. The sort of look that said to nature itself. "You want a piece of me? You want a piece of me! Well YOU, ME, next Thursday. Be there or be square!" No words were needed to express what Remus was feeling, or if they were he just couldn't say them because his mouth had frozen shut. Instantly he started swimming the remaining fifty or so meters towards the steps. Everyone quickly followed after whilst miss Weasley threw in the well needed "Oh dear." And "Oh hurry up you silly man." As she nudged Arthur Weasley along the wall. Remus continued to swim along like an Olympic medallist who heard that this year the gold medallist would be awarded free coupons for Barry's Carpet Warehouse. After about another minute they finally reached the steps, with Remus being the first. His instant reaction, as soon as he had pulled himself out of the water, was to flop down in a state of total exhaustion. Harry also felt this would be a good idea. He slumped against the wall and closed his eyes. "Maybe I will just have a little rest. Maybe just a quick sleep" he though As the adults huddled round the pale limp figure of Nymphadora Tonks.  
  
Harry must have dozed off for a second, or at least fallen into one of those very brief sleeps that occur on the train where your head flops forward, your eyes close and your jaw opens, before suddenly you wake back up and fight the battle against tiredness to avoid looking like an idiot. "Come on Tonks you can do it." Said Remus as he shook her hand which gave no sign of life. Professor McGonagall were both pointing their wands at Tonks and blasting her with jets of hot air. Dumbledore simply stood over them, watching in an appraising manner. Harry didn't know what to do. He was good at being in mortal danger, he had to admit that, but dealing with the aftermath was something he hadn't quiet got the hold of yet. He probably couldn't be of any help. After all there were ten of them all, of whom had several years more magical training than him. In the end Harry just sat there dumbly while everyone around him continued in their state of frenzied panic. "Come on Tonks. You weren't in the water that long." Said Remus comfortingly somewhere that seemed very far away. Harry felt separated from the situation. In a way he wasn't worried. Nothing would happen to her while Albus Dumbledore was around. Nothing bad could ever happen when he was there. It never had and so it went to figure never would. By now Tonks was quite dry and her clothes were steaming slightly as they shed the remainder of their water. Dumbledore had not leant down and was casting some sort of complex looking charm which involved lots of silence and large quantities of unnatural blue light.  
  
Harry took his attention away from Tonks and back to himself. "Maybe it is my fault. Maybe I waited to long before going down the drain and she was freezing cold for longer than she needed to be." He fretted as he shed his invisibility cloak and attempted to squeeze some of the wetness out of it, rather unsuccessfully. This mission was certainly not as straightforward as he had hoped. There were several things different from his expectations but if he had to choose just one he would say there was a considerably disturbing amount of mortal peril. "Come on Tonks you have to live." He heard Remus pleading as he slumped down in an icy puddle that had dripped from his robes. He cast his glance at Tonks again, who looked as pale and lifeless as ever, just like a victim of a Dementor. "Damn you." Remus called in a yelling whisper. As he punched the ground in anger. "Everyone dies. Everyone always has. Everyone I cared about. My parents. James. Sirius. I won't loose you to." He said as tears stained his face. Harry felt a burning guilt in side him. He didn't know why but he did. Harry had never seen Remus like this before. He had always seemed such a calm person. Always in control. Now he was anything but. "You mustn't die." He said. "You mustn't die." He begged. "You mustn't die." He cried.  
  
Silence echoed throughout the cold, wet, dark corridor. The only noise that shattered it was the sobs of Remus. "You cant die." He said hysterically. "Don't worry I won't" said the voice from the floor. Everyone turned to look at Tonks as she smiled up at them. "Yeah I don't want to die yet. You lot aren't going to get rid of me that easy." She said as she pulled herself into a sitting position and gave an involuntary shudder. "Isn't that right Mr. Snape?" Tonks said as she turned her attention to Severus, who unlike everyone else, had his back turned to her. "Unfortunately yes, that does seem it will be the case." Said Snape. If he had said something else then it had been drowned out by the relatively noisy sighs of relief and the reactions coming from the others.  
  
Remus enbaced Tonks like it was the first time he had seen her in years. Harry just watched from the side. He didn't really feel well. Definitely cold, a little dizzy aswell. "Come on then lets kick that weasel wormtail." Said Tonks as she surprised everyone by jumping into the air and looking as disturbingly happy as ever. "No it's a rat, dear." Said Miss Weasley as she walked over to the middle of the large stairs, making squelching sounds with each step she took. Now that it seemed clear Tonks wasn't going to drop dead everyone seemed reasonably satisfied, enough to get on with the mission anyway. "Harry, Bill." Dumbledore said as he made his way over to where Harry had been sitting and where Bill had suddenly appeared, in a few large strides. "Well now that we are safe, well relatively safe, we can put the binding charm on again. Harry stretched out his arm towards Dumbledore who pointed a wand at it. He muttered a spell and then did the same on Bill. Harry felt the familiar slight force attracting his arm in Bills direction as the spell bound them together as though by an invisible piece of elastic. "Ok now from here on out we shall not be speaking. I will signal to you if I must. But it is vitally important we are silent. Any sound will ruin our mission. You may find it useful to cast a silencing charm on your shoes to stop them from squeaking." Dumbledore advised as he stood a few steps higher up than everyone else and looked down at them. Everyone else all took out their wands if they weren't already holding one and pointed it at their shoes. A minute later they were all ready. Tonks was jumping up and down and landing completely silently. "Yay I can walk all quietly like Mr. Snape." She said happily. Harry just stood sheepishly. "Er professor I don't know how." He said nervously to Dumbledore. "Yes Harry you won't learn silencing spells until next year. You shouldn't feel any the worse. Many adults who have been taught the spell cannot do it. Therefore you have no reason to fell bad about yourself." Said Dumbledore in a tone that said he had a better understanding of Harry's mind than he would like. Dumbledore knelt down by Harry's shoes which were probably wet enough to accommodate several small fish without complaints. A moment later he felt a scorching sensation blast up around his ankles. The kind that is usually felt when you touch something very hot for a quick second, just slow enough for your nerves have time to react. Harry would have said "ow" but the burning flash around his feet had gone before he had a chance.  
  
"We shall progress in formation." Said Dumbledore as he strode up to the large door at the top of the steps, taking two at a time. Everyone followed behind him like a group of baby birds following a parent. "What do we do now?" Harry wondered as he stared at the large door that told anyone considering to knock it down, that they had best invest in some shovels because it would be easier to tunnel under. He stared at the brass door panel with the large letters, "please knock." He then turned his attention to Moody who shoved his way to the front of the throng of people. He cleared his throat as he stood in front of the door looking like a butler about to invite the guests in. A rather wooden butler, and rather dog like. Also just slightly maniacal. But a rather wooden dog like manic butler none the less. He reached out a scar hand and gave three large thumps on the door. "Criminals wouldn't have the brains to knock nicely now would they?" he said as the door creaked open invitingly. Everyone slowly inched forward a little. There was something you couldn't trust about this door. Perhaps it was the fact it led into a prison full of crazy murdering wizards.  
  
"Once it became apparent that there wasn't an army of guards waiting to ambush them they walked into the room. Looking round it Harry realised that there was nothing spectacular. He had expected something involving chains and spare spikes for whenever the guards found some crevice that wasn't quite deadly enough. Instead it looked just like a normal storeroom. It had several large wooden crates in one corner and a bookshelf full of random objects that had probably been confiscated from prisoners. This consisted of an old newspaper, a screwdriver a spoon and a banana that had gone beyond all measurable levels of mould. To this banana mould was just a distant memory and a short chapter in its life. This banana had ascended past mould, past a festering blob, and to the level of a genuinely intelligent life form. It sat on the shelf thinking rather clever thoughts. "So these are the humans that the clairvoyant vibrations forewarned me of. Perhaps they are here for good. I do not feel the usual energy that emits from the fiendish life forms residing here." The only problem was that this banana still had a bit of evolving to do before it grew legs, eyes, a mouth and the ability to move. Instead it just sat thoughtfully on the shelf whilst professor McGonagall walked over to the shelf, inspected it and gave a very quiet tutting sound.  
  
Rather than hanging around Dumbledore instead progressed along the room towards a dark corridor that was lined with a few pathetic flickering candles. Everyone followed behind. Harry tried to stay close to Bill because he had been told to but in the dark it was rather hard to keep track of exactly who is who and Harry ended up bumping into him more than a few times. After walking for about a minute the corridor started to turn back on itself while rising upwards. The walls were rather damp from condensation and a little stream had formed which was flowing down the side by his feet, and had over the years worn away at the stone so it now sat an inch below the rest of the floor.  
  
The corridor turned on itself again and Harry realised that this was probably going to continue to spiral round until they reached the top, however high that was. After what seemed like an eternity, or at least ten minutes they reached the top. It felt like they had climbed a mountain by the time the floor flattened out and straightened off. This time they reached another door that looked equally as grand as the one down by the basement. Everyone stood close to Dumbledore as he stood right behind the door and reached out one hand to open it. Everyone held their breath as they anxiously awaited what would happen next. Harry didn't know why but he could tell that behind this door there wasn't going to be another fusty old room. Rather than opening it silently and sliding out stealthily Dumbledore grasped the handle firmly and with what was perhaps all the strength he could muster slammed it open. There was a dull thud sound. He then stepped forward to allow everyone out into the new area. Harry walked out and looked down at the door. There was a guard lying sprawled on the floor. He had a little bit of blood trickling down his head. "It had to be done." Dumbledore said in a quiet whisper as he let out a sigh. "Ha guards never learn. Standing beside the doors. It happens and they don't even know what hit them. Bang they're on the floor!" Said Moody as he kicked the guard gently to make sure he wasn't going to jump up and jinx them. "He's not.dead is he?" Harry asked in shock. "No, not dead. But he will have a rather nasty headache I expect said Dumbledore as he stepped over the fallen guard and progressed down the new larger friendlier corridor.  
  
This corridor was different from the others. It was a lot wider for a start. The floor was some sort of dark stone. The floor was so cold that Harry could actually feel the coldness reflecting of it. They were no longer down by sea level. As Harry walked over to the slit like windows he looked out and saw the waves crashing against the rocks some one hundred meters below. The windows let some of the moon light leek in and it cast long stripes of light across the wall. It also allowed the cold outside air to blast through and tear at his bones. Harry shivered as his wet clothes stuck to his body and his face went num. He would have commented on it but Dumbledore didn't seem even slightly surprised or bothered by it. Instead he continued with his journey as he walked on threatening to leave everyone behind.  
  
The corridor wasn't lit and the other end looked considerably darker than was usually liked. Harry didn't want to get lost or separated from the others and even though he was bonded to Bill with the magical charm he didn't want to take any risks so he went after them. Harry's wet feet slapped against the floor soundlessly as he skidded along leaving a trail of wet footprints behind. Hopefully some of the rain outside would seem fit to sneak in and hide his footprints and their trail. Harry thought hopefully. He didn't want to be the one to ruin things, especially on their first mission.  
  
Harry wandered after Dumbledore and the others as they all walked along the corridor. Harry had for some reason always imagined there to be a lot more guards. Looking at it now it didn't really surprise him that someone could break into, or out of Azkaban. Still the feeling in his gut told him that there would still be a few more dangers before the night was over. They turned a corner and found Dumbledore had stopped walking and was now standing with his arm outstretched to signal the others to wait there. Just as he had predicted as Dumbledore took a few large strides away from them, in the poorly lit prison it was almost impossible to see him. You would probably see nothing at all unless your brain was told he was there, and even then it would take some convincing. The others all waited anxiously. It seemed that no one was really sure what to do except Dumbledore. He had a feeling the others had a few back up plans prepared. They probably consisted of running away, or in Moody's case, running onwards blasting anything that moves. He preferred the first plan.  
  
Luckily they didn't have to find out what would happen as Dumbledore came back a moment later with a sort of cunning smile on his face. "It is as we suspected Minerva, the next corridor leading down to the cells is guarded. As I expect it will all corridors be from now on." He said as he scanned to make sure no one had managed to get lost. "Then why is this good news Albus?" Yes I suppose it means we are going in the right direction but." "Well Minerva you see whilst I do not wish to offend them the guards in particular are Scott Rose and Herman Ernest." He said as he suppressed a small chuckle. Harry wasn't sure exactly who these people were but from what professor McGonagall said he guessed they weren't the greatest of wizards ever. "Oh what is this place coming to?" She said as she rolled her eyes. "Those two couldn't pay attention to a word I said, especially when it related to homework. For their sake I hope they have learned a thing or two since they were at school." She said as she let out a sigh and shook her head in pity. "I hope they don't try and jinx us. They will probably end up with cabbages for heads again!" arry now curious to see if there was anyone even slightly comparable to Neville anxiously followed as they walked on in complete silence.  
  
As they rounded the bend into yet another dark corridor Harry saw two guards. They were both slumped against the wall. "You know what Scott?" said the other man who was either Herman, or else was exceedingly drunk. "What?" Said Scott in a vaguely annoyed tone. "I was thinking this is the fourth time this week we have been guarding your corridor and we haven't had a single suspicious.you know.thing." He said as he fidgeted awkwardly under Scott's gaze. Apparently when people were born they were made with eyes. The purpose of these eyes was to see what was going on around them. In Scott's case his eyes did look but they didn't see, which was a relief to any people who were in places where they shouldn't be. It meant that you could probably walk past him and unless you announced your arrival with a series of elaborate introductions and a brief song explaining your presence he probably wouldn't notice you. "What's is your point?" Scott said as he stared at Herman suspiciously. Harry and the others crept forwards to the guards. This was going to be a risky business. As they stood on either side of the thin corridor it meant walking right through their line of vision. "Well I was thinking you know, since it doesn't look like anyone is going to come along. How about we go home early?" He said as he quickly looked away in case Scott hit him. "I dunno, you never know, something could happen. This is Azkaban after all." He said sceptically as Dumbledore walked straight past them. "Ha its so dead here. I will tell you what. If someone ever breaks into Azkaban tonight I will. I will." he said as he searched the limited expanses of his mind. "I tell you what. If someone breaks in I will marry professor Snape."  
  
"Harry looked at Snape who had just walked past them. He made a strange choking sound. Harry could only see his back but had the distinct impression Snape was displaying a look that would make small children cry. Dumbledore turned round to tell him to be quiet, although by the looks of it Herman and Scott hadn't noticed anything. Harry quickly took the opportunity of them being so engaged in the argument to walk past them. Even though he was invisible he didn't feel very safe. The others however, didn't seem at all concerned as they strode past the guards completely normally, as if having a stroll round Azkaban was a normal thing to do. Once they had gained a safe distance from any guards Dumbledore turned to the others. "I regret to inform you that we are running rather late. Therefore it is quite possible that Peter Petigrew has already escaped. This means that as we walk along I want you to keep an eye out for him. He will undoubtedly be in his rat form and sticking to the wall. If he gets past us then he will escape. If you do see him don't hesitate in stunning him." Dumbledore said as he instructed them all. "And stunning only" he said as he caught site of Moody's grin.  
  
Once it was quiet clear that there would be no death involved they progressed along. At the end of the corridor there were several different turnings. This would have been very confusing if someone hadn't put up sign saying "high security cells this way" pointing to one particular cell at the side. Dumbledore reached out cautiously for the door handle. He swung the door open and revealed some dingy looking steps going down into the stone floor. Everyone walked forward dreadingly. It wasn't that Harry had a problem with the stairs. It was when Dumbledore closed the door behind them and sent them into near complete darkness that it started to bother Harry.  
  
"Lumos." He heard a couple of the members of the Order mutter simultaneously. Light illuminated them as they all scanned the floor for any sneaky rat that may have decided to sneak past them. Dumbledore made his way to the front of the group and without saying another word started walking down the steps. Being completely invisible and silent gave the feeling of being practically non-existent. In a way Harry felt like a spirit observing the whole situation, completely unnoticed by everyone else. "You still here Harry?" Bill asked from behind him. "Yeah I'm here." He replied. "Oh good, I nearly walked into you just there. This is weird, talking to someone you can't see you know." He said as he stared at a space some two feet to the left of where Harry actually was. "Stay near by, I don't want to get blamed for loosing you, even if we are bonded." Said Bill as he walked forward after Dumbledore. Harry quickly ran behind Bill and they continued down into the dank depths of Azkaban. 


	27. Deaths Victim

Hey peeps. I haven't been doing much writing lately and I have fallen a bit behind.  
  
Anyway I don't really have much to say other than thanks for the positive reviews. They are always appreciated.  
  
I cant remeber if I have already asked but if you could read the few short stories that I have written. Each one is only a thousand words or so.  
  
I saw LOTR's on Wednesday and it was quiet good. If you are a fan of that sort of thing then you should enjoy my seventh year story (the sequel to this).  
  
Anyway I just wanted to say I will be back on Christmas, around lunch time with another chapter, incase any of you are sad enough to spend your day on the pc, I know I am  
  
Also I need to have a disclaimer and I cant be bothered to sort out that stuff so I will just say it isn't mine, I don't own it and I can hardly fathom what it would be like to be rowling.  
  
The main point of this was to alert you to some of the earlier chapters. Now when I first started this (during the summer holidays) I was writing at a very fast pace. (I did 19 000 words in the first 2 days) therefore it isn't quit to the quality that I want it to be, and so if you see a chapter with "Beta" afterwards it means it is altered. Some new stuff in, some old stuff out. You may want to read these new chapters or you might not. its up to you really.  
  
Thanks for you support, keep reading my friends.  
  
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Harry quickly ran behind Bill and they descended down into the dank depths of Azkaban.  
  
As Harry walked down the stairs he couldn't help but feel slightly queasy." Perhaps it was just nerves, or perhaps it was the stale air that had probably been wafting round in this area, for as far back in history as Azkaban goes. Finally Harry would get to see Wormtail again. The name bought anger to his mind and Harry found himself clutching his wand. If matters came to it Harry certainly wouldn't refrain from blasting him. And maybe he would use something more than a stunning spell. Maybe something painful, if he could be so bold and daring. He would do it for Sirius. It is what he would have wanted, in fact he did want it. But Harry stopped him. Because of Peter Petigrew, Sirius had been believed guilty of murder. Because of that Sirius had to hide away all of his time. If Sirius was a free man then Harry wouldn't have gone to the Ministry. He would still be here. Everything would have been better. Not just for himself but for everyone in life. "Peter is another scar on the face of the earth that has been tormenting the peace for to long. He shall pay for what he has done." Harry thought in words that came as a surprise to himself.  
  
He was interrupted from his thoughts when a spear of light sliced through the air in front of him. Harry took a few more steps down the spiral staircase and found that they had finally reached a rusty looking metal door. It was pushed open and the members of the order who were in front of him had walked through it. Harry stepped out and took in the surroundings. They were again in one of the many corridors and passageways of Azkaban. The difference between this one and others however was that this one had a distinctly creepier feeling. It could be the single, small window at one end of the passage, or it could have been the fact that at the other end was a large sign which read in bold red letters. "CELLS. VERY DANGEROUS! NO UNATHORIZED PERSONAL IS TO PASS BEYOND THIS POINT!" It was probably the later. Harry turned his attention to the others and found Dumbledore and the three Aurors were scanning the floor for any sign of movement. He quickly did the same and to his relief found none. "He must still be in there." Whispered Dumbledore as he motioned for them all to continue. "We have him cornered. If he is to make his escape he must make it past us. Caution however must be maintained because guards are undoubtedly in large quantities."  
  
Just as Dumbledore predicted guards were indeed everywhere. As soon as they opened the door two could be seen standing at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. Everyone quickly squeezed in through the door before one of the guards had chance to notice that it was a little bit drafty. The stairs looked rather damp, as if perhaps they were somewhere naturally wet, possibly below sea level. They were also worn and now just looked like a slightly bumpy slope, or a set of stairs made by a rather unenthusiastic builder. As Harry walked down near the bottom he noticed that one of the guards was rather scruffy. Both of them looked like they were tired, and both looked like this was the normal state for them to be in. Having spent so many years working throughout the night they had perfected the art of sleeping with their eyes open until it was classified as a very pure science. "So Bob, How's the misses?" said the man on the left as he continued to pick at some dirt under his nails. "Well I don't see much of her theses days. I work at night. She works at day. You know how it is Pete." The plumper of the two replied as he slouched against the walls. Harry would have liked to continue listening but a swift poke in the back of the head from Snape told him to keep walking.  
  
The site that met Harry's eyes was a bit more like what he had expected. It was a long passage that seemed to never end. On either side were rows and rows of cells, each containing someone, each holding its own chapter in the tale of life's wrong doings. Dozens of guards were marching backwards and forwards brandishing their wands menacingly, or at least as menacing as you can look with a ten-inch stick in your hand, whilst shivering with chattering teeth from the cold. The very typical and expected moans and occasional screams could be heard. The ceiling was low and looked like it was sagging in the middle from years of dampness. Miss Weasley mouthed the words "oh my" as she looked at all the people rolling in the cells in self- depression. Apparently the effects of Dementors took some time to wear off. Everyone else having finally got past Bob and Pete stood waiting until Dumbledore lead the way. They didn't know why he would know where exactly Peter's cell was but they didn't know and Dumbledore generally did in such situations.  
  
"This general belief was confirmed as he strode down the long gap in between the cells. He glanced to his side as they passed various guards. All wearing the same pale brown uniform with a round flat brown hat that stopped them getting cold ears. Harry had to hold his breath as one of the guards he passed turned to look around for a moment, apparently he had heard something. It was due to darkness alone that they weren't discovered. As the guard peered round he stared into the space where they were standing before continuing on his duty. "Stop snoring." He complained as he poked one of the cell members in the head with his finger.  
  
After walking for an immeasurable distance (it wasn't at all immeasurable, just long enough so that when you were at one end you couldn't see the other) they reached a door. On it hung a sign with messy writing that looked like it had been painted on with rather runny paint. "PetEr PetIGrow. He is a rAt!" the sign almost seemed unbefitting for someone as murderous as Wormtail. The very least they could have done was got a sign maker that knew his capital letters. "This must be the place he thought as everyone stood still whilst a guard walked past. Once the guard had walked some distance away Dumbledore dared whisper to them. "He is in here so stay alert. This will all be over in a few minutes" he said in a reassuring tone. "Yes it will all be over for him in a few minutes." Harry thought. "Now we just need a distraction." Dumbledore said to himself rather than anyone else. He looked round and then pointed his wand down towards where they had just come from. He muttered a spell and a moment later a loud crash was heard followed by a series of moans from the unfortunate cellmate. Just as the headmaster predicted, it was not before all the guards found themselves magnetically drawn towards the source of commotion, in the same manner as vacuum cleaner and a team of brave hamsters setting out to explore the mysterious whirring menace, like no hamster had ever explored before. By this it meant coming back alive.  
  
When everyone wasn't looking he Dumbledore pulled the door open soundlessly and they all piled in and within two seconds later the door had closed behind Remus who caught his fingers in the latch and had to suppress a "Oh holy frick" as he clutched his throbbing hand. There were just five large steps leading into a small dimly lit room. Harry could, from where he was standing, see a large sandy coloured block of cement. "So that is see- meant" said Tonks in mild surprise. Why didn't they use metal or wood?". Harry went to take a step forward but was stopped by Dumbledore who extended his arm. "Stay back Harry." He whispered. "It is dangerous, especially for you." Harry watched from the relative safety of the stairs as Dumbledore pointed his long old wand at each corner of the room. Several other members of the order drifted over to investigate as well, leaving just Harry and Remus standing there looking sheepish. Dumbledore moved onto the third corner of the small square room. Harry waited anxiously for a loud bang o a rat like squeak. None came. Instead Dumbledore continued walking round until he came back to where he had started.  
  
"You didn't see him run past did you?" Dumbledore asked as he displayed a genuinely puzzled look. "Um?" said Harry, as he had to admit he hadn't really been watching. "No nothing went past that I saw." Remus said confidently. Dumbledore rubbed his head for a minute. "Well I suppose it is possible he has already gotten past us. I didn't think we were that late but. Maybe he escaped earlier than we thought." he said solemnly. "How do you know he has escaped at all yet professor?" Harry asked curiously. Dumbledore looked up from the floor where that he had been staring at for the last few moments. "Well Harry, It doesn't look to dangerous now, if you come round here you will see where he has undoubtedly chewed his way out. "Dumbledore led Harry round to the opposite side of the room, round the enormous block of cement that must have measured at least twelve foot across.  
  
Harry looked down at the corner of the block where a whole was present. It was rather small and as Harry knelt down to look, was actually about a meter long. "Um well I don't think he is in there." Said Harry as he pulled himself off of the ground. Everyone was looking at Dumbledore questioningly. They had probably all braced themselves for some sort of intense battle. In a way the lack of action made the whole thing seem rather anti climatic. The horrendous journey through the icy weather and the struggle against time as they swum through the drainage system. All that effort so they could end up with a mildly comfortable room. "That filthy treacherous scum. He probably slipped past those incompetent pitiful excuses for guards. Why in my day we had real guards. The kind that guarded stuff. None of that prancing about like fairies talking about the weather. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! That is what we need." Alastor said as he went into one of his mad rants. Harry made his way back over to where Remus was, still by the door. He looked rather annoyed about the whole thing. "I really wanted to do some good. This is one of our first raids you know Harry. Last year I only got to have meetings. On the few occasions that we did do something I was curled up at home as a werewolf. Just boring stuff for me as usual" He said with a sigh. Harry however didn't notice it this much. Instead his attention was drawn to a rather saggy dark brown object. It looked like a sickly beanbag. It was climbing into Remus' pocket, or attempting to at least. Peter Petigrew had wormed his way up Remus' cloak and was now attempting to make his great escape in the pocket.  
  
"WORMTAIL! REMUS, HE'S IN YOUR POCKET! Harry yelled as the saggy rat suddenly ceased it's struggling, and looked up at the group of semi invisible people who were staring at it. It was one of those moments where no one moved. It could be because they were all rather shocked or perhaps it could be because they all knew there was going to be some sort of battle, and they had come to an unspoken agreement that said, "hold on a minute. My shoe laces are untied." Still the moment passed and suddenly there was a lot of movement. Wormtail jumped from Remus' pocket and landed on the floor. He then started darting towards the door. Avoiding Remus, whose wand was caught up in his sleeve and was now trying to stamp on him. Dumbledore and the others started running around the block towards the door that Wormtail was making a frantic run for. "Good job we closed the door." Harry thought as he held his wand in his hand ready. "That way we have him cornered." The only problem was that in order to corner someone you usually need to have them up against some sort of corner. Now as it was this was the case. But once the door swung open and a loud voice boomed out "What's all that noise?!" Peter was free to charge straight past the unsuspecting guard.  
  
Everyone ran past Harry and the towards the guard who only just had time to shout, "Escape escape! Peter Petigrew has escaped." Before he was knocked to the floor in an unconscious heap. Snape exited the room while saying. "Well done potter. Looks like you are another idiot with diarrhoea of the mouth and constipation of the mind."  
  
Harry would have made some sort of protest but he felt a tugging on his arm coming from the magical bond that connected him and Bill. Instead he quickly took off after the stream of people in an attempt to catch Wormtail. By the time he had made it back into the main cell hall he could see guards running from every direction towards the mad rat that was desperately darting forward away from everyone. One of the wheezy fat guards ran after them suspiciously. He who looked as if he knew his business better than everyone else, and as a result got the privilege of free biscuits. He also looked as if he was insulting the privilege by taking it to the extent of a buffet. "Hey there is something there he yelled." As he gestured to the members of the order. "Someone, nearly invisible." He panted as he changed his aim from Wormtail to them. Bill had t take a step back to avoid the fat man making funny wheezy sounds. As a result Harry ended up running into the back of Bill and falling on the floor. The result of this was Harry's cloak coming loose.  
  
He quickly jumped to his feet, and ran for all his life was worth. Due to Harry running his invisibility cloak was billowing out behind him revealing his trousers. "Catch those trousers!" The fat man instructed. Moody who had come to the conclusion that he couldn't hobble along as fast as a rat could run. Started blasting jinxes at him. Wormtail ran from side to side trying to avoid them. Any guards that were planning on stopping them were now thinking twice about it as suddenly they learned there was a mad jinxer on the loose. All the commotion could not be avoided and more guards were now pouring in through the door ahead of them. Many of the cellmates had also broken from their mad mutterings and were rattling the bars of their cell. "Hey let me out." One of them pleaded in a hopeful tone. "Get away filthy trousers!" yelled one particularly deranged looking inmate. "FILTHY!" he screamed after Harry. As he looked in front of him he could see the guards were forming into a semi circle by the door. Trying to cut off anyone who attempted to get past. They were a few hundred meters ahead and by the looks of it most of them had wands pointing in their general direction.  
  
"I'm going to kill you, y'know!" another criminal yelled as he stuck his arm out towards them. Seeing and hearing the moans was creepy in itself but this made you feel that before they were actually rather pleasant. Harry ran past another cellmate who had a large smile plastered across his sunken grubby face. "Have you got any cheese?" The guards were just a short way away and as Harry glanced over his shoulder he could see the remaining guards were forming into a solid wall of people behind them. "What do we do now?" asked Molly who was gasping for breath. "You will see." Replied Dumbledore as he paused from sending a jinx after Wormtail. The rat was running furiously as the people loomed up in front of it. They were standing so closely that there wasn't even a gap for him to squeeze past their legs. Any of the guards that didn't understand the entire situation looked rather confused. They had been called down from various parts of the fortress to see what appeared to be a rat being chased by a large white cloud looking thing and a pair of trousers.  
  
In one swift movement that clearly surprised the guards, Wormtail leapt up from the floor. Ran up one of the guards over his head and down the other side where he hopped up the stairs. A few of the more intelligent guards stayed where they were or went after the escaped criminal. The less intelligent ones just turned round and watched Peter avoid the best attempts they had. This proved to be the less intelligent option because as Harry learned, Dumbledore's plan counted on them doing this. He ran forwards to where one of the guards had her back turned and with one swift movement to fast for the eye she fell to the ground. This left a gap wide enough for them to quickly follow. Some of the guards attempted to stop the ghost like people and the running pair of trousers but a few jinxes from Moody and Kingsley made them think twice about it. Harry jumped up the stairs two at a time until he came into the corridor with the window at the far end. Realisation struck as he realised that is where Wormtail would be headed. Harry re-doubled his efforts and overtook Tonks and Arthur Weasley. "He would stop Wormtail he would do it for Sirius. He would have his vengeance.  
  
Harry ran along the corridor. His feet pounding silently as he pursued the killer. The only sound that could be heard was his ragged breathing and the pounding of his heart. He over took Dumbledore and professor McGonagall at the front and continued closing the gap between him and the person he had learned to hate an ever-increasing amount ever since he learned of his existence. He wasn't far away now. Just a few meters. He would finally be able to see justice done. A murder for a murder? It seemed fair enough. But then again Wormtail was rather close to the window. What if he jumped out? He would probably die anyway but then you never could be sure with these sort of things. you think you have killed them then you need to kill them again five minutes later. Harry scrunched up his mind and ignored his aching muscles. It was just a few more feet and then he would have Peter in his grasp. In one desperate dive Harry had caught hold of the struggling rat and everyone else came running up behind him. Harry had an aching in his chest from where he had crashed into the stone floor, but he didn't notice it. Not when things were nearly over.  
  
Harry struggled to keep his grip on Wormtail as he struggled frantically, and after it became apparent he wouldn't get loose, he sank his razor sharp rat teeth into Harry's thumb. No one heard the footsteps coming up behind them as the Order caught their breath, and in some cases collapsed onto the floor. As Harry continued struggling to keep his hold of Wormtail a thought occurred to him. All he would have to do would be to squeeze a bit harder. He would hear a satisfying crack sound and Wormtail's neck would be broken. It would be that simple. Just a little squeeze. He could do it and if anyone bothered him he could lie and say it was an accident. "Of course they would believe me. They always do." He thought as he weighed up the consequences of these actions in his mind. But then maybe it would be better not to kill him? Maybe more than he deserved. Breaking his neck would be quick and painless. He wouldn't even know it. No the suffering he had dealt to others earned him the same back. He could imagine Moody congratulating him on not hesitating. "That's the way an Auror would do it Harry. An eye for an eye!"  
  
Harry had been thinking these things for a little to long. To long perhaps to realise exactly what could happen, and what did happen. Suddenly he realised he was no longer clasping a struggling rat. Now the form in front of him was the filthy man with waxy looking skin two sizes to big for his body. "Harry saw his frantic eyes dart to his surroundings before he threw himself out of Harry's hands with a roll of surprising speed. The footsteps that had sounded a moment ago drew nearer. They pounded along noisily and as they got close enough it could be realised that either there was two people running, or a horse with shoes. Realisation struck Harry as he realised that he was no longer in control of the situation. He climbed to his feet and was about to start after Wormtail when he realised that it would prove little use. Wormtail was only a few feet away from the large window and Harry suspected he wouldn't hesitate to jump. Just about anything had to be a safer bet than going up against Albus Dumbledore. Harry stared into Peter's eyes. He wanted to understand what was going on in that sick twisted mind. Instead he noticed that Peter's attention was drawn to a spot a few feet left of Harry. He looked to his side and saw something that he hadn't expected. It was Bob and Pete.  
  
"Hold it right there!" instructed Pete as he pointed his finger threateningly at Wormtail. "You are forbidden to attempt to break in and or out of your cell as it is a criminal offence and shall be taken as a direct attempt to break the law. You have broken this rule and therefore shall be prosecuted severely under sanction Seven G to the full extent of the law!" he said as he drew out a notebook. "not now!" hissed Bob as he advanced cautiously on the confused criminal. "I now cordially invite you to surrender yourself and surrender to any and all charges to which you are a direct or indirect cause of and in which effects." Pete continued in the same manner as if he had done the procedure thousands of times before. Peter stood with his eyes darting backwards and forwards as he slowly backed away from them. Bob took another large step forwards closing the distance between him and Wormtail. Suddenly his attention snapped to the guard and as if in slow motion Peter started turning towards the window. "Stop in the name of the law!" exclaimed Bob as he made a heroic dive forwards.  
  
Harry looked from the floor as Bob grabbed hold of a startled looking Peter around the chest. They struggled for a moment. While everyone watched. Pete and several members of the Order, Harry noticed, had their wands pointed at the struggle. No one dared fire a spell in case they hit the wrong person. "Jinx him!" Bob choked as Peter strangled him, all the while backing towards the window. What happened next surprised everyone. One minute Bob and Wormtail were arguing, the next moment they weren't. Everyone who had been frozen to there places quickly rushed forwards, including Harry. At first he thought they must have disaperated but then when he remembered it was impossible, the only other option occurred to him. They had fallen out of the window. He jumped forward and leaned out of the stone window. Jagged rocks lay beneath and pierced thought the thing layer of icy water below. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness and a bolt of lighting illuminated the sky above and below, he looked down at the twisted lifeless corpse of Bob. His eyes quickly scanned for any sign of the murderer known as Wormtail. In the darkness, searching for something that small, and dark was nearly impossible. He found himself being pushed to the side as he fell back to the floor. Pete leaned over the window ledge and looked down at the death of his friend below.  
  
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB!!!" The sound echoed through out the night sky. Bob had died and hopefully so had Wormtail. Dumbledore and the other members of the Order exchanged glances for a moment. "We shall have to investigate." Said Remus as he turned to Harry. "We can't be sure he is dead can we?" he asked rather than said. "No, an assumption is all we can make, and that would be foolish on a matter of such importance." Said Albus as he walked away from the window. Pete stood frozen looking down at his dead friend. He was broken from his trance when the sound of dozens of running feet sounded from the far end of the corridor. Everyone turned their glances towards, the guards who came along to late. "It looks like we shall have to allow them to conduct the search." Said Dumbledore to the Order as he gestured towards the angry looking guards running towards them. "I do not think they appreciate our presence. Come let us leave. The mission has been a failure and there are actions that must be taken."  
  
The guards continued charging towards the Order in an angry manner. Harry wasn't exactly what about them it was that made them look angry. Maybe it was the way their shoes seemed to drum out in unison on the floor like an army approaching. Maybe it was their breath forming in front of them in the cold air like a dragons fiery wrath. More likely though, was their wands blasting scorching spells at their feet and the yells of "Come on lads, lets get em!" "Apparently they believe they can justify their failure in the escape of Wormtail by taking us." Severus said as he took a few steps backwards towards the window. Everyone drew closer together as the distance between them and the angry swarm of highly incompetent guards dwindled to an ever-smaller measure. "So what is the plan Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked without a trace of worry in her voice. "Well there are very many plans." Dumbledore began to say before Moody interrupted him. "I say we stay and fight, a valiant battle to the death. I can take at least ten of them down, if I haven't lost the old killer touch that is!" He growled like a mad man. "Well Alastor, that is one of the plans, but certainly not the most suitable. I propose something slightly less dangerous. Accio Brooms" He called in an echoing voice that stretched out into the night and scraped the skies themselves.  
  
Everyone waited anxiously for the sound of the brooms. Harry's ears had adjusted to years of flying and he would recognise the sound of one flying through the air even in heavy rain such as there was. Besides they had only left them on the roof. It wouldn't take long. "To long none the less." He thought to himself as a spell shot past his ear and smashed of a large fist sized piece of rock from the wall behind him. "Right that's it. No one attacks Harry. Not while I'm in charge." Said Remus as he took a large step forward after flashing a grin at Harry. Remus raised the wand above his head and in a tone that could wield an army of guinea pigs, or a dozen misbehaving students, "ECLISIS!" The shimmering gold barrier spread out from the tip and fell down into a large dome around them. Harry glanced through the shiny silk like shield at the guards who were all wearing identical disgruntled looks. "How ingenious Remus." Said Molly Weasley as a few spells bounced of the barrier with only a small ripple like a stone falling in water. "The Shaman Barrier. I do believe you are teaching the sixth year students that at the moment are you not?" Albus asked with a smile on his face. "Er yes we are just finishing it actually. We will be doing starting something different this week or the next, depending on if the Hufflepuff's feel they are up for it."  
  
Remus had to stop speaking as a several more spells hit the golden wall and it flickered for a moment before shrinking by several inches in each direction. "You need to concentrate and stuff." Tonks said as she pointed out the spell first hand. Harry already knew this because he had seen and practised it all in class but something he hadn't ever experienced was using the Shaman Barrier when the person on the other side wanted to do more than offer you a cup of tea or talk about Quidditch. "Constant Vigilance. Can't have your mind prancing off in lala land. One hundred percent attention, at the least!" He said as he advised Harry on how to do better. "I have seen your attempts in class and they are good but if you want to be an Auror. A proper one." He said before lowering his voice so that only him and Harry could hear. "Unlike Nymphadora." He then returned to his normal volume, which was several volumes louder than needed. "If you want to be a real Auror that goes out there and stares death in the eyes then you will find yourself in one of these situations and when you do you will wish you had paid attention to me and practised until perfect. An idiot practises until he gets it right. I practise until I can't get it wrong!" Moody said with a light in his eyes that suggested he was relishing every part of this conversation.  
  
Harry turned his attention away from Moody as a very slight swooshing sound had drawn his notice. It was the kind of noise that sits in the background for an hour unnoticed but once it has made itself apparent it is un- ignorable. Harry glanced out of the window and saw the ten brooms battling against the wind as they flew towards Dumbledore. They flew very slowly and in a rather erratic pattern as the rain pounded against them. He felt a tug at his arm and found professor McGonagall was pulling him by the sleeve. "You will be flying with Tonks since she is the lightest of us." She whispered in his ear, or where she assumed his ear would be. "And cover yourself up as well." She advised as Harry glanced down at his terminally noticeable trousers. Harry quickly pulled his cloak around himself and checked that he was had not uncovered any other part of him in the process. He hadn't. "Much longer?" Remus asked slightly worried as his shield shrank another few inches. "No not long at all." Dumbledore concluded as the brooms finally reached their destination and hovered in  
  
the large open window.  
  
In a sudden rush of wispy like figures everyone chose a broom. "Come on Harry." Said Tonks as she quickly chucked a broom in his direction and succeeded in giving him a swift blow to the kidney. "Don't use my name!" he hissed as he glanced at the Guards who by now had assembled outside Remus' charm and were definitely in hearing range. "Oh don't worry about them. You can't hear properly through the Shaman Barrier. To them it probably sounds like a lot of old grunting and stuff, you know?" She said reassuringly as she climbed on the back of the broom behind Harry. Harry checked and saw that everyone was now on a broom except Remus who was still concentrating on the shield charm but was also holding the last broom in his hand and was making a good attempt at trying to climb onto it without loosing any concentration. He also did a good impression of a hippo trying to walk on stilts. In one drawn out second Harry watched Remus' foot get caught in his cloak and he tumbled top his floor.  
  
For a single moment the golden barrier flickered then disappeared. Then another moment later a wave of sound crashed over them. The angry complaints of the guards battered their ears. "NOW NOW, KILL THEM KILL THEM!" yelled what appeared to be an overly enthusiastic supervisor. Remus quickly rolled on his back and with agility that surprised everyone, flipped up onto his feet. Harry looked at the rest of the adults who had all started moving out of the window, but who at the same time were looking behind them and casting various stunning charms. Snape cast one particularly useful one, which spread out across the floor and formed into a thin layer of ice. Harry pulled his broom up and darted away as several guards all started skidding on the ice and fell over whilst successfully toppling the person next to them. Remus leapt into the air and swung himself onto his broom as he shot off like a cork from a bottle. He flew out of the window shortly behind the other adults and Harry. Finally they were all safe, they had left the prison of Azkaban and all it was now was a previous chapter in their life, ending with guards falling on the floor and sending the occasional curse out of the window after them. 


	28. The Team Assembles

Finally they were all safe, they had left the prison of Azkaban and all it was now was a previous chapter in their life, ending with guards falling on the floor and sending the occasional curse out of the window after them. The journey back was a long one. Whilst it was still the same distance time seemed to stretch on forever as it formed a tired eternity. Harry flew, half asleep on his broom as everyone else was deep in thought. The waves crashed below them as they travelled over the icy globe that felt like it stretched for miles and years. Harry hardly remembered clambering down and trudging into the building from which they had arrived. Wormtail had escaped again and it was Harry's fault. "If I hadn't hesitated then we wouldn't be where we are now. If I had killed him them our efforts would not have been in vain. "Can't we travel back a bit more and try again?" Harry had asked Dumbledore hopefully as he fiddled with his sleeves. "No Harry, I'm afraid we can not. It is dangerous to stretch and distort time to much." He had been pondering on what they could do, as he sank into the cold stupor on the broom. The kind that occurs when nature grasps you in such a cold and tired state. To say the least Harry was feeling depressed. Sirius had died and tonight Harry felt he could do the justice deserved and finish one of his godfathers final acts. In stead he had let him down. Harry could imagine Sirius with his solemn look. Sitting down with sunken eyes. "Why didn't you do it Harry? After all the suffering he caused you. He killed your parents. It is because of him that I am dead. If you had used the power you have you could have done it. Justice? That is what it would be. Not murder. It's not murder if they deserve it. It's not murder if it feels right. Not murder, not if it feels good. Murder doesn't feel good. Justice does. I'm disappointed in you Harry."  
  
Sirius' harsh words sounded deep within Harry like a begging from deep within his soul. Harry had to shake himself back to reality as his mind began to wonder. "Sirius is dead." He said to himself bitterly as tears stung in his eyes. "He's gone and he won't be coming back. He gave his life for me to live. Not for me to be a murderer. Sirius wouldn't want me to kill anyone. I don't think." Harry was shaken from his mind by Remus who was saying "Come on Harry' best be getting to bed." As he took his hands and lead him along towards the Gryffindor common room. "But what about the actions that must be taken? Harry asked confused. He had expected some sort of long drawn out meeting. Not that he minded, he was tired and wanted to get to bed.  
  
"What about the actions that must be taken?" Harry asked suspiciously. Remus glanced around for a moment to make sure there weren't any stray students or ghosts wondering round late at night, listening to their conversations. "Well Harry that will probably be done tomorrow or something. Besides you know what Dumbledore is like. He has probably already started and when he has finished we won't know a thing about it."  
  
Harry found himself at the Gryffindor tower a moment later and Remus bid him goodbye. "Hmm" Harry thought as he strolled into the dark common room. The night fire had burnt down to a few hot embers and all that remained of the evening's activities were a few bad memories. Harry slumped down into his bed and before he had time to realise he was tired he had gone off to sleep.  
  
The next few weeks past in a blur of homework and blank periods where Harry simply couldn't remember what he was doing. With the October weather came some non-to surprising rain. In fact the only thing that was unusual about it was the sheer quantity. Harry had to admit that after a week of solid rain things were, to say the least, looking rather wet. His socks always seemed to feel damp and the Care of Magical Creature lessons had been relocated. Even the toast in the morning seemed to be soggy. None of the Order members seemed entirely sure of what was going on, or if they did they certainly weren't letting Harry know about it. Harry had been down to visit Cho a couple of times but again it seemed there had been no progress there. She continued on in her lifeless state.  
  
It was on one of these rainy October evenings when Harry for some reason found himself standing out in the rain. This wasn't the kind of rain that whipped against your skin with icy teeth like that at Azkaban. This was just fat rain. The kind of rain that falls straight down with only one purpose in mind. To make you exceedingly wet. Harry had been here for a few minutes now and was actually so wet that if he jumped in a bath the process of osmosis would probably make him drier. He wasn't on his own. He was with the rest of his Quidditch team. They were all gathered round by the side of the Quidditch pitch ready to hear what news was going to be "very important" to them.  
  
"What a complete waste of time this is." Blaise Zabini said as she wrung some water out of her sleeve for no purpose other than to prove that she was wet. "Madam Hooch shouldn't have called us here if she isn't bothered to turn up." she huffed as indeed, no one did turn up. They all had their brooms on them. The first Quidditch patch was in a little over three weeks and they hadn't practised at all and were all surprised by this. Since no team captain had been assigned they had all assumed the school was going to organise the training aspect of it. They had all been progressively thinking that perhaps they were wrong and that they had got into a nasty mess. That was, until this morning when Harry awoke to find Ron frantically shaking him and explaining that a Quidditch meeting had been arranged for fifteen minutes time. "Well it's not that bad. I have been pretty busy with homework and it was nice not to have Quidditch for a bit." Phillip said as he glanced at everyone to see if they cared to back him up. From what Blaise had said so far the impression they had all picked up if her was that she was as unfriendly as any Slytherin and was most certainly not the sort of person that would approach you in the corridor to ask the time. In fact, if you asked her the time she would probably hit you round the head with a clock and make a snide comment like "Yeah I gave YOU the time!"  
  
"What are you talking about? Its ridiculous!" She hissed angrily. "We have been waiting here for." she said as she paused to look at her watch. "Three and a half minutes! The whole things a shamble!" Hermione being the sort of person that she was simply couldn't stand and listen to someone complain, especially when it was about people of whom she held in the highest regard (teachers). "Oh stop fussing, so what if we have gotten a little wet? I'm sure there is a perfectly valuable explanation as to why Madam Hooch is late. She has probably been delayed by an urgent matter of great importance." She said as she stood in-between Harry and Ron. "Shut it you snotty nosed boff. No one asked your opinion. And if they did I'm sure they would regret it shortly afterwards when you gave them a boring lecture about some obscure thing nobody cares about." After a moment in which Hermione choked on her own breath Phillip replied. "There is no need to be so nasty to everyone." "I'm not nasty to everyone, just those who deserve it such as yourselves." "What's that supposed to mean?" Phillip demanded angrily. "Well to put it lightly, you share several chromosomes with a plank." She retorted harshly. Everyone remained quiet for a moment. No one really felt like being insulted by her. Especially Hermione who Harry could see had a few tears in her eyes. "Quiet honestly I question the teacher's dedication." She continued as if she had not just been extremely rude to her teammates. "As for that Remus Lupin.he treats us like we are thick. Stupid Werewolf." She muttered to herself, but still loud enough for the others to hear.  
  
"Aren't you going to stop her Harry? She is insulting Remus." Ron said as he stared at Blaise angrily. Harry looked at the wet grass below as he stamped his foot on it. "Well I would do but. Well she is a girl and I can't argue with her. You know?" He said quietly. Ron scrunched his face up in confusion. "What are you talking about? You have argued with Hermione before. What's the difference." "Well that is Hermione. When I argue with Hermione I know where I stand. She might shout a bit and maybe throw something at me. But Blaise looks like she wouldn't think twice about killing me. or worse." Harry said as he winced at the thoughts of all sort of un-pleasantries. Luckily before anyone else could become a mortal enemy of Blaise professor McGonagall was sited walking along the school grounds towards them with madam Hooch following shortly behind. Hermione wiped the tears out of her eyes and held her broom ready. "Good afternoon everyone." Said Professor McGonagall once she got within hearing range. She glanced at the sky before drawing out her wand. "Crelatio." She said, as a shapeless blob appeared in front of them. It twisted for a moment before quickly spreading out like a glass of spilt water. It ran down at the corners and formed into the shape of a large black marquee. Everyone looked shocked for a moment. "Wow that was neat professor?" Said Alex admiringly. "Why didn't we learn how to do that in charms? When professor Flitwick showed us the Crelatio charm we only did small objects. You aren't that much more strong minded, are you?" he asked sceptically. McGonagall looked at him for a minute with a calculating stare. "Well, not that it is really your business mister Powers, but it is a trick of mixing in transfiguration." She said with a tone that said he could be in danger should he dare enquire further. "If you're not pappy then by all means you may continue to stand in the rain." Alex quickly shook his head and pursed his lips so as to avoid saying anything else stupid. "Well then if that will be all for questions then Madam Hooch will be wishing to have a few words with you.  
  
Madam Hooch stepped forwards and with her arms behind her back began marching forward like an army sergeant rallying his troops for one final victorious stand. "Well now as many of you know, and as all of you should know. The first match is in just a few weeks time. You are ill prepared and ill trained. That is undeniable. If you wish to be victorious then drastic actions must be taken. It is our wish that we win for the school pride is at stake, and you will not let us down!" said madam Hooch in a tone that suggested they really didn't have an alternative. "It is because of this that myself and Minerva have chosen to recruit professional Quidditch instructors in order to help you prepare."  
  
Everyone exchanged glances. Harry looked over at madam Hooch who seemed trying to suppress a grin. She apparently felt that this was news for rejoicing, for her confident smile said victory was guaranteed. Professor McGonagall however, succeeded spectacularly in looking as stern as ever. Her icy stare sent out the message that this wasn't going to be fun, not fun at all, in fact she seemed to be suggesting it would be a lot like a strict military camp with a few more brooms a couple less merry songs. "Now before I announce who we have managed to recruit I shall be telling you briefly of your training program. This won't be anything like in previous years. In the past I expect you all discussed when is the most convenient for you, and then work around that. The difference here is that this isn't little amateur schoolhouse match. This is school pride at steak, and so myself and Minerva have devised an intense training program in which you are all going to participate. Now as a lot of you are currently studying your Newt courses I realise that you have a lot of homework and after school, extra curricular activities. Therefore you shall each be trained privately and individually." There was a long series of "Oh's" and a few "cool's" from several people who heard this. Hermione looked like she was enjoying it all very much. But then maybe that was just because a teacher was talking her to. Hermione always seemed happy when talking to teachers. "That sounds like a very efficient and thorough training program." She said as Minerva cast her a brief smile. She gave a small cough to quieten people down and indicate she was going to start talking. She didn't quiet manage it as well as Dumbledore did but she didn't radiate power like him. "Well now I suppose if we continue speaking much longer your minds will start to wonder as has MR. WEALSEY" she said as everyone's head swivelled to Ron who had been playing with paper clip. "Oh sorry what was that professor?" Ron asked as he jumped at the sound of his name. Hermione elbowed him quickly whilst Harry gave a silent laugh. "Never mind." Said professor McGonagall as she rolled her eyes. "Now without further delay, I shall get to the point of who exactly these professional Quidditch instructors are." Ron who had finished fiddling took the opportunity to say "As long as it's not that Victor Krum idiot." No one answered as a shadow loomed up behind him. A strong hand came and clasped down upon his shoulder. "Hello Ronald" said a familiar voice.  
  
Ron froze in his position as his eyes widened. He probably started contemplating the best outcome of the situation and finding the answer was to run. The only thing that kept him where he was the fact his legs didn't feel like moving. He slowly began to turn round whilst muttering under his breath "Please not Victor Krum please not Victor Krum please not Victor Krum." He stopped up and looked in surprise at the familiar face that he had last seen in his forth year. "Hello Mr. Bagman" "Hello Ron, Harry." Said Ludo Bagman as he flashed a sheepish smile. "What's he doing here?" asked Ron curtly, despite the fact it was fairly obvious he was going to be one of the Quidditch coaches. "Oh I'm here to help out you see." said Ludo after a moment as he was taken back by Ron's rudeness. "Oh this is wonderful." Said serenity, who unlike Harry and his friends was unaware of the shifty deals surrounding the ex-Quidditch player. "It will be an honour to be helped by someone as experienced as yourself." She continued as Ludo stood with his hands in his pockets looking politely interested, all the while flashing sideways glances at Harry. Ludo was wearing his old Quidditch robes with the familiar stretch marks where he had put on weight and the ladders where the material had worn thin in old age. "I'm glad you feel that way." He said as Serenity stopped praising him. He stepped forwards with his hand outstretched towards professor McGonagall, who looked down at his hand and like several other noticed an unforgivably large amount of dirt. Probably even enough to make Ron blush, and that is saying something considering Ron was born with the dirty gene. Ludo hastily wiped his hands on his sleeve and then extended his hand once again towards professor McGonagall who reluctantly shook it.  
  
"Hello Minerva, Sorry about that I was busy earlier doing, you know, stuff. You can get a bit messy if your not careful" "I'm sure." She said in a tone rather like Snape. "Now as I'm sure most, if not all of you are aware, this is Ludo Bagman." "I used to play for England you know." Injected Ludo as if it would be a sin to miss out on such a monumental fact. "Yes." Said Professor McGonagall as he eyes slowly moved towards Ludo who was displaying a boyish grin. "It is true that Mr. Bagman used to play Quidditch for the England team. Since he left he has been working at the ministries department of magical games, until recently when he decided to leave. Since then he has become a professional trainer and instructor. His knowledge of other countries tactics and methods should prove highly valuable, because whilst I am not praising your play, some of the other countries take it extremely seriously and therefore there do seem to be a large number of.casualties." She said with a small cough. "Many of them terminally serious!"  
  
Bagman gave a small laugh as he threw a glance at professor McGonagall which said perhaps she had said to much.  
  
"Now now, you don't want to go scaring them do you?" asked Ludo hastily. "Besides who doesn't enjoy a bit of rough and tumble, getting their hands a bit muddy?" He said wish a laugh.  
  
"Clearly not you." muttered Madam Pomfrey, who had been standing by the corner of the large marquee, just loud enough for Harry to hear.  
  
"Now the fifth of November happens to fall on a Monday. Quiet frankly I think it a rather silly time to have a Quidditch match because it disrupts a whole weeks worth of lessons. Anyway you and a few select teachers shall be going with you for a week. You shall be leaving on Tuesday he thirtieth so that they have the opportunity to impress you with a no doubt unnecessarily extravagant Halloween feast. Over the week you will be engaging in a few lessons to see what things are like in other countries and learn something of their teaching techniques. Now I want you to listen very carefully to the next bit I am going to say because it is probably the most important thing you will do in your life." Said professor McGonagall with a tone of utter most severity. "When you are in the company of any student or teacher from Durmstrang I want you to lie. If they have better food, lie! If the School education system is better, although I very much doubt it is, lie! Dumbledore may so the entire point of this is to build stronger bonds within the wizarding world, but that is only one side to this. It is in fact the most serious tournament you will find yourself in, other than the tri-wazard tournament, which Harry was in. Now we are not as familiar with the Mirrari Academy but the other two will try to impress you to their uttermost abilities no doubt. For as long as these schools have dated into history there has been conflict over which is the "best". Hogwarts is your life so don't let them muddy the names of it!" Professor McGonagall finished with a slight gasp for breath. Having said such a lot in such a short amount of time. "That will be all from me." She said as to leave no doubt in anyone mind that it was the last she had to say on the matter.  
  
Harry for some reason had a strange urge to salute her, like a soldier to a brave general who has just given the courage to face an army of monstrous size. Ludo Bagman looked like he was suppressing a small laugh as he stepped forwards and continued with some of the more exact details.  
  
"Thank you for that, er, inspiring speech Minerva. It is however true. If you loose you won't just let yourselves down. You will be letting down every witch and wizard in England. Of coursed you won't be letting anyone down because you won't be doing any loosing. Your winning streak starts here, once you have received the tuition from myself and the other instructors. The Bulgarians won't know what hit them. Other than the Blugers that you two send soaring at them." He said as he looked at Phillip and Serenity.  
  
"So who are the other instructors?" Harry asked curiously. Ludo gave Harry a furtive glance before looking away. There was a long pause in which everyone was expecting him to answer. After a while professor McGonagall decided to answer for him.  
  
"The other instructors were currently engaged at Mirrari Academy discussing details. The rules of Quidditch do vary slightly throughout the world, and since we are using the most common rules, also the ones that are used at international tournament level, it is our job to make sure the other schools don't accidentally violate any of them." She said in a way that surprised Harry. He never thought professor McGonagall to be a walking rulebook on Quidditch. "Still, life is full of surprises" he thought to himself as he anxiously grasped the Blue Storm in his hand.  
  
"What sort of different rules?" Asked Ron excitedly. Professor McGonagall cast him a vaguely annoyed look before answering.  
  
"Well in Germany for example the looser forfeits his broom to the winner whilst in some parts of India it is against the rules to eat onions within a week of the match. That however is beside the point. Now if everyone will be so kind as to submit a list of available times in which they may train, that would be appreciated, and don't think of pretending to have fantastically busy social lives as to avoid training every spare minute of the night and day. As much as you may not want to admit it, you are only students and besides doing your homework anything you do after dinner will just be flittering away your minutes with no beneficial future purpose."  
  
Some of the closer members f the team moved forward and started scribbling down times on a piece of parchment that McGonagall had produced.  
  
"This all sounds very organised, I must say." Said Hermione with a tone of one who is very impressed. "I think I will enjoy it."  
  
"You would enjoy anything organised Hermione." Ron said truthfully. "You coloured in my time table for no real reason and have stuck numbers all over the place." Ron said angrily.  
  
"They are there for the purposes of informing you when you should be doing your homework. I myself can remember my own schedule but I don't believe you can. I don't blame you though wrong. Some people are born with the ability and some aren't. Those that aren't should just be given a firm nudge in the right direction."  
  
"Well to me it is all a load of French. I don't understand a word of it. And you say you want to give me a nudge into your perfect world but quiet frankly I like it where I am thank you very much. I don't need you to be leaning over my shoulder telling me what job to get and who to marry when I'm older. No offence to you Hermione, you are my friend and everything but stop babying me."  
  
"I'm not telling you who to marry and I wouldn't need to interfere if you did things for yourself. Friends look after friends and that is what I'm doing."  
  
"No, what YOU are doing is insulting me. I really don't need you to tell me when to do my homework or what socks to where. You think I'm not capable myself don't you?" Ron said as his voice took on an offensive tone. As with all third friends watching two other friends argue, he took a step backwards before things turned nasty.  
  
"Well I'm sorry Ron, I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought you would appreciate my assistance. Being more organised helps doesn't it?" Hermione said in a tone was probably mistaken for patronising.  
  
"You and your damn organisation. You would probably throw a party if Snape declared he required you to sort out his ingredients cupboard wouldn't you!"  
  
Luckily for Harry more than anyone else, the increasingly intense argument between Ron and Hermione was cut short by professor McGonagall who asked for them to fill in their times. "Now if you just write here Ronald." She said as she passed him a pen. "Fill in when you don't have lessons." She said tauntingly slowly. As if she personally doubted Ron's intelligence and ability to understand. "I'm not thick you know!" Ron said hotly as he snatched the pen and scribbled down a list of times. Professor McGonagall blinked in surprise as the epiphany sunk in. "Well I never said you were." She said realising she may have sounded offensive. "I just merely do not wish to let the reputation of the school go down in the mud due to a misunderstanding of training times, and Mr Weasley that will be the last time you take that tone with me. If you know what is good for you at least."  
  
Once everyone had filled in the form from professor McGonagall they went back to huddling closely together under the centre of the magical marquee as the rain plonked down lazily on the material above them. "Good, now that you have all completed this form I shall have it mathematically evaluated allowing the most efficient regime to be organised in which you will have the optimum time with a personal trainer." She said as she slipped the forms into a plastic folder. Ron cast her a suspicious glance before whispering to Harry, "I'm sure she isn't speaking English."  
  
Once they were fully instructed on "how to behave" whilst with the other schools professor McGonagall announced that they were aloud to go and that they would most likely receive their training timetables around dinner time. Everyone reluctantly trudged off. They made a quick dash along the school grounds through the rain as they pulled their cloaks over their heads to avoid getting wet. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat panting in the entrance hall as they caught their breath. Ro was the first to speak and what he said was what Harry was thinking  
  
"Why the frick was Bagman there? I thought he would be half way across the world running from goblins." He said as he looked at Harry to see as if this was the common opinion or weather he had just had a few too many Bertie Bots Beans and let his imagination get carried away.  
  
"Yeah after our forth year I never expected to see him again. Well unless I took a trip to Azkaban, which I don't intend to do." He added hastily as he received a shocked look from Hermione.  
  
"Don't you two know about it?" She asked in a genuinely surprised tone.  
  
"Know about what?" Harry and Ron both said in unison. Hermione stared at them for a moment before a small smile spread across her face. Harry watched as she licked her lips a little as if she was preparing for a great event. She opened her mouth and said in a secretive tone that would make even the most proper of people lean in for a quick listen.  
  
"Well not so much of a what as a who. It concerns Bagman." She said in a tone that suggested her only regret of this moment was that there weren't more people standing round listening in wonder to her terribly secret tale. At the end of the story they would no doubt give a small gasp and ask questions like "Really?" and "Oh my god how do you know?" A few people such as Pavarti and Lavender would probably praise her with comments such as "Wow Hermione how do you know such things?" in which the other would reply, "This is Hermione, she knows everything!"  
  
"HERMIONE!" Harry said loudly as Ron waved his hand in front of her. She jumped at the sudden sound. "What about Bagman?" Harry asked once he had Hermione's attention.  
  
"Oh sorry I just sort of drifted into a daydream for a moment. Anyway as I was saying abut Bagman. Well it actually happened quite some time ago now. Spring if my memory serves me correctly. Ludo Bagman was running through Peru when the Goblins caught up with him." She paused a moment to let a non- existent gasp transpire. "Anyway." She said with a slightly disappointed cough. "They caught up with him, and being Goblins and being naturally good at magic they managed to bring him in, not that he struggled but they still got him none the less Well of course once they got back to England they took him straight to the ministry. Now if it was anyone else they probably would have chucked him straight into Azkaban for a couple of years. However, since this is Ludo Bagman and he is a very widely known person once you start saying things "Azkaban" and "Money" people start saying stuff like "national scandal" and "banking swindle." Needless to say lots of people get angry." She had to stop at this point and take a breath, as does anyone from saying such a large amount of stuff in such a short amount of time.  
  
"So what happened?" Ron asked impatiently as he leaned in closely.  
  
"I'm just getting to that." Hermione said as she looked around just in case anyone by the name of L Bagman happened to be near by. "Well they couldn't just let him go so they did this thing that Muggles do called community services. Basically he had to sell off his house and everything he owns as part payment for the debts he owes. Then for the rest they make you do jobs like cleaning streets. It seems that the Ministry has contracted him to come and help us as one of his jobs. Therefore he doesn't actually have any choice, he has to be here unless he wants a harsher punishment." She finished off in a know it all tone.  
  
"Ron was displaying a stupid grin that showed perfectly he was thinking things along the lines of "I'm going to have a fun time making his life hell." "Wow Hermione how do you know such neat things like that?" He asked in amazement.  
  
Hermione blushed at what she obviously took as a compliment.  
  
"Well you see I read a little bit in the paper and then I heard the teachers talking earlier before you and Harry got out on the field." She said is a pride in her own intellect.  
  
"Well that is fascinating Mione but I don't suppose you fancy some lunch do you?" Harry said as he felt a rumble in his stomach.  
  
"Yeah sounds like a good idea. This Quidditch gives you quiet the hunger doesn't it." Hermione said as the three of them strolled along the corridor. Harry gave a laugh at Hermione's enthusiasm over the whole matter of Quidditch.  
  
"We didn't even play anything, we just stood there!"  
  
"Yes but all the same." she said before glancing over at Ron seemed to be puzzling over something as he rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Anything the matter Ron?" she asked as he frowned.  
  
"Well I was just thinking it is stupid really how you knew about Bagman but I didn't and my dad works at the Ministry. I never get told anything!" he said angrily as they walked into the hall. Hermione cast Harry a worried look before replying.  
  
"Well your dad probably had good reasons not to tell you. I'm sure if you asked him he would tell you. In fact he probably thought it was so unimportant that you wouldn't want to know."  
  
"No, there is a reason he didn't tell me. He has been secretive lately. It hasn't had anything to do with the order has it Harry?" Ron asked as they took a seat.  
  
"Not that I know of." Harry said truthfully. "But as Hermione said, I bet he has his reasons." 


	29. A Feud or Two and Some Sausages for Luck

"Not that I know of." Harry said truthfully. "But as Hermione said, I bet he has his reasons." Lunch past quickly for the three children, as did the remainder of their Sunday afternoon. They spent their time sat in the common room talking and playing cards. Hermione seemed particularly keen on the thought of the upcoming Quidditch match.  
  
"You're just excited because you think you will get to see Victor Krum again." Ron said with a trace of annoyance.  
  
"Not at all Ron. I'm excited because it will be wonderful to see the other schools and further our knowledge of international wizardry. Besides even if I wanted to see Victor Krum, which I can assure you I genuinely do not, then I wouldn't be able to because he isn't in school anymore is he." She said smartly. Ron gave a series of incoherent mumblings before turning his attention back to the chessboard where an overly excited knight was jumping on Harry's king, signalling the end of the game.  
  
"So Harry are you looking forward to the school trip?" Hermione asked casually as she turned another page of "A Billion Things About Magic You Never Knew, But Wanted To Know, And Now Finally Can!" Harry did a small double take as he looked up from his pile of broken pieces he had been tidying.  
  
"School trip? School trip? We have a School trip? When? How? Why?" He asked in complete surprise. Hermione laughed a little before putting her book down.  
  
"Well Harry I would have thought you had heard by now. Really you're so slow on these things. I guess if you don't know about it Harry, then you don't know either do you Ronald?" Hermione asked as she cast him a knowing glance. Ron gave a pleasantly vacant expression followed by an intellectual answer of  
  
"Um?"  
  
"Well Go look on the notice board for all the details." She commanded as she pointed a finger towards the board near the door that now had a piece of parchment pinned to it with large bold letters. As Harry drew nearer he could read the title.  
  
N.E.W.T Level School trip  
  
All Sixth and Seventh year students taking the Potions course this year will be going on a trip to further their knowledge of Potions and their origins. The course will be taking place on the morning of November the twentieth and will last the majority of the day. The students will be divided into two groups and will be each having a guided tour of a Potion Refining facility. Group one will be viewing the origins of ingredients and the work involved in obtaining some of these, whilst group two try their hand at practical uses and preparation of ingredients. In the afternoon the groups will swap over and continue with the work. The teachers in charge are myself (professor M. McGonagall) and professor Severus Snape. If you have trouble with this date please speak to one of us immediately. Due to the nature of the trip, lunch will be provided and so will transportation. Because of this we ask that you make a contribution of two galleons towards the cost. If this causes any problems financially please see me (your privacy shall be maintained regarding to this matter.) This course is vital for both years who wish to pass their potions course and a result is compulsory.  
  
Thank you  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
(Danger Rating **)  
  
Harry stared at the last part for a few minutes before asking,  
  
"What exactly does it mean by danger rating?" To no one in particular.  
  
"Well school trips get a danger rating out of five. Basically it is so that parents don't worry to much." Said Hermione as she had snuck up behind them. "If a trip has a danger rating of five then it means that you don't have to go if you don't want to because the school isn't liable should you die. The average is two so it probably just means we will be handling a few ingredients that cause boils and stuff." She said as she looked longingly at the piece of paper as though it were depicting a wonderful future.  
  
"Well it's a good job I'm not going." Said Ron happily as he jumped back onto a chair and spread his arms behind his head as if sunbathing.  
  
"Why is that? Asked Harry as he pushed Ron's legs to the side and took a seat.  
  
"Well there are various reasons. Just a few of them being the fact, I hate Snape, I hate potions, especially hate Snape and Potions together and this is what the trip involves. Besides it saves me the embarrassment of having to go to professor McGonagall and speak about the financial aspect of it. Nothing worse than sitting next to a teacher who thinks you are a tramp all day. I wouldn't want that, I'm fine as I am thanks." He said in a fake tone of joy.  
  
"Ron, the teachers already think you are a tramp anyway." Hermione said quickly. "The only reason you are happy is because you get the day off lessons. Well I asked professor McGonagall and she told me that lessons will still be running as usual so looks like you won't be having as much fun as me and Harry are after all." Hermione said in a know it all tone. Harry personally thought the idea of a day with Snape, examining potions and Hermione's side notes of "Oh professor blah blah blah" were far from fun, but he decided against making this apparent.  
  
"Well I can tell you one thing." Harry said in annoyance. "This trip wont all be fun and games. I will probably have to walk by the teacher's side if Remus and the Order have anything to do with it. They think I'm not capable of looking after myself." Hermione and Ron exchanged glances as per usual in such a situation as this. "They think I don't see." Harry thought as he watched his friends silent thoughts flow between the stare. "Even my friends question me. They think the teachers are right." He thought as he stared into Hermione's eyes.  
  
"Well Harry." Hermione began to say kindly. Harry however had no intention of listening to her saying something like "Oh but they only have your best interest at heart."  
  
"No Hermione, I know what you think. You think they are right don't you. You agree! You're supposed to be my friend and even you doubt my abilities. They are watching me always. They are probably watching now!" Harry said angrily as his voice rose and his eyes scanned the common room in case he would suddenly spot Remus sitting under a desk sneakily spying on him.  
  
"I never said we thought you were wrong." Hermione said defensively as other people in the common room started to turn round ad view the spectacle.  
  
"You don't have to say anything." Harry yelled back. "What do you think I have been doing this last month Hermione? I can tell what your thinking, what you're going to say. It is as clear to me as the words from my mouth. Remus ad the others are one thing but you Hermione, and you Ron." Harry said as he turned his attention to Ron who was apparently deeply immersed in his fingers. "I am disappointed in you two. You are supposedly my friends and you are supposed to be there for me. Friends don't doubt friends." He said finally as he turned in the direction of the portrait hole and stormed out of the common room.  
  
It was a tranquil silence that followed the vicious battle between the best of friends. The only sound that broke the silence of the darkened corridor was Harry's breathing and the blood pulsing through his temples. His feet carried him along the corridor for a moment. He didn't have somewhere to go to but he did have somewhere to go from. Many thoughts were going through Harry's mind at the moment. One of them was that he was sorry for shouting at his friends, the other was that he wondered why such an argument had arose from a trivial matter like a school trip. These thoughts changed however as he started thinking different things. The reason behind the new thoughts was that out of the shadows had suddenly appeared Remus.  
  
"Hey Harry." He said as he strolled along beside him. Harry said nothing but thought to himself. "Speak of the devil."  
  
"Anything wrong Harry?" Remus asked curiously as he broke the silence.  
  
"I suppose you know about the school trip then?" Harry asked, although he knew the answer, even without using the powers of Legilimency to search his adoptive father.  
  
"Yes actually. It's about Potions isn't it? You needn't worry about it though Harry. Professor McGonagall will be there at all times keeping a watch on you on behalf of the Order.  
  
"That's exactly the point Remus." Harry snapped. "I don't worry. It is you who does. You all worry too much. You think I need your supervision. You think my safety is of such an importance that it merits your time? Well the truth is I don't want, nor need your protection. I am capable of defending myself." Voldemort isn't after me. He is after something at the veil. Maybe if you spent your time working on that rather than with me you would have stopped him by now!" Remus opened and closed his mouth wordlessly as Harry spoke his feelings. The feelings that burned deep to the core.  
  
"But Harry, you." Remus began to mumble.  
  
"You never stopped to think whether I wanted it. Whether I wanted you watching me all the time. You insult me by saying I'm incapable of defending myself."  
  
"We're not insulting you Harry." Said Remus as this time his voice rose.  
  
"Yes you think I'm stupid, you think I would walk right into the hands of Voldemort. Well I'm smarter than he thinks and I'm far smarter than you think. You have wasted your time!" Harry wasn't sure entirely of what happened but he felt a white hot burn brush across his face. His eyes swivelled in their sockets as he sighted Remus' hand was raised. Remus had hit him sharply across the face. Harry fell to the floor and slid back a few feet across the cold stone floor.  
  
"I am doing what is in your best interest and what your father would have wanted. I know that should he be alive today he would be exactly where I am, guarding you from forces you don't comprehend. If you can't see that Harry then you aren't your fathers son after all!"  
  
Harry laid in stunned silence on the floor for a moment as he blinked several times and tried to take in exactly what happened.  
  
"You hit me?" He asked eventually. Remus stood staring down at him with a look in his eyes Harry had never seen before.  
  
"You hit me?!" he asked again. Remus let out a breath that he had been holding as he turned his gaze away from Harry.  
  
"I'm sorry for hitting you but you must learn to understand." Remus began to explain.  
  
"You hit me!" Harry said angrily as he pulled himself up off the cold floor. You are my legal guardian. You are meant to be like a father to me. You shouldn't be hitting me. If I wanted to get hurt I can think of several people other than you who can do that. If you're supposed to be my father then maybe I never do want a family!" He said as he started to turn and head back in the direction of the common room. He paused as Remus' voice called out after him.  
  
"Harry. As a guardian I'm not here to baby you. I am here to make sure you don't die, and I will tell you now if you take your current attitude in life then I most certainly will fail my job."  
  
Without another word Harry simply walked away. He wasn't walking to anywhere but the important point was that he was walking away. His face stung and his scar burned but he pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. Without intention Harry found he had walked to the library. He carefully walked in and found that after the shouting that had recently transpired between him and the world the silence of books made a pleasant change. It was like a silent bubble had formed around him and with the sound it blocked the troubles. Harry knew that he shouldn't have shouted at Hermione like he did but Remus, well it would be quiet a while before Harry intended to speak to him.  
  
He took a seat at the back end of the library near the restricted section. With the rainy storm outside it was dark inside and the candles that were few down this area made a feeble attempt at casting the room into light. Harry wandered around trying to find a book that could perhaps interest his occupied mind. In the end he just picked up a book on "Basic Wizarding Law: Know Your rights!" He folded open the book at the middle and slumped down on the desk.  
  
.if persons A finds themselves in a situation relating to vegetables and/or death that subsequently would lead to the misinterpretation of a threatening gesture.  
  
"I wonder what Ron and Hermione are doing now?" Harry though as his mind started to wander.  
  
...then person B would be entitled to use forceful means to remove the vegetable in question from the threatening person whom with the intent of murder would proceed to beat you with a marrow...  
  
I wonder if they are having as much fun as me." He thought sarcastically as his head slumped and his eyes jumped several lines on the book.  
  
...then person C whom at this time space continuum vertices can consider themselves in a suitable literal position to apprehend and ascertain the vegetable murderer without the discriminating purpose that may arise from such a situation.  
  
He mumbled as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.  
  
He mumbled as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep. Darkness swam in front of his eyes as his tired mind retreated to the depths of peace. Then however, rather than being met with a peaceful silence, colour wormed its way in through a gap in front of him. It spread out quickly like water spilling across a table. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the new surroundings. It was a moment before he realised what he was seeing. It was a long room that from what he could see had no windows. All it had was one long table and two chairs for furniture. These however, didn't look like any ordinary furniture. They were cut from tress thousands of years old and as a result the wood was almost black. The chairs had no sort of cushion and instead were left hard and uncomfortable. There was from what he could see, no windows. The only source of light came from the dozens of candles that lined the walls. It wasn't these however that caused the uneasy feeling in Harry's stomach. It was the walls that found his attention. They appeared to be made of a cold stone but it was difficult to tell because they had been painted. Now a sensible person who owned a room with no windows would probably paint it white so as to maximise the brightness of it. To put it bluntly this room certainly wasn't white. The walls had been elaborately painted to resemble a field. The field seemed strangely familiar, although Harry couldn't figure out why.  
  
Never in his life had he seen something like this. On the painting the field was lined with pictures of dead bodies and skeletons, all burning in the furnace that had been painted around them. As he examined the wall a question crept into his mind. If a sensible person would paint this room white then what sort of person would cover it with dying people? Of course, as Harry stared into the eyes of one particularly grotesque dying lady the answer became as obvious as the pain upon her face. Voldemort. This was another of his dreams. He was Voldemort. Harry noticed that for the first time he was actually sitting down in one of the hard wooden chairs. He watched as a pale hand with long fingers reached out and picked up a date. It reached towards his mouth and ate them slowly, as if savouring the taste. Harry who had never been a big fan of dates and scary food, turned his eyes to look away from Voldemort who was sitting staring straight ahead. Harry looked as much as he could back at the wall and noticed something he hadn't noticed while looking at the other side. On this side of the wall there was more to the picture. A dark lake was in the middle. It had a hint of red from where a river of blood had run into it. Then up at the top of the field Harry could see something that looked like the remains of a large building. Rubble littered the ground around two lone figures that remained. Harry stared at the with cold chill he saw what possibly had scared him more than anything else he had seen in his life. The two lone figures were recognisable to him. He had seen both faces many times. Although only ever once in this situation. The first person was standing with a manic expression on his face. He had round glasses and a lighting scar. The second figure, who looked to be in considerably worse health was knelt on one knee with his glasses missing. The painting was showing what Harry had seen in his dream. He had nearly pushed it out of his mind. Written it off as a bad nightmare until now. Now it burned freshly in his mind. The dream, the picture, they were the same. Harry was pointing his wand at Dumbledore's head. The words came to him, what he had said that night. "Are you that naïve? Can you still not understand why? You have become weak in your old age. It is time for it to end."  
  
"How can Voldemort have seen this?" Harry wondered as his eyes continued to stare in disbelief at the painting that was the wall. Harry did not however have time to dwell on the meaning of it as a loud creak came from the door that swung open at the far end of the room. Harry watched in interest as the woman walked, or rather strutted confidently, across to the hard wooden seat that was at the opposite end of the table from Harry and Voldemort. In one fluid movement that surprised Harry, the woman jumped down and swung her feet up onto the table with a loud thud.  
  
"Manners Bellatrix, Manners." Voldemort said in a tone that didn't have seem to have threat. Bellatrix however seemed to take no notice of him.  
  
"Do you like dates?" Voldemort asked as he picked one up and inspected it for a moment before popping it into his mouth. Bellatrix grinned at him for a moment before replying.  
  
"Well I used to like dates, but I tended to find most of my boyfriends didn't appreciate being killed. The edible kind however, I must say are not to my liking." Voldemort gave one of his eerie laughs that ended very abruptly as though his vocal cords had been cut half way through.  
  
"They are an acquired taste. Much like unicorns' blood. They have their own sweetness that is only surpassed by the forbidden aftertaste."  
  
"I'm sure they are." Said Bellatrix with a hint of sarcasm as she tossed back her hair and took a sip of the large glass of what Harry only hoped was red wine.  
  
"How about some meat? Meat is good. Not overly done, nice, raw, meat?" He said as he clicked his fingers and within seconds three worried looking chiefs had run into the room.  
  
"Well as much as I enjoy meat, especially bloody, I'm afraid I have already eaten, the food is as I'm sure you know, rather exquisite down in Zexanya. And it seemed wasteful to travel such a way without sampling the cuisine." She said as she gave one of the chefs who was visibly shaking a little pat on the shoulder before pushing him in the direction of the door.  
  
"Well then do tell me off your wonderful time in Zexanya, and I don't mean the food." Voldemort said while waving his hand at the chefs and signalling them to go.  
  
"Oh you mean the mission?" Bellatrix asked as thought straining her memory to recall it."  
  
"Well I am assuming from your attitude that it went well, it must have if you feel confident enough hat you put your feet on my table and expect to keep them. So is my assumption correct?" he asked while picking another date from the box with his long skeletal fingers.  
  
"It might be." Said Bellatrix as she examined her fingers which appeared to be speckled with blood.  
  
"Don't play games Bellatrix. You know I don't like your games."  
  
"I know you do, and you know it."  
  
"I know you know and I pretend not to know so I will say I don't and you will pretend to know that is the truth, when in fact it is not." He said with a small laugh.  
  
"Oh well if that is the case, then yes it went well, as well as should be expected. We are one step closer to your goal. Of course we cannot get the final ingredient until the passage is ready. Said Bellatrix as he voice cracked under the excitement of whatever she was talking about.  
  
"And when will this exactly?" said Voldemort with such an interest Harry could feel it.  
  
"A month or two, but then after that the world is yours forever." Said Bellatrix in a tone that only meant trouble.  
  
Harry wasn't entirely sure of what they were talking about but for some reason he had the impression that this passage they were talking about was not going to lead to a picnic and party games.  
  
"So master I don't suppose you would care to throw some light my way as to what your grand plan is?" Asked Bellatrix as she took another sip of red wine.  
  
"You doubt me?" asked Voldemort with an air of superiority in his voice that said to anyone who knew him well enough that if they liked their current life then it might be in their best interest to say "Me? No, never!"  
  
"Of course I don't doubt you my sir. I know you plan will be grand, they always are. I am merely wondering of what could be such a thing to make you go to the lengths you do." She said as she stared straight into Voldemort's' red eyes.  
  
"Well after the incident with Severus I have had to keep my secrets secret. You could be a traitor for all I know, although the chance of that is about as high as my plan failing, which I assure you is not going to happen." He said as one of the wobbling waiters returned carrying an enormous silver plate covered with small sausages on cocktail sticks shaped like swords, and some hot toast.  
  
"A hint then?" asked Bellatrix as she started rocking back on the hard wooden chair and clicking her knuckles. Voldemort sat thoughtfully as he picked up one of the sausages and twizzled it in front of him for a moment before removing the cocktail sword and eating it. He then squinted for a moment with one eye while making stabbing gestures with the minute sword at Bellatrix's head.  
  
"Well I suppose a hint is possible, just to wet your appetite of course. I suppose I can tell you it concerns the prophecy." He said as his eyes flicked up from the toast and sausages to face Bellatrix calculatingly, evaluating what exactly she was thinking.  
  
"The prophecy? I thought it only predicted that you would kill your young friend Harry?" "Yes it might have. But the prophecy exists for a reason." He said in a suggestive tone as he picked up a piece of hot buttered toast. Bellatrix looked like she was very much enjoying herself as she rocked on her chair, her eyes occasionally flicking to the plate of toast and sausages. "You can have some if you like, the sausages that is. My toast is to good for you, you see." Voldemort said as he followed her gaze. He slid the plate along the long table after taking another piece of toast for good measures.  
  
Bellatrix picked up a few of the sausages with the shiny little swords.  
  
"Any other hints? " She asked daringly.  
  
"Well I don't think I want to get you to excited today now do I? Other than the prophecy I suppose I can tell you that it will involve death." He said as he took a large bite of the buttered toast he was holding.  
  
"Death? Don't all your plans involve death? Rather a lot of it as well, if I may be so bold as to say.  
  
"Well yes I suppose they do, still it makes things fun doesn't it? Death, one of the few things in life better than toast!"  
  
Bellatrix gave a quick snort, but stopped briefly due to the angry stare Voldemort was giving her, and the fact she was choking on one of the sausages. After a moment in which she managed to clear her throat, she twiddled one of the swords in between her thumb and finger. Voldemort sat eating his toast as Bellatrix played with the sword, both of them in silence.  
  
"Oh dear how clumsy of me?" said Bellatrix in a sarcastic tone.  
  
"What is it?" asked Voldemort as he leaned forward in his seat slightly.  
  
"Well it seems that I have accidentally cut my finger while playing with the sword, and now there is blood everywhere." She said in an exasperated tone, before sucking the blood from her finger and relishing the taste.  
  
"Oh well I had better have a look at that. It could be nasty." Voldemort said in a suggestive tone and a large grin, as he got up from his seat.  
  
Harry cringed in pain for a moment as his scar seared with a burning sensation from Voldemort's evil thirst for power. Suddenly in a second that lasted a year, something changed. It was all down to emotions to tell the truth. Harry could feel Voldemort's emotions when they were strong, and when Harry felt it, Voldemort felt it.  
  
"Potter!" he snarled in an angry hiss. A flash followed and the next thing that happened was Harry woke up in a cold sweat on the desk with his face stuck to the page of wizarding law. It took him several seconds to remember where he was and just how he had gotten there. It had involved Remus, and he had been hit. Then, like a veil of mystery being lifted from his mind everything clicked back into place where it should be. He looked round at the room which was somewhat darker than when he had fallen asleep, as several of the candles had burned out and the others had burned so low into themselves that the flame wasn't visible other than by the very faint light it cast on the ceiling above.  
  
"What had Voldemort said?" mused Harry as he rubbed his head thoughtfully and in an attempt to num the pain. The details became misty to him as did his vision as a few tears of pain fogged his eyes. "There was Voldemort and someone else. They said something about a plan and how it would be complete in a few months. He cursed to himself as he struggled to remember anything. It was all a mystery to him. It was as if someone was literally wiping the dream from his mind. Within the minute all that was left was Harry sitting at the desk, with the knowledge that he had fallen asleep, and a strange hunger for sausages on cocktail sticks. Slightly confused, Harry got up and went over to the bookcase where he slid the book back to where it belonged, and then started making his way out of the library. He had to stop however as a figure came into his few. It was moving soundlessly and seemed to glide across the floor straight towards him. Harry froze in his place as his hand anxiously reached towards his pocket to his wand, just in case. The shadowed figure stopped abruptly as they stood staring each other.  
  
"Harry?" said the shadowed figure as it stared straight at him.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Harry in an attempt to stall the menacing looking figure, as his hands got caught on the baggy robe and he struggled to find a way into his pocket and to his wand  
  
"You, have made a grave mistake and it is my duty to make sure justice is done." Said the unfamiliar muffled voice come from the figure.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Harry in slight fear as he took a small step back. The figure stood still for a moment before taking a step towards him and allowing the light from one of the few still effective candles on the wall, to wash away the dark illusion and reveal the person for whom they really were.  
  
"Ron?" Asked Harry slightly confused, although greatly relieved at the same time.  
  
"Hey." Said Ron is the muffled voice as he spoke whilst shoving another cake in his mouth.  
  
"Don't do that, you scared me. Lurking up all quietly. Were you trying to be sneaky?" Harry asked in a slightly annoyed tone.  
  
"No!" said Ron truthfully as he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out another cake, only this one looked as if it had been squashed, and had bits of fluff sticking out of it.  
  
"Then why were you slinking about? You don't glide when you walk, you sort of bounce because your shoes are old and floppy."  
  
"Well I didn't want to be to noisy. You know after last time I was in here a think madam Pince has it in for me." He said in a hushed tone as he quickly glanced round the library, as if expecting to see her lurking behind a bookshelf brandishing a large dictionary with which she desired to beat Ron. Harry considered this for a moment, after all it didn't do arm to be cautious.  
  
"What were you saying about me making a mistake and having to make sure justice was done?"  
  
"Oh that." said Ron in a serious tone, or at least as serious as you can sound with a muffled voice from a mouthful of cake. "You need to go and apologise to Hermione." He said as he swallowed. "She seemed kind of upset."  
  
"How can you tell?" asked Harry as the familiar feeling of guilt started to make itself apparent  
  
"Well I have a sixth sense about these things. It is kind of like her aura changes and you needed to be really clever to notice, and not many people can tell, but I can! That and the fact she was crying." said Ron stupidly.  
  
"She was crying?" asked Harry, as suddenly he felt rather small. It is strange how hearing something like that can change your perspective on what you have done. In Harry's case he suddenly felt that perhaps the shouting was rather unnecessary. Perhaps a lot of the things lately seemed pointless, but for some reason that is the way it was. "Well I think I will go and apologize. I wouldn't want her thinking that I don't like her any more."  
  
"No I don't think you should go and speak to her at the moment. Lets go and have some dinner instead. Maybe she will come down and you can apologize to her then. " Ron said as he pulled Harry out of the library.  
  
"Are you sure I shouldn't just quickly go and tell her?" asked Harry worriedly.  
  
"No trust me you don't want to" said Ron in a tone that boasted wisdom. "I have it from my sources that all girls need to cry sometimes and when they do they need to be left alone." Harry gave him a sideward glance for a minute before asking.  
  
"Ron, have you been reading that little book your mother gave you again?" 


	30. New Minds

Harry gave him a sideward glance for a minute before asking.  
  
"Ron, have you been reading that little book your mother gave you again?" Harry didn't meet Hermione on the way down to the great hall, nor was she there when he walked in and sat down. Harry helped himself to some soup and sandwiches as he sat in silence fretting over whether he had jeopardised his relationship with his best friend, or at least his best friend other than Ron. "I'm sure she will be down in a minute. Then you can say sorry and she will be happy and everything will be good again and you can help me with my Charms homework." Ron said reassuringly as he slipped in the last bit subtly. Harry however didn't get much of a chance to fret over it as professor McGonagall strode down the gap between the house tables towards them. "Oh yeah the Quidditch time tables. I forgot about that. I was so distracted by dinner it completely slipped my mind." Ron said eagerly as he stared at professor McGonagall as if urging her to walk faster.  
  
"Mr Weasley, Potter, here are your timetables relating to the matter of Quidditch timetables. I'm sure you know where miss Granger is so I trust that if I give you her timetable as well, it will get to her safely and promptly." She said as she thrust three envelopes towards them. Ron passed his to Harry and then pocketed Hermione's. He was about to open his letter when he stopped, and looked at McGonagall, whom was still standing there. "Oh you can go now professor." He said as he made a gesture in the direction of the teacher's table. "No Mr Weasley I will be leaving once you have told me your time table is acceptable, and in future you should be more polite. If I were in charge of any other house I would have points deducted from you. If I were professor Snape I would probably try and have you expelled in fact!" she said as a very small smile tugged at the sides of her otherwise expressionless face. Harry opened his timetable and peered down at the times. He had been assigned Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. He also had Sundays, the entire morning up until lunchtime. "Now I know that when it is raining or windy you may not want to get up but this is very important as you have already been told numerous times." Said professor McGonagall as she misread Harry's frown. "Er, no actually professor. It wasn't that that I was thinking about. It is just that I only get one night off a week and I might have trouble getting my homework in on time." Professor McGonagall stared straight at Harry for a moment before replying in her same cheery sounding tone. Oh yes of course. Well your grades have picked up this year so you shouldn't find it to difficult. You could even do you homework in some of your free lessons. But I do however understand that N.E.W.T. levels can be taxing, so I will give you an extra day for each piece of transfiguration homework." She said as if she were doing Harry a great favour. "Thanks professor." Said Harry as he mumbled sarcastically that he could hardly restrain himself jumping in joy. "Good. After all the game all comes down to you and the snitch. We might have great Chasers and better Beaters, but if you can't manage where it matters then it doesn't do much good does it. I assume you are fine with everything Ronald? "She said as she suddenly turned her attention back to Ron who was shovelling food into his face while staring at the letter and occasionally letting bits of food drop down onto the paper leaving dirty marks. "Yeah. They are." He said in a tone that said it was rude to interrupt someone while they were eating, which in Ron's case meant polite people never got the chance to speak to him.  
  
So when do you have your tryouts?" Harry asked once professor McGonagall had walked away. Ron looked round his plate and round the food like mess for a minute before finding the slip of paper. He wiped some mashed potato of it and examined it for a minute.  
  
"Well I have practise on Tuesdays and Fridays after dinner. Then I have them on Saturday night and all of Sunday. Have you got the same?" He asked stupidly. Harry gave a small sigh as he considered his lack of free time.  
  
"Well no I don't. I have my remedial potions with Snape on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My practice is on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sunday. Looks like I only have one practice a week at the same time as you. It probably won't even be the same time. That means I only have Saturdays free to do my homework!" Harry said in a tone of disbelief.  
  
"Well.It could be worse.You could.mwafafa" Ron said in between mouthfuls of food." Harry decided that he didn't really care to ask what mwafafa meant. Instead his mind strayed back to Hermione who had still not returned. "Maybe she would like some food?" he thought hopefully. Food always made Ron feel better, maybe it would do the same for her, or at least help a little.  
  
"Hey Ron, I am going to go and take some food to Hermione." Harry said as he stood up and put some potatoes, chicken and gravy on the empty plate beside him.  
  
"Ok." Ron replied absentmindedly as he watched Luna who seemed to be drifting over towards them. Harry hastily made his exit, and managed to avoid a stupid pointless conversation with Luna talking about something undoubtedly dull.  
  
Harry was walked up the cold stares quickly, trying to avoid it getting cold, because as anyone will know when gravy gets cold it develops a skin and if it has a skin then theoretically it could have a brain, and eating something that has a brain isn't a nice thought. It was near the common room when Harry tripped on one of the stairs and in one of those very deep, slow motion yells, he said  
  
"Nooooooooooooooooooo" he got up a few seconds later and brushed off the potato. "Great." He said to himself. Hermione's dinner is ruined and I look like a big gravy idiot.  
  
Harry hastily made his way to his dormitory (the kind of haste that is only achievable by someone who is trying to avoid looking like a big gravy idiot) where he picked up a change of clothes and a towel, before heading off for the prefects bathroom. He mumbled to himself angrily as he walked along the deserted corridor. "Stupid gravy. I bet this never happened to Dumbledore." An hour later Harry walked out of the bathroom. So clean he was squeaking, or at least looking like he might. As he made his way into the common room he noticed that it was considerably busier than before, now that dinner had finished it seemed everyone in Gryffindor was there, everyone except Hermione. Instead he spotted Ron who was looking rather proud of himself and reciting a story of how he became the youngest ever wizard to eat fourteen consecutive pies from a restaurant called the greasy spoon. "Hey Ron have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked impatiently as Ron's story seemed to drag on and, in the end he gave up and interrupted. "Huh. Oh I thought she was with you Harry. I figured you must have apologised and then since you were finally alone together, you know." "?" Harry said in a bewildered tone. "Well she isn't in her bedroom." Lavander said as if reading his mind. "Oh ok well I didn't really get round to apologising so I will just be." Harry began to say but realised that Ron had now returned to his pie eating story, and so he was talking to himself.  
  
Harry searched all the usual places in which he thought he might find Hermione, he even checked the library twice, to no avail. Harry was just considering giving up for the night, when he walked past a classroom. It was one of the many classrooms of Hogwarts that seemed to serve no real purpose at least not for teaching. I(n fact if there hadn't been the faint noise from inside Harry probably never would have noticed it. He paused for a minute as he held his breath, in order to try and identify what it was that he could hear. It sounded like sobbing. He very carefully pushed open the door while he held his breath as to avoid making any noise. This didn't matter however as the door gave a creek. Harry was met with the sight of a dark room containing several small desks, a large dusty bookcase and one regular sized Hermione. She jumped at the sound of the door and spun round to face him. "Who... who's there?" She choked out in a cracked voice of someone who has been crying. Harry watched as she climbed down of the desk she had been sitting on by the corner and quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes that were probably obscuring her vision. Harry remained silent for a moment as he watched her curiously. "I order you to make yourself apparent." Hermione said in the most dignified tone she could muster. "As a prefect I must warn you there will be most dire consequences should you not!"  
  
"Whoa Mione, calm down it is only me." Harry said as he took a few steps closer.  
  
"H-Harry?" Hermione sniffed as she wiped her eyes.  
  
"I came to talk to you." Harry said in what he hoped was a comforting tone."  
  
"Well. you scared me. You shouldn't be lurking around at night." She said in a tone much more composed than she had a few moments ago.  
  
"Well I'm a prefect. It is my job to lurk." Harry said with a small laugh as he grabbed one of the nearby classroom stools and sat down. As Harry looked At Hermione brushing the hair out of her eyes he suddenly realised how small she was compared to him even when he was sitting down, she was only about an inch taller than him.  
  
"So what you been up to?" Harry asked in an innocent tone.  
  
"Well I was just patrolling the corridors when I thought.I um heard a noise in here. and I walked in and I got dust in my eyes. and it made them start watering." She said in a tone that could possibly fool someone other than Harry.  
  
"I have known you for five years. I can tell when you are lying. It is about earlier. you and me isn't it?" Harry asked knowingly."  
  
"Well I er. that is." Hermione said as she looked anywhere but into Harry's eyes.  
  
"Look." He said in wisdom beyond his years, as he took her wrist and pulled her closet. "I know you are upset about how I shouted at you and Ron earlier, and you have every right to be. All I can say is I am sorry and I will try my hardest to make sure we don't argue ever again, especially about something as stupid as that. You are my best friend Hermione and I would be greatly upset if that ever changed. You have saved me on many occasions and I hope you will do in the future. If I were you then I wouldn't forgive me, but I'm not you, and you are a better person than I am so please, if we can be friends again then it would be pretty neat." Hermione stared at him for a moment, that was perhaps several moments. Eventually a smile passed over her face which shone in her familiar bright way.  
  
"Oh you great big idiot Harry! Of course I forgive you. How could I not. Especially after that wise speech that probably took you the best part of an hour to come up with." She said as she gave him a hug. Just one thing. Please, never use Legilimency on me to see what I'm thinking. A girls thoughts are private." She said with a blush. Harry gave a sheepish laugh. "It's a deal." He said as he gave her a pat on the back.  
  
"Oh one other thing." Hermione said in a curious tone as she made a sniffing sound. "Why do you smell of gravy?"  
  
Harry awoke the next morning, much to his reluctance. When he looked up he realised Ron was already awake. Or at least conscious, as he seemed to walking round the room in a sort of zombie state. Harry gave a shudder as the winter chill hit him. It was always cold in winter as the school windows were only thin, and even though they were closed Harry could feel the coldness coming from them. "Ron, Ron!" Harry said as his friend walked in circles for a few minutes before he fell over his bed and landed with his legs over the side, waving in the air as he attempted to continue walking. Harry got up and walked over to Ron, where after a few shoves and a swift jab in the kidneys Ron finally awoke. "Oh right, did I get out of bed? What day is it?" he asked in a befuddled tone. "It's Monday, that means lessons" Harry said slowly, as Ron's tired brain struggled to comprehend just what was being said to him. "When did you go to bed anyway?" he asked suspiciously. Ron swung himself round so that his legs were hanging over the side of his bed, and he was in fact a mirror reflection of Harry. He got up and walked over to the bathroom. Harry listened for a few moments as he heard a tap running. After about thirty seconds there was a loud splash, and a loud yelp of "Jiminy Jelly, it's COLD!" Ron walked back in with wide eyes and a very wet looking head. He left a trail of water behind him as his hair dripped across the wooden floor. "I'm awake now." Ron said through chattering teeth as he resumed his seat on the side of the bed, and reached for his towel.  
  
"What were you saying to me before?" Ron asked after a final yawn. "What time did you go to bed, four?" Harry asked as he pulled on a shirt, readying himself for an undoubtedly dull morning. "Yeah about that." Ron said with a grin which basically gave Harry no option other than to ask. "Why?" "Well you see it was last night, after dinner. You and Hermione had disappeared somewhere so I went and hung out with Luna for a bit." "Yeah." said Harry, not entirely sure of where this was going. "Well she invited me back to the Ravenclaw common room, you know. It isn't as good as here but still. I met some of her friends and just chilled for a bit." "Ok." said Harry with the familiar feeling of suspicion creeping its way into his mind. "Well as the time went on her friends sort of went of to bed and eventually it was just me and her in the common room." "And?" Harry asked, although he was hoping this wasn't going to go where it seemed like it was going. "Well we talked for a while, got to know each other better. What she likes and doesn't like and what she doesn't like." "Oh." Harry said through lack of anything better to say. "Ron wouldn't. Not Ron. Ron would never do such THINGS. Neville maybe. But Ron?" Harry thought to himself. "Well you see after a while things got a bit playful and well one thing led to another." Ron said stupidly. "He did he did!" Harry thought in complete shock. "I have to tell you Harry, it was amazing. I heard dad talking about it before but cor, I never could have imagined it would be so good. Luna taught me how to do it all. She was a real pro, she was even better than me. I know it was my first time but I think I was pretty good still. Before we knew it, it was four o'clock. We had been at it all night! I tell you it was exhausting." "Um Ron. What are you talking about?" Harry asked as he silently prayed this wasn't going to end as some sort of sick tale, for if that was the case the Harry had already heard far more than he cared for. Ron looked at Harry with an enormous grin as he recalled last night actions. "Harry. You have not lived until you have tried it. It is what life is all about. Tidily Winks!"  
  
"Tidily Winks?" Harry said in disbelief. "Yup it's a muggle game. Dad told me about it once but I thought it was just one of his usual boring things but I couldn't have been more wrong. It is apparently a game only for those with the deepest concentration and a rare grasp of precision." He said smugly, in the tone of someone very thick who has been invited into the society of clever people and finds it involves lemonade, crumpets and the occasional game of ping-pong, much to his delight. "That is all you did?" Harry asked, hardly believing his own luck. "You bet. I'm talking five straight hours. At first I wasn't that great but by the time thee am rolled round I was winking from right across the other side of the room. "Anyway as much as I'm sure you would love to listen we are gonna be late if we don't get going soon!" Ron said exasperatedly. In a few minutes they had made their way down to the great hall. Ginny and Hermione were already there and were eating some porridge. Harry and Ron both sat down opposite them and helped themselves to breakfast. "What lessons have we got today?" Ron asked as he spread liable amounts of marmalade on his toast. "Well I don't know about you but since today is a Monday that means I have Charms this morning with Transfiguration later and lots of lovely lashing of potions to finish off the day. Isn't life wonderful?" Harry said sarcastically, but cheerfully none the less. Hermione glanced up from her food for a moment as though Harry had said something to her. His eyes met hers for a moment before Hermione blushed and looked away. "So did you get professor Flitwick's homework done Ron? " Harry asked as he ignored her and continued with the subject of the morning. "Um, yes with a but." Ron said hopefully, as he quickly glanced at Hermione and prepared himself for a scolding of some sort. None came, much to everyone's surprise. Instead she just sat playing with her breakfast. "Is everything alright Mione?" Ron asked suspiciously. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy not doing his homework and not getting moaned at it by Hermione It was just the fact that it was new, and as it is known to many people (especially old ones who sit round watching murder mysteries) new things are scary. "Oh yeah everything is fine." Hermione said hastily, as she gave everyone a glance, as if suspecting someone to disagree. "Anyway if you will excuse me I have some stuff to do." Hermione said before getting up and leaving the hall, with Ginny following shortly behind. "Any idea what that was about?" Harry asked suspiciously. It wasn't that people acting strangely annoyed him. It was just when they were looking at him and rubbing their chin in a masterful manner that he got a little suspicious.  
  
Fifteen minutes later Harry and Ron were queuing up outside the Charms classroom waiting for professor Flitwick when the familiar voice of Draco wafted through the air towards them. "So Potter got Quidditch practises from now on have you? Super important I bet. Distractions would be a nuisance wouldn't they." He said in a tone usually adopted by stupid people, a few seconds before they receive a swift blow round the head. "Did you actually have anything useful to say Malfoy or are you just dwindling away the sad lonely days of your life?" Harry said tiredly. Malfoy's eyes twitched for a minute as he took a step closer to Harry and said in a tone of anger. "You ought to watch it Potter? Wouldn't it be terrible if you got knocked off your broom and died?" Harry's heart did a skip. Very rarely had someone other than Voldemort made a claim about personally attempting to end his life. "Why what did you have in mind? Would you fly after me and catch me, and then a quick shove? Maybe I should be scared but I guess when we look at your zero percent success rate at catching the snitch I don't have much to worry about after all." Harry knew he was treading on dangerous ground by provoking Malfoy but in a way Harry wanted to see what he would do. He wanted to see how well his powers had improved since all his studying over the summer. "Are you looking for a fight or are you just being arrogant?" Malfoy said in a vicious tone as the situation seemed to be developing into much more than just the normal banter they had, and for no real reason. "God, he is annoying today." Harry thought as he reflected Malfoy's calculating stare. "Why does he have to breath so loudly? And why is his hair so stupid. What kind of stupid name is Draco anyway?!" "Well I thought I would take a leaf out of your book." Harry replied in a quick witted manner. "You've got guts Potter. I want to see them." Draco said as he attempted to close the distance between them. He failed however as a searing pain shot through both boys legs, causing them to break from the imminent fight.  
  
Harry looked down to see who had hit him, and found himself facing the beaming face of professor Flitwick. "Oh I'm sorry boys, I must have slipped. I do hope I haven't hurt you. I will have to make sure it doesn't happen again." He said warningly. Harry gave Malfoy a quick glance, which was sent back to him, saying that this wasn't over. He then turned to Ron and walked into the classroom.  
  
"What was your problem with him Harry?" Ron asked once the class had settled down and professor Flitwick had started scraping away at the blackboard with piece of chalk measuring about two foot long. It allowed him to reach higher up on the board but the problem was that his writing was somewhat messy and looked as if it was written by a man called jiminy jelly, who surprisingly enough was made entirely of jelly and thus had very wobbly hand writing. "With who?" Harry asked in an innocent tone. "Draco. You know. Greasy. Annoying. You had an argument with him outside." Ron said as he hastily turned the end of his sentence into a somewhat suspicious cough, as professor Flitwick looked around for the person who was talking. "What do you mean Ron. I haven't spoken to him since." Harry whispered, before stopping mid sentence. Something had happened this morning. Harry could remember everything up until he got to the Charms classroom. "I didn't go in straight away. I waited for a minute. Did I speak to Malfoy? I don't think I did, but ten what does Ron mean?" he thought, as he racked his brain. "Ron, I want you to be honest to me. Don't try and trick me or anything, just tell me what did I say to Malfoy?" Harry asked as he pretended to scribble down some more notes. Ron's eyes widened in disbelief as he realised that Harry was being serious. "You really don't know? Wow!" Ron said in shock as he looked round to make sure no one with great big giraffe ears was listening. "Well Malfoy was being his usual self and rather than telling him to just go away like we normally do, you went into a sort of super witty mode. You got pretty angry at him and stuff, for what I could tell was no reason." Silence followed this comment as Harry contemplated what this meant, and why he couldn't remember, whilst Ron sat and thought about pie. Mainly chocolate pie.  
  
"So what could it be?" Ron asked a few minutes later as he continued the conversation. "I really don't know Ron, and to tell the truth I would rather not talk about it. It was like a whole different me." Harry said glumly. "What was that Mr. Potter?" said the squeaky voice of professor Flitwick as it became apparent he had finished talking, and was now walking round the classroom surveying the work. "But I do have to agree with you there. You do seem an entirely different person this year, if you don't mind me saying so. Your grades are definitely improving and I think so is your attitude. Hopefully you will continue to do so. After all when you do well I do well don't I. Now have you done that homework you two?"  
  
Harry reached into his bag and produced the crisp homework. Ron did what you may have done once or twice in your lifetime. I myself do it several times a week...or day. You reach in your bag and rummage round for a few minutes until the teacher starts making huffing sounds. At this point you then stop searching for the non existent homework, and remove you hand from the messy bag containing what appears to be several miscellaneous objects of food, and anything but homework. Now the next part is tough, but Ron managed to pull it off like a pro. You display a rather befuddled look whilst rubbing your head lightly and muttering in a disappointed tone. "Oh that's strange. I could have sworn I put it in my bag right after I finished it. Damn, and it was so good and everything. It was probably just about the best piece of homework ever as well." The purpose of this is that the teacher, tired of waiting, has either by this point fallen asleep standing up, or just got so impatient that they simply couldn't bare the prospect of you going in for another search, and instead just mark down your grade depending on how you described your work. It has varying effectiveness depending on whom the teacher in question is. With professor Snape, people who attempted this just landed themselves a greasy Sunday afternoon cleaning out potion vats. On professor Flitwick however, many students had realised he simply replied in his squeaky voice. "Oh that's a shame. I was really looking forward to seeing some work from you this year. Still if you forgot to put it in your bag then there is really nothing I can do. Still I suppose there is always next year!" And so that is the way it went.  
  
Recently the class had moved onto something new, having spent long enough on the Crelatio charm and made no progress (with the exception of Harry) professor Flitwick decided that it was now time to move onto something else useful, and more dull, a charm for mending bruised fingers. No one was particularly interested in this though because of several reasons. The first being that it wasn't nearly as exciting as the other lessons. The second being that it was dull and boring and non interesting and just about every other word that sums up the excitement of the spell. Another, and perhaps the most reasonable reason of all being that it was Monday morning, and as everyone knows Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are perfectly excusable in the terms of work not done. It is an unspoken agreement that said we are all to tired to work so at least pretend to be doing so, so that if Dumbledore happened to peep round the door the teacher won't get in trouble.  
  
Therefore professor Flitwick had pulled up a tall stool and was sat down on the table, opposite Harry and Ron. He had done this a few times since the start of the school year, as it had become apparent to him that they had both learned the books from cover to cover and thus, were a stride ahead of the rest of the class who were practising the spell on some very purple looking bruised worms. Since Harry and Ron were both now in their NEWT years, it meant that the charms course wasn't compulsory, and that anyone in the classroom was their because they wanted to be. "Oh and as I was saying to the troll about the thoroughly improper use of the Gilgo charm he had participated in." he blarbed on as Harry and Ron pretended to sound interested, whilst pretending to work for Flitwick's sake. They both by now had become accustomed to the fact that professor Flitwick perhaps exuded favouritism in their general direction, and thus it was bestowed upon them to endure his moribund tales.  
  
There were positive points to being on gossiping terms with a teacher other than Hagrid (Hagrid didn't really count because as far as he went, he was the "Loner Larry" of the teacher crowd, meaning that he was often excluded from the more important matters by all but Dumbledore and a few others.) and that was that they learned some interesting secrets about the teachers, such as McGonagall's morbid fear of turtles, which perhaps explained why she had cared to stay in the presence of Lesa. In exchange for this invaluable information Harry told Flitwick that Dobby, unlike the other house elves, had probably not been told to deny him of his cherished sticky buns, of which he had developed somewhat of a fetish. Ron and Harry had at one particular lesson last week, been surprised to hear him suggest that perhaps they would care for some tea, but then changed his mind as he decided it might be frowned upon. 


	31. The Test of Time

Hey guys, as you probably noticed, it has been rather a long time in between the last chapter and this. Now there isn't really much of a reason other than I have been posting faster than I was writing, and thus, have caught up to the point where I post the chapter as soon as I have written it.  
  
Now the reason it has been about four weeks (I think) is because I had a job and I had other commitments that basically consumed most of my time. Now however they have finished and with any luck my writing quantity will start to rise again, until I reach the point where I can post a chapter a week.  
  
Also I have had to people express an interest in being a co writer, and so that will be a great help. I hope you will forgive me for the long unexplained absence and not send me nasty reviews. Thanks  
  
(Also I should start getting those beta chapters up soon)  
  
----------------------------------------------------------- Ron and Harry had at one particular lesson last week, been surprised to hear him suggest that perhaps they would care for some tea, but then changed his mind as he decided it might be frowned upon. An hour later Harry and Ron walked out of the classroom, with a list of new spells they had been instructed to investigate, rather than the other homework the rest of the class had been given, which consisted of two foot of essay on the uses of the bruise removal spell, and what could happen if it went wrong. "Nothing like Charms to get the mind going." Said Harry as him and Ron strode along towards the great hall, ready for Defence against the Dark Arts with the rest of the houses. "A wha?" Ron asked thickly. As they filed along the corridor they met up iwht Hermione, and then a group of Hufflepuff's, until eventually they were just a small part of the throng of people funnelling into the hall. "So did you have a fun last lesson? You should have been in mine. You wouldn't believe what the teacher said!" "um Is it possible that you could perhaps not tell your story." Harry asked as politely as possible. It wasn't that he disliked them. It was just that as he looked round something of a much greater importance was drawing his attention. Remus was standing by the end of the Gryffindor table. As He saw Harry his smile disappeared to be replaced by one of mild concern. "You don't want to hear my story?" Hermione asked disappointedly. "Not even slightly." Ron said so curtly it caused him to laugh for a moment. As he went to sit down in one of the vacant seats relatively closely to Remus, Harry yanked at his sleeve to indicate that they weren't going to be sitting there. And ideally if they could choose, he would sit a few hundred more meters away, and have a couple of walls in between them. While he was at it they could probably throw in some wine gums that would be good as well.  
  
"What is wrong with that seat? We normally sit at this end, we can hear better that way." Ron said as Hermione walked behind silently, in acknowledgement of Harry's choice. "With professor Lupin." Harry said in a mock tone, as if the sound of it was stupid. "Unless he apologizes I won't be listening speaking and hopefully seeing anything of him. To tell the truth I'm not entirely sure if an apology would suffice but at least it would do for a start. No one hits me and gets away with it!" He muttered as they approached the sparsely populated far end, and sat down. "My dad wouldn't have hit me." Harry thought sourly as everyone settled down and the lesson began.  
  
Since everyone has been doing so well, myself and the others have decided that it is time to move on get to the meaty stuff!" Moody yelled out to everyone in the hall. At this remark the Hufflepuff's all exchanged glances. Apparently they weren't included in the "Everyone" that Moody spoke of. "Now it is all fair enough knowing how to defend yourself, but sometimes you need to be able to do a little more than that! If you know what I mean." He said as he wiggled his eyebrows in a disturbingly unnatural way. It actually looked more like a series of wires was tugging at his forehead. "Now I'm not asking you to go and join the dark forces, but there are times when you will need to retaliate. What is the point in standing there defending yourself for days on end, just prolonging death. If you know that there is no way you can win then don't spend your energy hiding behind the shaman barrier for eighteen days, like poor old Johnson did. Instead you should take out as many of them as you can." he said in his familiar tone that would have been petrifying to even the strong willed students, had they not known he was a teacher and an Auror.  
  
He was interrupted from his speech when Kingsley gave him a cough, and a warning look that communicated many more words than could be said in the time it took.  
  
"Oh right." He said as he turned his attention back to the hall of expecting, or in some cases, terrified faces. "Now I'm not telling you to kill anyone or anything, but there is a time when you may require something more than just a stunning spell. What we are about to show you, I do not wish you to show anyone else, for it is considered that only now are you mature enough to posses the knowledge of such a thing. Don't tell it to your parents don't tell it to your little siblings, for if they try it out for a bit of fun BANG. Straight into Azkaban!"  
  
"Now the problem with the stunning curse is that it can be deflected and also that if the enemy has a friend they can simply remove the stunning spell. What we are gonna teach you is powerful stuff. The kind of stuff that kicks an oomph if you know what I mean." Moody said with a manic "Hat hat hat hat hat." He stopped hastily when he realised everyone was looking at him in silence. "Now it is called the Morbidoroto!!! curse. What it does, is it quiet literally turns their blood to stone." There was a mass gasp, at the thought of being taught something sounding so evil. "If anyone thinks they can't be trusted with this knowledge then they had best be leaving the hall now." Moody said in a deadly serious tone. No one got up from their seats, although the large percentage of Slytherin's did exchange looks. "I can be trusted." Harry thought to himself for a moment. "I would never use it for evil. In fact I am about as far away from evil as you can get. I wouldn't use it against anyone but a death eater, or Malfoy of course." Harry suddenly remembered that the class was still going, but as he looked up he realised that Moody was now no longer talking to them all. Instead he was stood by the Hufflepuff table and re-enacting the effects of the slow motion in horrifically slow motion. It wasn't that the curse was grotesque or anything. It was just that when Moody did an impression of it, your stomach turned at the sight. His strange eyes seemed to bulge in their sockets and his wonky mouth seemed to be staring at you.  
  
Harry drew his attention away from this as he was distracted by an unpleasant sound. The sound of Lupin. He looked up to see Remus walking down the along the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Now as Professor Moody explained, the Morbidoroto!!! curse does turn the blood of the enemy into stone. However, it is actually more similar to ice. Meaning that after about half an hour it will wear off and with any luck they will return to their original self. I say this because in some cases, the brain being deprived of oxygen for a long time like this can cause side effects. In the less severe cases it would be a headache or mood swings for a few days. In worse cases they can actually permanently brain damaged. And in some they do actually die.  
  
"Whoa." Ron said, as did many.  
  
"It is for these reasons that you need maturity to know when to use it. Jinxing your enemy is one thing but I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if he died." Remus continued. "Now there are a few reasons why this can be more useful over the traditional stunning curse. As professor Moody said, it could help due to the fact that it can't be easily reversed and also it is harder to block. However it can also be worse to use in some situations. If you were in a large group such as the Auror department, and a dozen of you got called to stop some Death Eaters. The last thing you want is a dangerous spell rebounding back at you or your allies. That is why we normally use the stunning curse in the company of others, even if it is not as powerful."  
  
"This spell wasn't in our book." Hermione said in a tone of worried disappointment as Remus went on to discuss to Gryffindor what made the curse difficult to use, and various times when it would prove invaluable. "I wonder what Remus would say if I cast that spell on him?" Harry wondered as he stared hatred at the teacher. "Probably nothing, he would probably just hit me." Harry however had to stop what he was thinking and hastily shrink back in the seat as it seemed Remus had stopped instructing the class and was now standing in front of Harry staring down at him.  
  
"What do you want?" Harry asked in the best angry tone he could muster, although much to his displease it came out high pitched and croaky.  
  
"The rest of the class have started practising the spell, Aren't you going to?"  
  
"I don't have to what you say. You may be my Adoptive father but that doesn't mean I like you, and I certainly don't and won't listen to you either."  
  
"Well as your teacher you do have to listen to me, and in most circumstances, do what I say as well. Now you may not like me at the moment and I can understand that but it doesn't change the way I must treat you in class, now please Harry have a go at the spell." Remus asked as he shifted awkwardly on the spot. Harry remained silent for a moment, before replying in a slow suggestive tone.  
  
"Last time I checked the teachers weren't allowed to hit the students. I wonder what would happen if news of it got out."  
  
Remus stopped breathing for a minute as the threat and realisation of the situation came to light.  
  
"Harry you wouldn't"  
  
"I would and I will. You have no right to shout at me. It's your job to be a father and you did a rubbish job. A father should be kind and supporting and respect their children. You HIT me!" Harry said as he shouted in a whisper.  
  
"Harry you know this job means a lot to me and I can only apologize for what I did but you have to understand."  
  
"I have to do nothing. I can do what I like and while it is in my power it won't be anything like what you want."  
  
"Harry, stop being such a bas tard!" Remus hissed as Harry's protest fell quiet. "I know what you have been through in life and I know you think you can do things on your own. I'm sorry to upset you but just because your good at magic, doesn't mean you don't need help. It also doesn't mean you can be arrogant and rude to others. In time you will see that but you are currently seriously miss judging the situation you are in."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean? And don't you try ad act like you know me. Just because you have taken a few lessons with me and just because for some reason now beyond my knowledge, I agreed to be adopted by you, it doesn't mean you know me. You don't know my life? When did you wake up in the morning, happy to see your parents, before remembering they were dead, and you were in fact in a living hell of boredom and hatred from all who met you? When did you go to school wearing ska nky old trousers and broken glasses whilst you were pushed around by an army of fat sweaty boys? Have you Ever found out that your parents were actually murdered? Have you ever seen someone die in front of you, knowing it is entirely your fault? Can you imagine what it would be like to be haunted by those dreams every night of your life? Can you imagine Remus, if your girlfriend was laying in hospital in an ever worsening coma that will eventually lead to her death, and all because of you, how would you feel Remus? How would you feel? What would you do if for reason beyond you, you had visions of murdering those around you, that both scared and excited you beyond anything you have ever experienced? And most of all can you imagine looking over your shoulder every minute of everyday, knowing it might be your last, because the most powerful wizard to walk the world this millennia has over all his other desires, one, and that is to kill you? You probably can't imagine that can you Remus? Can You? You know what I think, I think that if you were in my place you would be a lot worse of than me. Being constantly driven to the point of insanity by frustration and anger. And then to be betrayed by people they thought they could trust, it hurts Remus. It hurts a hell of a lot, and I don't know why. Your not me, you don't live my life and therefore you don't have a reason to lecture me on anything about it. So don't tell me what to do?" Harry screamed.  
  
As he finished he gasped for breath. His mind seemed slightly numbed from the noise of his voice and the lack of oxygen he had got from the shouting. Tears stung his eyes, for the brief moment before they poured down his cheeks, despite his efforts to fight them. He would have been embarrassed if it wasn't for the fact that with all the anger of sixteen years of misery he had no room left to feel such emotion at this point. That and the fact that as his eyes darted across the room, he realised everyone except for himself and Remus had gone completely quiet, and completely still. No noise. No movement. Time had frozen. After a moment of confusion his brain slowly churned over the fact that no one was moving, and that the flames on the candles weren't flickering, nor were the clouds overhead moving. Shown on the enchanted ceiling, now they just looked like a still painting. He turned to Remus, who he could see also had tears welling up in his eyes. They had a glazed look that matched his distant sounding voice.  
  
"I didn't know" Remus said in a raspy sounding voice  
  
"You couldn't" Harry replied as he continued to survey everyone else, completely still. No one spoke for a moment, as they contemplated which was the more pressing matter at hand. The one that had caused them both to cry, or the fact that they appeared to be the only people capable of doing so, or capable of doing anything at that.  
  
"It was nice of you to freeze time and all to save me the embarrassment of everyone staring at me whilst I pore out my life, but perhaps if they understood I wouldn't have more people like you, misunderstanding." Harry said savagely as he turned his back to Remus, and found himself now looking at Ron, who was paused mid movement, turning towards him, his eyes glancing towards Hermione. There was something unnerving about the whole thing, about watching your friends and foes frozen in time. It was like in his second year when Hermione had been petrified, except that now it had happened to just about everyone, everyone except the one person who at this moment he hoped it could happen to the most. "Come on then! I don't want to be standing here all day." Harry said testily as he spun back to face Remus.  
  
His Step Father hadn't moved form the spot, though it was not through lack of ability to do so. He stood staring at Harry with his eyebrows raised. His mouth was slightly open as he stood thinking of something to say.  
  
"It wasn't me." He muttered into the silence.  
  
"Well it appears that you and I are the only ones here, or at least the only ones who are in any state of evident life. It wasn't me so it would seem therefore that it WAS you!" Harry sneered sarcastically.  
  
"I didn't. I can't" Remus said, although as he finished something else came along to draw their attention. It broke the silence as it echoed throughout the still corridors of the school and through the classrooms that been put on pause. Past the entrance hall where nothing moved and into the hall, where a stopper had been put on time. It met their ears like thunder on a clear spring day. Footsteps broke the silence. A silence that until now had been unnoticed. For the first time Harry noted just how silent everything was. Without the talking of people and the movement of the air. Without the rhythmic beating of the heart and the sound of time pouring by like sand in a timer, he only then could appreciate how noisy the world really was.  
  
He held his breathe as the footsteps continued to grow louder, not closer just louder. It was hard to tell where they were coming from because with the thick stone walls sound would reflect back and fourth meaning that with everystep it would sound as if you were coming from a different place. It was great for evil doers who happened to be sneaking along the corridors late at night, and even more terrifying for first year students who thought they were being chased at night, when in fact it was only their footprints echoing back at them. "Harry, I want you to stay close to me. Whoever is responsible for such a thing is undoubtedly the person whom we can hear approaching." Remus whispered as he drew himself closer to Harry, in a protective manner. Harry pushed away, although for once he didn't feel like he couldn't do with help, he would rather face Voldemort alone than admit it to treacherous scum like present company. "Who could it be?" Harry said hoarsely "Death Eaters maybe, the Dark Lord even. I don't honestly know Harry. Logic suggests we would be swarming with Aurors should a Death Eater get within sight of here. My gut feeling however." Remus faded off due to the fact that the footsteps had now decided to echo from a constant direction, that also happened to be near by, and also because talking about your own fears for some reason seems to make them much more real than he cared for.  
  
Harry, without his notice found himself pointing his wand at the door. He wiped the remaining tears out of his eyes that were obscuring his vision. "Don't cry. Crying is for ladyboys. Not big manly Aurors." He had remembered Moody saying one night at the burrow, after having a little to much fire whiskey. He focused on the door where the tip of his wand was pointing, like an aim on a gun, ready to fire as soon as the careless prey should stroll in. "Death Eaters. I knew they are up to something. They are after Harry. They want to kill him. They will kill me as well. I would talk otherwise. They know that. They cast this spell. They froze time. They mean to murder us while no one can see. Everyone is here but they can't see." Remus muttered to himself almost feverishly. As he sunk down slightly into a duelling pose, holding out a wand that was steady as stone. "Shut up Father." Harry said teasingly as a familiar feeling of adrenalin and excitement met his mind. He didn't know what was coming from down the corridor; it could even be professor Trelawney, but something about the unknown, and the fear in Remus' whispering was exciting. Exhilarating.  
  
The Thunderous steps grew quieter as they grew closer. By the time the intruder got to the corridor which lead towards the enormous doors in front of them it became apparent to both Remus and Harry, that it wasn't a large army they were up against, but just one person. As Harry's heart beat loudly in his chest and echoed in his head he blinked a couple of times, as he lost concentration of the situation, in much the same way as when you read a book that is to dull, and you find yourself drifting over the lines not registering what you see. "Focus?" He told himself as he shook his head and pushed out any other thoughts. The final footsteps came as the person approached. Soon all would be revealed. He would learn who it was that had cast this time freezing spell. After all if it was As Remus claimed, past his ability to pull off a spell as powerful as this, then it was certainly going to be someone powerful. The footsteps stopped. The door handle turned.  
  
The great oak door swung forward on its hinges, loudly banging against the bare stonewall. It swung for a moment before it came to rest. The person pulled a shocked expression as they peered round the corner of it to make sure they had not caused any structural damage to the ancient castle. "Oh my I forget my own strength sometimes." Dumbledore said as he strode in, his shoes banging loudly with each step. "Without out all the hustle and bustle of students and the shouting coming from Severus' office I didn't realise just how loud this place is! I shall have to cast some new quietening spells. The old ones must be wearing off." "Dumbledore?" Harry and Remus both said in unison It wasn't that the thought of Dumbledore in his own school was amazing. Nor was it out of the question that it was him who cast the Time spell, after all, who was a stronger wizard than him? The Reason it seemed strange was with his footsteps echoing around Harry and Remus had both learned something. Dumbledore had evil shoes. You can get many good kinds of shoes very easily. You can get regular school shoes, which make a bit of a squeaky noise at first, but stop after a week or two when they get properly worn in. Then you can get trainers that are for sports and such, and are generally very quiet. Then you can get evil shoes, which don't have any real definitive point other than the fact they must be very loud, so that even if you were walking over grass, you would make great thunderous footsteps that could scare away the weak hearted.  
  
"Albus?" asked Remus slightly puzzled as he lowered his wand and got into a less menacing formation. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well Remus, I was sitting in my office getting on with some paper work when suddenly things went very quiet. Upon inspection of Fawkes I concluded that either a time freezing spell had been performed, or else my bird had developed an unprecedented severity of rigor mortis."  
  
"So it wasn't you then?" asked Remus with disappointed disbelief.  
  
"No I'm afraid it was not me who cast this time freezing spell that seems to have disrupted the lessons and frozen all but ourselves. To tell the truth I'm not even sure what spell this is, and how long it will last, or how to undo it. I have my suspicions but for now that is all they are." Dumbledore said truthfully. Harry stood looking at everyone around him. If it wasn't Remus and it wasn't Dumbledore who else could it be? It certainly wasn't him.  
  
"Er Sir. If you don't even know what spell it was then who could it be? They would have to be a powerful magician wouldn't they?" Harry asked suspiciously.  
  
"Yes Harry they would be powerful. More powerful than a magician even. A Warlock."Dumbledore said sternly.  
  
"A Warlock?" asked Harry slightly worriedly.  
  
"A warlock is a magician of the highest class. They use dark spells long forgotten or banned, such as time alteration spells." As Harry looked at Dumbledore's face he could see seriousness and maybe even worry.  
  
"So who could do it? Was it Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes, most definitely." Dumbledore said distantly.  
  
"So If Voldemort froze time then why is it that we didn't?" Harry asked after a moment of puzzling. Dumbledore lowered his gaze to Harry and stared at him for a moment in a manner that suggested he was almost annoyed, although a second later it had gone, and Harry decided it could have just been in his mind.  
  
"Well Harry that is a good question, and as with the best questions the answers aren't certain. We can guess that I didn't freeze because I was in my office, which is very highly protected against just about all forms of magic, including ones that alter the fabric of reality themselves. As for you and Remus," Dumbledore said wisely as he cast a quick glance to Remus. "You two I can guess did not freeze, because he didn't want you to Harry. We know that he wants you for his diabolical plans and whilst we are not close to knowing what they are, we can guess that he was testing you in some way." Harry looked over at Remus nervously. Being hunted down by a Warlock and his squad was one thing. Having him do something involving very difficult magic, and doing it from so far away seemed a little scary. It was about now that a father would be good.  
  
"Why was I frozen Albus?" asked Remus, who up until now had been rooted to the spot, as he took a few steps closer to Harry and the Headmaster.  
  
"Well as I can see by your body language, yourself and Harry, were having quiet a heated discussion before this happened. When two wizards or witches exude strong emotions of some kind towards each other, their magical field can make a connection. It would seem that because of this connection, Voldemort accidentally excluded you from the freezing spell. I doubt it is anything but that." He finished while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"When will the spell end Professor? When will everyone turn back to normal?" Harry asked as he stared at his friends. Ron frozen mid-sentence. Hermione stopped mid-spell. The thought of spending the rest of his life with two statues for friends didn't seem like an attractive prospect.  
  
"Well we can only guess Harry. Guess, and hope. Hope that it will be soon. I'm afraid my knowledge of the matter isn't extensive enough to determine at the moment. I will shortly be going to investigate in the counter spell, if there is one. If there isn't then we can just guess that it will end when he wants it to, or when he looses his concentration. Now I trust you two will be all right on your own for now. If you see anyone else besides myself, contact me immediately. Other than that, until I return, or the spell stops, you two are in charge of the school." Dumbledore finished as he gave a brief nod and turned on his heel to exit the hall. A thought sprang into Harry's mind, and just as Dumbledore was about to walk through the great doors he called out.  
  
"Sir The test that you spoke of. Did I pass?" he asked optimistically. Dumbledore stopped, and without turning round he replied in a way that sent shivers down Harry's spine. "No. I'm afraid your failing." 


	32. The Remus Reverie

Once Dumbledore was out of sight and his footsteps had died away Harry was left with none to talk to except Remus. Well technically there were over a hundred people, but they weren't in much of a position to talk. "Hmm I should probably say something to him. It feels awkward just standing here." Harry thought to himself as he occupied himself with his wand. "Unless he wants me to say something. Yeah that is just like him. Sneaky." Harry thought as he cunningly glanced in Remus' direction. Rather than choosing Harry got up and decided to head back to Gryffindor common room. Remus wasn't allowed there.  
  
"Where are you going Harry?" Remus asked suddenly as he realised Harry was now several meters away from where he had been a moment ago.  
  
"Well I thought I might go to the common room and have a quick snooze." Harry replied curtly.  
  
"But we need to talk." Remus said in a tone that showed a certain degree of desperation in his voice. Harry angrily stopped and turned to face Remus.  
  
"We don't need to talk. You want to talk and that is the end of it. I however don't want to talk to you. I wouldn't talk to you if you were the last person on earth, which you practically are." Harry snapped as he sat down. For some reason the idea of staying and arguing was rather appealing. Remus gave a sigh as he slid one of the still Hufflepuff's along the bench and sat down next to them.  
  
"Well that's strange. You seem to be doing a relatively good job. You said a lot more to me today than you have done for quiet a while. Admittedly it wasn't the nicest of things you said but we are making progress aren't we?"  
  
"Well I might talk to you but it doesn't change the fact that as a father you suck. Out of all the adoptive fathers I have had you are by far the worst!"  
  
"I'm the only adoptive father you have ever had." Remus said slightly smugly.  
  
"Well that doesn't change the fact that you are still the worst." Harry said hotly as he turned so he wasn't facing Remus.  
  
"No, you're right it doesn't change anything. It does however mean that by your logic I am also the very best non biological father you have had." Harry gave a small tut as Remus said that. This was due to the fact that whenever someone outsmarts you, and you can't think of a witty reply within the few seconds afterwards. The only thing left is to show your disgust.  
  
"I don't care what you say. I'm not going to listen." Harry huffed after a minute.  
  
"I think you will." Remus said hesitantly.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Well Harry... It's because I killed your father."  
  
Time would have frozen, apart from the fact that it already had.  
  
"I'm sorry. Did you just say, YOU KILLED MY FATHER?" Harry asked as he ended up shouting again. Why was Remus saying this? Why. It wasn't true. It was Voldemort. Harry knew it. He had seen it in his dreams often enough.  
  
"Yes. I am responsible for your father's death. I wish I could say this wasn't the case but if I did then I would be lying." Remus said as he cast his eyes to the floor in shame. Harry stood in stunned silence. Why did everything have to be so confusing?  
  
"I'm sorry this news is meant to make me like you?" Harry spat angrily. "I don't know what you hope to achieve by lying but I know for a fact that it was Voldemort who killed my parents.  
  
"There are many ways you can kill someone Harry. Just because I wasn't the one to wave the wand doesn't mean I didn't do it. If it is within your power to stop something happening and you don't then it makes you as good as a murderer, should death be the subject of concern."  
  
"You killed my parents?" Harry said to himself as he rolled over the meaning inn his mind for a moment. "What do you mean you killed them. What was it that you could have prevented? If you could have saved my parents why didn't you?" He said as the thought of a new image filled his mind.  
  
He could see clearly a dark night and a large inviting home. However on this night it wasn't inviting. It was cold, it was isolated, and the odour of death clung to the air. Voldemort was standing inside the house. Two dead corpses lying by his feet. A trickle of blood ran from his mother's nose where her body fell to the ground. And Remus. He hadn't been here before but now he was. Remus and Voldemort were standing laughing manically. As if a great justice had been done that night.  
  
"What did you make sure my parents were in? Did you know about Wormtail? Did you urge them on? What, you thought with my father out of the picture you thought you would somehow benefit did you? Hoped he would leave you some money in his will. Blood money. Or was it something else?" Harry asked as he drew him self closer to Remus and looked down at the sunken figure who was crying on the bench beneath him.  
  
"No Harry that's not it." I never wanted your father to die. I cared for him as much as a friend could. And your mother as well. It wasn't about money or material positions. But yes, I did know about Wormtail. I knew his intentions and I allowed him to get away with it. I as good as sentenced them to their graves."  
  
"What do you mean you knew?" Harry demanded, as he had to restrain himself from reaching for his wand.  
  
"Well Harry I mean just that. I knew that Voldemort intended to murder James and Lily, and I knew that Peter intended to help him. I could have told them. I could have just said Hey James, Hey Lilly, guess what. But I didn't. They would be here right now if I had told them but I didn't, and consequently they aren't." He said as he started sobbing, and tears rolled down his face and dripped from the end of his nose onto the floor by his feet.  
  
"Start making sense." Harry shouted angrily. He knew that if things didn't become apparent soon someone was going to get hurt. The someone in question had a name beginning with "R" and ending in "emus."  
  
"Well it was many years ago Harry. Back in those days before Voldemort had made his evil plans apparent to the world. Back then the biggest trouble on his mind was what would happen if you didn't like him. I felt sorry for him, but it was funny at the same time. For the first few months after you were born whenever your father would take you, you would start crying. Lilly said it was because he had horrible rough hands. Or that he was holding you to tightly and cutting off the blood supply to your body." Remus said as a small smile spread across his face.  
  
"Start making sense a lot faster." Harry demanded as he started crunching his knuckles in frustration. Deep down however it was nice to know about his father. To know that things weren't perfect, but they were better than perfect in their own quaint respect.  
  
"Well I' don't really know if I can tell it faster. I think maybe your best bet would be to see it. If you can handle it that is."  
  
"Show me? What do you mean, Like a Pensieve? Of course I can handle it!" Harry said bitterly as he scrunched his face in annoyance at being treated like a child. "I'm sixteen. Sixteen is practically an adult. I bet everyone else my age gets told all sorts of grown up responsible things." He thought as he kept his eyes on Remus who was staring back at him. It seemed like a test of some sort. It was like they were communicating just with their eyes. Eventually Remus turned away as it is difficult to stare at anything for a long time when you have tears skewering your vision.  
  
"Yes I will show you with a Pensieve. You can see what I see. And I can tell you if you would rather. After all it won't be pretty and jolly. There hasn't been a day gone past when I regretted that decision. It has turned my life upside down and not a night has past when it has haunted my dreams. Still if it is the truth you want then it is the best way to get it. After all my memory that I stored of it is undoubtedly much more accurate. I tried so hard to block it out of my mind. I almost succeeded in tricking my own mind into thinking it never happened.  
  
Then you came along, and all the suppressed memories came flooding back but worse. When I saw the sad look in your eyes, back in your third year I knew that you above all others had suffered the most. I thought I was suffering but seeing you. Imagining what it must be like to not know your parents, especially parents as great as yours. It's just unfair.  
  
"So do you still want to see It all? See what happened on that night fifteen years ago?" Remus asked. Harry hesitated for a moment. Did he want to know what happened? What he thought happened already hurt enough. Perhaps he shouldn't see it. They said the truth hurt and as Harry was a sane human, he generally didn't like things that hurt. Especially the kind of things that stab him, like lego bricks. Lego bricks had an alarming ability to stab into your feet in the middle of the night, as you creep downstairs to get a drink. Playing with Lego is fine because when the blocks are together they feel safe and happy. It's when they get on their own you have to worry. Then they get scared and decide that the best possible thing is to hurt everyone and everything around them to the maximum of their ability. Which is quite a lot, considering it is a small lump of inanimate plastic.  
  
"Yes. I have to know." Harry said after several moments of thinking. In the end he decided that although he wouldn't enjoy seeing it, and that it would probably drag up painful memories. It couldn't be much worse than he already knew it to be. That and the fact that not knowing the truth about such a thing as his parents death would be impossible to live with. Now that he knew Remus was involved he needed to know how.  
  
"Come on then. I keep it in my office." Remus said as he put his hands on his knees and drew himself up. He started walking out of the hall, with Harry trailing a few feet behind, before he turned round and looked back at all the students and the teachers that were frozen. "Now I want you to make sure you don't get upto any trouble." Remus said in an attempt at making a bad joke. He hastily stopped laughing as Harry gave him a stare that said Remus himself was created with the sole intention of being a source for all the unfunnyness in the universe to reside and take form. "Ok well maybe not then." Remus said to himself rather than anyone else as they continued.  
  
Remus was the sort of person that normal people couldn't stand to hate. There were people like Snape, who genuinely would hold a small party, comprising of non-alcoholic beverages, a small tub of Pringles, and maybe a limbo contest should they get particularly rowdy, to celebrate Remus' misfortune. But then he didn't fall into the category of normal people. Harry however did and he had to suppress laughing at Remus. It wasn't that his jokes were funny to those who had a particularly rare and sophisticated sense of humour, but rather that he made such an idiot of himself that it was funny.  
  
"Sorry what was that Harry?" Remus said as he turned his head whilst still walking.  
  
"It was nothing. I was coughing." Harry said in the angriest tone he could muster.  
  
Why shouldn't I hate him? Why should I possibly feel anything other than hatred toward him? Harry argued with himself. On one hand he did loose two friends that night, and if he feels responsible that must be really tough for him. On the other hand if he could have prevented it then he deserves to suffer as much as possible. He should have the Crucio curse used on him or something. Until he has repented for his crimes. He thought as he visualised slamming down a big hammer in a muggle courtroom and condemning him to be eternally banished to somewhere very sinister, and if possible, somewhere very smelly at the same time. Maybe he could send him to Stevenage.  
  
He was bought out of his fantasy as he found himself now in Remus' office. It looked pretty similar to how it normally did, only for some reason rather than having a pleasant atmosphere it felt cold and empty, despite the fact it wasn't. Maybe it was the lack of the little sounds like the wind outside or a grindylow bashing against the glass tank in the corner.  
  
"It's somewhere round here." Remus said as his eyes scoured his room before striding over to his desk, which seemed to be buckling under a pile of unmarked essays and scribbled on notes. He rummaged through them briskly, before pausing on one in particular. It looked scrumpled up and had had worn thin in areas where it had been folded up in his pocket for a too long.  
  
It was a picture drawn in crayon. It looked like something similar to the artistic abominations parents bring into work to show how there four year old boy called Duncan could shove crayons up his nose and rub his face on a piece of paper. Remus stopped to stare at it fondly for a moment. It seemed to show Remus standing, and either smiling or eating a pizza, with a someone next to him. On the top in messy writing it said "Super Remus."  
  
"Who drew that?" Harry asked as he took a few steps closer to the desk.  
  
"Oh, er, that was Tonks." Said Remus as he blushed and quickly shoved it to the bottom of the pile of papers as he moved them to the side and eventually produced a rather battered old dish shaped thing that appeared, like most of Remus' things, to be very old and worn. It seemed to be made of some sort of card or very cheap wood, even the misty memories wafting round inside looked poor in their own proud sense.  
  
"I had this for quiet a while. My father gave it to me when I started Hogwarts. He said it was a present because he was proud that even despite my disability, I showed him I could do things. After the accident on that night things changed a lot. My mother wanted us to move abroad so I could go to Durmstrang. Back then the headmistress was quiet a good one and she said that provided I could be kept safe I was allowed a place. My father didn't want to though. He said that he went there for a year and it wasn't very good. He didn't make many friends." Remus said fondly as he spoke of his parents.  
  
"So what happened to your parents?" Harry asked as he forgot about why he was there for a moment.  
  
"Oh yes so anyway I can't quiet remember what is in here. If you quickly let me check it will save you some time, wouldn't want you to spend all day wafting through my boring old memories would we." He said as he sheepishly drew the pensive away from Harry and tilted it so that the contents could no longer be seen.  
  
Gradually he drew the contents of the pensive out and placed them in his mind. with each memory it seemed that he slipped a notch on the scale of happiness, and considering a few moments ago he had been crying, it was quite bad how he must have felt.  
  
"You okay?" Harry asked in mild concern as Remus gave a small sigh.  
  
"Um Yes Harry i'm fine. It's just you know harry old memories, they er remind you that your not young any more. You know im getting on in my years." He said as he ruffled his hair a bit, which did admittedly have quiet a bit of grey for someone his age. "Well that is all of what is in there I think Harry. Just your father and the truth. You can see for yourelf now. But if you could do me one favour" Remus said with his voice breaking.  
  
"Why should I do you favours, murderer?" Harry spat as he took the pensieve form Remus.  
  
"Well you don't owe me anything, but if you could just remember that I wasn't as good at magic back then as you are now, and they were different times. Everyone was scared to some degree."  
  
"Ok then i will make sure not to laugh when you start shaking shall I?" Harry replied sarcastically as he set the Pensieve down on Remus's messy desk and gave the tired looking mist a poke of his wand which set it spinning into motion. Like a bike wheel, it spun around and where the spokes would have blurred into nothing, the mist blurred until the slight swirls of dark gray formed into shapes and objects and finally people, as it morphed colours and took on a picture as clear as life. He carefully put his wand back in his pocketand extended his arm to his side above the pensive. "Next stop, memory lane." he said as he dipped his finger into it.  
  
Harry felt the familiarly unpleasant sensation of spinning as his mind was plunged deep into areas where generally healthy minds didn't want to be, which was in the Pensieve apparently made of cardboard. Harry felt as if he himself was one of the memories which desperately hoped the mouldy card walls weren't about to disintegrate around him and destroy the very delicate balance of life and magic that had managed to live and survive in such an unlikely situation. As he waiting for his vision to come into focus, something struck him. First of all was that his minds eyes had already focused, and he was standing in what appeared to be a thickly wooded area that due to the late night and the cold air had developed a thick layer of fog. This fog in question was a lot more real than the modern day stuff you got early in the morning, but rather the thick custardy stuff you got in sinister situations, this meant that he was probably not out of his mind when he felt something wet and sticky brush past his legs. The other thing that showed this was proper fog was that this fog came complete with its own werewolf.  
  
As Harry looked around for a moment his subconscious mind worked on where to run, and his conscious mind did a bit of quivering and general petrified shaking. He could hear a sound in the distance of cars, which showed that whatever it may look like he was still within a close enough distance to the real world, away from the werewolf that was growling at him in a way that suggested he was far to real to be just a spectator in someone else's mind, and the cracking footsteps coming from behind him.  
  
"Presumably your Remus." Harry said as he finally managed to convince himself that he was in fact still inside a pleasant warm office, rather than crouching in front of a wherewolf and staring into its blood red eyes. "You shouldn't be out tonight, Harry said cautiously, you could hurt someone. Then he noticed the shackles around Remus' ankles and the broken chain that dangled from them. After a few more cracking sounds drew closer Harry diverted his attention to them. However he soon wished he hadn't as the two figures came into the clearing where he could see them. The first was a small slightly plump figure who Harry had the misfortune of knowing as Peter Petigrew. The second was someone he couldn't see, due to a thick cloak which hung over his face. However something about the voice and the aura he was emitting told Harry instantly that this was Voldemort.  
  
"I hear that you have some information for me Pettigrew." Said in his tone that was feared by so many for the few seconds before fearing nothing again.  
  
"Yes, you great lordship-ness." Said Voldemort as panic washed over his face, apparently unsure of how he should address the great Dark Lord.  
  
"I hear that it concerns the location of the potters." He said as he spat out the name in disgust.  
  
"Once again you hear correctly, you royal-ambassador of evilness." Wormtail said with feverish nods as he clasped his hands firmly behind his back to hide the shaking.  
  
"I always hear correctly." Voldemort replied slimily as he flexed his fingers and drew out his wand. "Now I will be hearing correctly from you for the rest of the time you are under my service. For If I do not, if word reaches my ears that you have lied to me or tried to trick me, then I can guarantee your life will get much worse, in a very short amount of time. "  
  
Harry glanced down at Remus, who was lying down by some leaves. The poor lighting and his muddy fur made him virtually invisible to anyone who hadn't been told of his presence. His eyes were fixed straight on the two talking. It seemed almost as if he could understand them.  
  
Don't worry your lordlyness, I would never lie or betray someone as clever and mighty and evil as yourself, your supreme grand-master-kingly-ness-of- um-Englandshire." Peter said as he tried flattery. There was something about the wand Voldemort was pointing at him which was distracting.  
  
"Master. You will call me master or lord. That is all you may call me. Now tell me about there whereabouts of the Potters." He said as a hint of longing crept into the dark lords voice.  
  
"Well you see I have fulfilled your inititiation test. I have located the Potters whereabouts. They made me their secret keeper." Wormtail said as a huge ratty grin spread across his face as the Dark Lords smiled manically.  
  
"Excellent. Now tell me everything when we get back to the palace. You don't want to say too much anywhere you don't live, there are ears everywhere." He said as his eyes passed the point where Harry was standing and narrowly missed Remus who was still crouched cautiously by his ankles. "We are having lobster tonight. You do like lobster?" He asked he took a grip of Peters shoulder and started leading him away from the clearing in the woods.  
  
"Well actually..." Peter said before Voldemort's grip tightened and his eyes flashed dangerously. "It's my favourite." He said hastily.  
  
"Yes, lots of people seem to share that opinion Voldemort said with a small hollow laugh." It occurred to Peter a few minutes later that a lot of the things Voldemort asked him, already had an answer planned, and one way or the other the answer was going to be what Voldemort expected. Harry turned his attention back to the wherewolf who had crawled out of his hiding place by the dried leaves and was now standing with his tail between four very shaky legs as he checked that the dark lord was gone.  
  
"Yes." Harry sighed sympathetically. "He does that to a lot of people." For some reason it was much easier to like someone when they had a coat of fur and a long wet tongue that could probably lick their own eyes. Of course if they had these qualities and were human, it would be a very different matter. Suddenly the images around him begun to fuzz, then spin, as if everything around him was being churned through a washing machine, and the colours began to run. Things finally settled down as they emerged to be in a house, with Remus, now human sitting on his bed.  
  
As Harry looked at Remus' child hood bedroom he couldn't help but feel sorry. Even though Harry had spent the first ten years of his life sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, barely the size of the bed, it was always warm. It may have been dark and squashed and he shared it with a few spiders, but at least it had four walls. Remus' bedroom to put it politely was in a very shabby state. Several bricks had crumbled away from near the top corner of his room and now a big block of sunlight could by shining through, along with early morning mist that made the whole room feel damp. It smelled slightly fusty and from long exposure to humid conditions the wallpaper was mould in spots and was peeling off the wall. The only thing that kept the remaining pieces to the wall was fear of change. Remus stood up and yawned lethargically in a way that suggested that indeed this was very normal to Remus, and a bomb hadn't hit over night.  
  
Remus had a pair of nasty pyjamas with stripes that old people wear. The only reason someone his age would wear such nasty pyjamas would be if an old person had chosen them for him. They wear a few inches short round the ankles and as Remus stretched the material around his shoulders clung together for all it was worth. The room was very sparsely furnished. It had the simple bed in the middle and a chest of draws. On top of then lay some messy school books that he no longer used, along with some of the items he probably valued, such as a picture of him and his friends, a picture he had framed of a girl with long blonde haired girl he obviously liked, and the pensieve. It looked as tatty as ever, only here it at least looked a bit enthusiastically tatty.  
  
As remus had finally woken up properly and was just about to get his clothes for the day he was interrupted by a bird that flew into his bedroom from the large whole in the corner. It landed on his bed and gave a loud squak to draw his attention. He turned round and looked down at the blackbird which had something clasped in its beak. Harry looked at it suspiciosly, before looking at remus, who was quiet happy at the birds presence.  
  
"Hey Beebo" Remus said with a small chuckle as he reached out his hand infront of the bird, which eyed up the fingers and deciding againt its instincts of pecking them, dropped what it was holding in its beak, into his hand. He sifted through a few pieces of circular metal. there was a ten pence and a one pound coin, accompanied by the top of a beer bottle that had been flattened by a car. remus grinned and he took the money and pocketed it.  
  
"Now Beebo, this isn't money." He said as he raised the bottle cap very close to the birds face. "It needs to have a picture of this lady he said as he prodded at a two pence piece." The bird turned its head to one side so it could look very carefully at the coin and the bottle cap out of its beady black eye. It gave a small squark of what harry assumed to be understanding. "Anyway you did a good job. That is one pound ten. GO-O-D." Remus said as he tried to make it as clear as possible. "That means..." He continued as he drew himself up away from the bird and walked over to a draw and pulled out a large plastic tub. He pocked around for a moment before extracting a worm and a large slug. He put them both down on top of the window ledge, as the Beebo flew over and landed next to them. It quickly ate the worm and then picked up the slug in its beak. With a quick flap and a small squak it flew up to the hole in the corner, and then with a hop it was gone from sight.  
  
"Hmm this shall be a good day afterall." he said. He fianlly selected not to wear a jumper after being optimistic and hopind the thick fog that covered the grass outside would dry up by mid morning. Just as he was about to pull his t-shirt on though, he heard a small clink and his eyes slowly fell down to his ankles where the shackels from what was apparently the night before, still remained. He let a small gasp of shock escape his lips as he feverishly rolled up each sleeve, to again to reveal a broken shackle. "Remus hopped on the spot for a minute in a panic as his day had just become much worse. After muttering a few curses he took a few large strides over to the other side of the small room where a boaring calander hung on the wall. His finger danced along the days until it landed on one that was circled as being a full moon. He was broken from his worry as there was a slow knocking from the door. as if from someone was knocking gingerly, afraid it might explode at any moment. Looking at the state of Remus' room Harry decided that maybe they were knocking quietly because they were afraid of putting there fist through the door.  
  
Remus pulled open the door to reveal two people who Harry, despite not knowing, could immeadietly identify as Remus' parents. There was a man who looked alot like Remus did in present day. He had alot of grey hair, and looked like perhaps Remus would look in tne years time if he had had a few good meals and been allowed to relax for a week or two. The main difference seemed to be that Remus' father was rather square. Not like a fat person, or a brick, but just someone who was very certain of where he started and stopped. His mother on the other hand was quiet different. She seemed very small standing in the doorway next to her husband and Remus. She was wearing a very large jumper which came down her arms and covered the ends of her hands, making her look even more delicate than she already was. Whilst there definetly wasn't much of a physical resembelance between Remus and his mother, they still both felt similar in a way, and Harry suspected this is where Remus' good nature came from.  
  
"Why have I got my shackles on?" Remus asked in a very quiet voice as he looked down at the fear in his mother's eyes. His mother attempted to answer but all she managed was a little sob as she averted her eyes which were glazing over.  
  
"Well Remus, things didn't go quiet as well as we had hoped last night." Said his father as he broke the tense silence. "You see, you probably remember yesterday afternoon you went for a quick snooze before I got home from work, and before I got home from work. Well I got kept late..." he said in a tone that was reaching the all to familiar tone of something bad.  
  
"Yes but why was I chained up? What happened?" Remus said in panic as he ran his hands through his hair. Maybe it was all this worry that made him go prematurely grey Harry wondered briefly.  
  
"If you let me finish Remus, then I will explain." Now your mother came with some of the wolfsbane potion just before dinner, just like always, expect something went wrong."  
  
"What went wrong?" Remus pleaded impatiently as his day that had started off so well was now plunging into one of the worst days since his accident.  
  
"You knocked the bottle over." His mother finally said as she slumped against the doorframe and freely started crying. The little colour that remained in Remus' face drained out as he guessed roughly what was coming next. Undoubtedly he had become a fully-grown angry werewolf. Remus attempted to say something but his throat had gone dry and instead he just make some small choking sounds.  
  
"Now what your mother says happened is your mother went to wake you up and she says that you turned over in your sleep and your arm swung out and knocked it out of her hand and it spilled." His father said as he to was unable to hide his looks of concern and just looked at the floor whilst fiddling with a very interesting pencil from his pocket.  
  
"Well why didn't you go and get some more?" Remus asked as he looked at his mother who shifted awkwardly as he looked down at her."  
  
"Well you see that was the last we had. I was going to ask Albus for some more today you see." She said very quietly  
  
"What do you mean the last? Only today? He told you that as soon as I got near to finishing a case of it you should ask him for more and he would have some made up." He said as a bit of anger started edging its way into his mind. Admittedly anything he had done would be his fault but if it was his mother own cause then she should take responsibility.  
  
"Well with the whole issues of this Voldemort person at the moment I didn't want to have to bother him unless I really had to. He must be dreadfully busy at a time like this." By the time she had finished speaking Remus looked at his father angrily.  
  
"And you thought the same did you?" Remus snapped as he looked at his father in disappointment.  
  
"No Remus, if truth be told I actually thought that your mother had asked for some weeks ago after your last transformation." Both of the Lupin men looked down at her as she cried at her own mistake. 


	33. A Paupers Problems

Both of the Lupin men looked down at her as she cried at her own mistake. "So you should have chained me up like last year before they invented the wolfsbane potion. It was better than me getting out. I could have hurt somebody. I PROBABLY DID." He yelled as he turned his back on his parents and went and slumped down on his bed, which gave an uncomfortable creek before the last two legs collapsed and the bed sunk to the ground pathetically. Other than a disgruntled curse of Remus, no one made any mention of this, most probably due to the fact that in the Lupin household this was a typical everyday event.  
  
"We did chain you up." Said his father in a friendly sympathetic tone as he took a few steps further into the room. As I was coming through the front door and I heard a struggling sound I knew something was wrong. Your mother had managed to chain you up and it looked like it would be ok, but it wasn't."  
  
"Clearly." Said Remus, as he didn't bother to look at them but instead waved one of his arms with several inches of chain hanging off.  
  
"Since you have gotten older you have gotten stronger, and the chains didn't manage to hold, they just snapped straight off. We tried to shut you in the basement but you broke through the door. We would have tried to tie you up or something but of course we had ourselves to think about. We had to go and hide in the loft." Said his father with a sigh "We think you managed to get out through the kitchen window." He added helpfully. Remus who had been sulking gave a sarcastic reply.  
  
"Oh well at least that is clear. I would hate to think what would have happened if I had used the front door or something. Heaven forbid I did that."  
  
"There is no need to be sarcastic, son." Said his father in a way that suggested he knew perfectly well this was how his son was going to react. This annoyed Remus even more, although he wouldn't admit it.  
  
"Your mother and I sent an owl to Albus this morning and he said that he will be round in a few hours to see how you are and have a look if anyone got hurt. Also that girl called Natasha phoned and asked if you would like to go out to the movies tonight." His father said, hoping that this would cheer Remus up a bit. It did at least make his talk to them.  
  
"Couldn't you have at least mopped it up from the floor or something? I'm sure a bit would have been better than nothing." He asked as he turned to face then again.  
  
"Ha, I thought you had more sense than that Remus." Said his father with a small laugh which surprised him. "This floor? It is so rotten, that it would either get soaked up into the floorboards or run between them onto the mould. Remus to managed a small laugh. He always liked to poke fun of how poor they were. Seeing his father do the same was funny. It reminded him of back before he had started going to Hogwarts. They would be driving along and see a fallen down old garden shed, or a pile of bricks.  
  
"That's our house that is." He would joke.  
  
"Don't be crazy dad. We can't afford a nice place like that." Remus would reply with a laugh. As Remus snapped out of his reverie a question suddenly came to his mind.  
  
"Why is it that if I escaped any everything I am now here? How did I get into my pyjamas?" He asked, as he quiet definitely remembered not doing it this morning.  
  
"Now that is the strange part. It must have been a few hours after you got out, we heard a knock on the door. By this time we had come out of the attic and had phoned some of the neighbours telling them a burglar had been seen in the area and that they should lock all their doors and windows immediately. There was a sort of knock at the door and when we opened it you were just sort of standing there, as a werewolf of course. You just kind of walked in with your head hung as though you had done something wrong or something. I tell you whatever happened last night it must have been something to make you come back like that. You were really calm, almost like when you have the wolfsbane potion." His father said as he rubbed his head in general befuddlement. "There was a look in your eyes. If you looked past your desire to bite things and kill animals smaller than yourself, it was like you had a mission or something." He said as he thought out loud.  
  
After several moments of silence that followed in which they thought about it Remus' mother decided to break the silence with the mention of breakfast.  
  
"So What would you like for breakfast?" she said in a tone that said she already knew the answer.  
  
"Well I was thinking, if it isn't to much trouble I would have some carrots for breakfast." Remus said without giving it a second thought.  
  
"The same for me honey." Said Remus' father as he gave a depressed sigh.  
  
"An excellent choice." Said his mother with a bright smile. As she left the room, Remus turned to his father and asked a question which he had asked himself many times over the last month or so.  
  
"Why is it that all we have to eat for breakfast is carrots?"  
  
"Well it is because that is all that seems to be growing in the garden at this time of year. We do try to buy nice food for you but you know how it is... money is a bit short at the moment. It's a pity you can't use magic to make food." His father said truthfully as he put his hands in his pockets. (Pockets are very strange and magical things that nobody quiet understands. For some reason objects seem to accumulate in them. However it is always the same things. Usually a paperclip, a foreign coin, some fluff and something sticky, which is generally preferred to remain unknown for the thought that it might be something unpleasant. Remus had learned about this in muggle studies during his seventh year at Hogwarts. Much to his annoyance he learned that it was physically impossible for anything of value such as a lump of gold or platinum. When he was younger he had tried to open a small business selling these magically materialised paperclips and balls of fluff. After three days in which he had failed to become a millionaire he decided to cut his losses and leave the retail business.)  
  
"Well the reason you can't make food is because..." Remus began to say before his father cut him off.  
  
"Don't try to tell me things about magic. I'm too old and simple to learn about these things. Now I am going to go and help your mother peel breakfast, so why don't you put your good socks on, you wouldn't want to look tatty in front of your old headmaster now would you?" Remus finished readying himself for what was going to most definetly be a long drawn out day. "Still", he reminded himself, "at least he could look forward to spending an afternoon out with Natasha. Hopefully with any luck this time Lilly and James wouldn't be coming along." It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with his best frined it was just that he had plans and they weren't exactly the sort of things that happened in the company of others to say the least. It was still fun going out though. Remus happily spent every penny he found on the street or received from his intelligent feathered friend Beebo. He also spent a little bit of blackmail money that he was given by James in exchange for them spending an evening together and not mentioning any of the secrets to the ladies, that he would rather remain private. James respected his privacy and Remus respected James'. It was a spoken agreement. You turn your back and he turns his. Everyone was a winner, except Peter, who had on occasion joined them on an evening on the town, and wheeled along a few paces behind the two couples like a fifth wheel. A rather squeeky one at that. Whilst his stories may be humorous round the dinner table you didn't want to have a romantic walk disrupted by your mousy friend chuckling over his own story of the bearded lady named Graham. No with any luck tonight would be the night for Remus. He was finally going to pop the question, and ask Natasha if she was in favour of the death penalty.  
  
You could tell alot about a girl by her opinion on death.  
  
Once Remus was finally ready and made sure he had a lock of hair hanging down over his head to add to his boyish look, he went downstairs. "There is no point worrying Remus old boy." he said to himself. "Professor Dumbledore will be round later and he will do his magic and find out that everything is ok and that i didn't hurt anyone. Infact I bet my rubbishy old teeth are to blunt to bite anyone anyway. Might have given a few rabbits a nasty love bite but nothing else. As he walked into the kitchen and sat down on the bare wooden table his mother put the bowl of carrots down in front of him. Rather than pouring milk on, he reached over to the jug from his father who was flipping through the newspaper. He poured lots of lovely lashing of ice cold water all over his carrots. There were two reasons to this. The first was that if he closed his eyes, pinched his nose and ignored the crunchy sensation then it could almost pass for a strange foreign cereal. The second was that the water seemed to be absorbed into the carrots and get rid of the wrinkles, which made it look much more appetizing, or at least as yummy as a very, wet, wrinkly carrot can look early in the morning. "I'm going to give the house a quick dust over." said his mother as she joined them at the table and brushed off some of the dust that had fallen from the ceiling. "And maybe a lick of paint. Do you want to help your father out in the field today or are you going to go and spend some time with James or your other friends?" she asked in a way that suggested she was extremely interested. She probably was, due to the fact that anything inside the household ran like clockwork day after day. Carrots for breakfast. Help dad do work. Have a rest. Have some bread and carrot soup for lunch. Repeat steps one, two... Life was as dull as could be in his opinion, except when he went out. It was as if he saved all his excitement till the times we spent with his friends, and so sometimes he was a little crazy. He still had the scar from the time he pulled a party popper in the bald mans face. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Remus looked at his father questioningly for a moment. His father lowered the newspaper a little and thought for a moment whilst rubbing his chin. "No I think you should go out and have some fun today. Just the usual boring stuff for me. Look for a decent job. Fail to find one. Sulk. Bring in some bails of hay. Dig up some carrots." he said as he counted them off on his fingers. As Harry watched carefully from across the table he could notice that Remus was mouthing his fathers words slightly, having obviously hear the same things again and again. "Ok well i think i will be going out then for a bit." Remus said as he started to forget about the events of last night. He quickly finished off his breakfast and got up form the table. "Don't be to long because Albus will be round later to check up on you remember." said his mother caringly as she busied herself with the washing up. Harry hopped up from the work counter by the side of the room where he had been sitting and went to follow Remus. They walked out into the back garden which was messy and overgrown, and in Harry's opinion, everything a garden should be. Flowers looked nice and everything but at the end of the day you couldn't have fun with them or anything, so why not just have grass? The sun had risen a bit higher in the sky now, and whilst there was still a bit of a chill in the wind, the feel of the sun warming his skin made it feel quiet comfortable. There was a large tree at the end of the garden, or at least what he assumed to be the end. There was an old stone wall that through time and weather had become crumbly, and now looked more like just lots of rocks huddling together for mutual protection, rather than to actually be something. On the other side of the rocks was a large field that gently sloped up towards the horizon and into a large dark woods, probably the same woods that Remus had been in last night. As Remus walked nearer to the end of the garden Harry could see that the tree was in a very sorry state. it didn't have many branches left and nearer to the top it looked rather black, as if it had caught on fire once. The inside was hollowed out from decades of rot and insects. Now it slumped to one side, looking dangerously close to falling over. "Maybe it is magically charmed not to, like the Burrow."  
  
Harry though as he cast his mind back to when he had last been there. It had been back at the end of his third year at school. The year they wen't to the Quidditch cup. Harry could remember what things were like back then. No Voldemort. No Deaths. Just him and his friends, without a care in the world but what they would do the next day, and how to avoid degnoming it. Just like Remus probably, other than the being a savage killing monster once a month of course. Now however things were so different. More different than he could have thought at the time. Voldemort was back. It was his job and no one else's to kill him. Things certainly weren't easy. Just as he started to wonder why Remus had decided to leave this in the pencieve for Harry to see, it changed. The images around it sunk like thick treacle running down a spoon, clouding an already warped reflection. The bright sun shining of the fields, and blurring around made Harry feel slightly nauseous, and just as he was thinking perhaps he should close his eyes, everything began to settle down. Forming into solid objects, gradually taking on the correct colour. As reality settled itself out, starting in the middle, spreading itself to the far corners of the world within a pencieve, like ripples in a water after a stone has town through the surface, and the after waves spread out around it, gradually fading down, until it comes to rest in its original crystal clear form. As Harry looked around the first thing he realized was how hot it felt. Any coldness that had existed earlier on was now gone. So was the damp morning mist, which was now replaced by a humid sticky air, that glided across the fields from the shallow river than trickled along the back by the woods. High above his head was the hot sun, blazing down. It was probably just about lunch time, he guessed, due to the fait smell of food that was wafting in from behind him, and due to a sense that all teenage boys seem to develop, which is like an alarm in their head telling them that food is in the vicinity, or if it isn't it will be by the time they get to the destination. Dudly had truly perfected this technique into something that was nothing short of a sixth sense. Harry was still standing in the same place as before, in Remus' back garden, so apparently the only thing that changed was the time. As he glanced around the vast expanses of the field he wandered where exactly Remus had gotten to. He was answered a moment later as he heard the sound of stones bashing together. Whilst the food odour admittedly didn't smell great, it was enough to stir Remus out of his hiding place. Harry spotted him at the end of the garden climbing over the dying old stone wall. In his hands was a large bunch of brighly coloured wild flours that he had picked. He was also covered in enough mud to make Aunt petunia foam at the mouth, which Harry had seen her do on occasion. Normally it just started as a tiny whitish speck at the corner of her thin lips, but sometimes, on special occasions when Harry would come home covered in glue or paint, he could see it growing, and pulsating, until it formed itself into the tell tale sign of pure rage itself. Remus ran past Harry towards the shack of a home. He carefully put down the flours that he had picked on the garden bench, before kicking off his shoes and running in doors. Harry quickly followed him inside. He wasn't sure what was special about carrots but apparently they seemed to do wonders, because Remus was rather fast, and rather bouncy, kind of like a rabbit, or Tonks. He hoped over the sofa as he made a short cut through the living room and dashed into the kitchen, skidding on the floor tiles in his bear socks, he narrowly avoided knocking the small form of his mother over as she carried a saucepan of hot stew towards the table. As she placed it down on the table. She quickly turned to Remus, and with as angry tone as she could probably muster she strode over to him and took him by the ear before he had a chance to sit down. "No Remus. What have i told you about running in the house?" she scolded as she guided him towards the kitchen door, and away from the table. "I didn't mean to run. it is just that i didn't want to keep you waiting and sometime along the way I think I hit terminal velocity, and thus it would be impossible for me to go any slower than I was." Remus said with a hopefully mischievous smile, as he fumbled through his mind for an excuse that would work on his mother. "Be more original, Dear, you tried that one last week." she said as she released her grip on him, but continued to usher him out of the Kitchen. "Oh don't be so harsh on the boy. Getting Muddy is what they do." said his father from one of the places at the table. "You're only on his side because you're no better yourself. She said with a defeated sigh. "In fact you're probably worse. At least he takes his shoes off and doesn't bring a great big trail of dirt in behind him. You messy man." she tutted as she turned back to Remus. "Now go and wash your hands. And do you have to get so muddy!" she said rhetorically as she finally took notice of just how mucky Remus had become in the few hours since breakfast. Go and change your t-shirt. We have a guest." Remus stopped in the door way and looked down to the far end of the table. At professor Dumbledore who was sitting politely, looking amused with the whole scene. He looked slightly younger than he did as Harry knew him. Rather than wearing his typical deep purple or golden flowing gowns. Instead he was wearing a plain brown that certainly didn't suggest he was a proud headmaster. Harry guessed Dumbledore probably didn't want to out do the Lupin family. "Hey Albus. Sorry i didn't see you there." Remus said as he looked at his old headmaster happily. "Hello Remus. Glad to see you in such high spirit considering." He said with a small nod. Remus smile faded a little before he quickly turned and dashed off upstairs to change into something cleaner. His mother called up the stairs after him. "Mind your Manners, it's Professor Dumbledore to you." "No, it's quiet alright Rachel. He isn't at school any more. He doesn't have to call me professor or Dumbeldore even. In fact thinking about it he never did, even when we were at school. I never should have let him and James turn that school Christmas dance into an all night rave. After that they just started taking liberties!" The only sound that followed this was the stifled snorts of Remus' father who tried his best not to laugh, and a thumping sounds as Rachel tried to remind him not to be so childish.  
  
"So how have you been?" Dumbledore asked as he sat at the table rubbing his chin in a way that showed he was pleasantly interested.  
  
"Oh we have been quiet good, Thanks." Said Remus' father as he searched for the words that could describe their poverty, whilst not making it obvious. Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, before having a quick glance at his surroundings.  
  
"So how have things been? Have you been busy out in the field?" Asked Albus, as he made what Roger assumed was small talk.  
  
"Well not particularly. Since Remus is home a lot these last two years, and he hasn't yet got a job, he has been helping my out quite a lot. He's stronger than me now. Takes half the time to do the chores. To tell the truth I'm at a bit of a loss as what to do with him, or myself for that matter." He said as he pulled the bowl of hot stew closer to him, which Rachel had now served up. He played with it for a minute with his spoon before Albus spoke.  
  
"Are we going to wait for Remus to join us?" Since everyone was now sitting down ready to eat, except Remus, roger thought about it for a minute.  
  
"No, not much point in letting it get cold. Besides I don't think Remus would mind." He said as he started eating the vegetable stew that consisted primarily of water and carrots. Albus however, did not start, and instead sat there for a moment with his brow furrowed in thought.  
  
"So, Roger, I happened to notice this morning as I was walking round the school grounds, that some of the trees at the edge of the forbidden forest are getting rather overgrown. You know how it is, with trees. They seem to have a habit of trying to creep up towards the castle." He said in a tone of someone clearly thinking how he worded his things before he said them, all the time not taking his eye of Remus' father.  
  
"Yes, trees are growing fast this year. It's all the sun that does it." He said as he paused for a moment, with a spoon of stew half way to his mouth. It dripped back into the bowl a little bit and an odd splash landed on his shirt. Albus looked in mild interest, as he probably didn't know much about the process of tree growth.  
  
"Yes, well the thing is that they need to be kept under control so every few years I have them cut back a bit." He said very matter of factly. Still not breaking his gaze.  
  
"Dumbledore." Said his father with a small sigh. Whilst he wasn't in a well- respected profession he still was quiet intelligent, and managed to pick up the proposing tone.  
  
"Please, Roger, It is Albus. You have come to my office to deal with Remus enough times by now to call me by my first name."  
  
"Ok then Albus. I suppose your right. I also think that I know you well enough to know that you don't usually discuss something unless it concern the person your talking to. How exactly am I involved?" he asked suspiciously as he matched Dumbledore's gaze.  
  
"Well, I was hoping that maybe you would accept my offer of maintaining our trees" he said as he raised his eyebrows slightly and gave a friendly smile. "The school would pay you of course, in Galleons or Sterling, whichever you would prefer." From what Harry could pick up about Remus from what he had seen, it was rather apparent that he was a very proud man, although in Harry's opinion this was a bit strange because he had nothing to be proud about.  
  
"Albus, I'm thankful that you offer but I cannot accept." He said, as his wife passed him a questioning glance. "Oh, why is that?" Asked Dumbledore quizzically as he took a sip of the coffee next to him. "Well put it this way, I'm pretty certain that there are many useful spells you have that could do a better job than I could, and also I'm sure you have a groundskeeper who would be happy to do it. From what I here from Remus, he is a fairly large chap, and would manage probably better than myself." "Oh I believe I see your point now. Forgive me if I am wrong, but are you under the impression that I only asked you so that I may pay you?" He said with his usual sharpness. "Well are you denying that it couldn't be more easily done with magic?" "No. I'm fairly certain that there are several spells which could be used to cut trees. I however asked you for a reason. "Your reason being?" Asked Roger almost curtly. "Well the reason I ask is this. At the end of last year there was somewhat of a disaster, which blew up two of our potions Laboratories, and our groundkeeper Hagrid is currently busy, as it caused a large amount of damage. The second reason being that this is the forbidden forest we are talking about, and it isn't in a wizard's best interest to start blasting magic at them if you know what I mean." Dumbledore finished with a small smile. "I see..." he thought for several moments. He really did need some money and from past he knew Dumbledore to be a wise and honest person. "Am I really the first choice of person you would ask?" "Well no, you're not my first choice. If I could have anyone to cut my trees then I think I would choose Merlin. Fantastic chap apparently. Pity I wasn't born a few hundred years earlier." He said with a small chuckle that his father matched. His mother just sat there quietly. Whenever Remus had gotten in trouble it had been Roger who went to the school, and as a result she wasn't on joking terms with the old man. "The wizarding world has been rather... hectic... and so a muggle would be the obvious choice. As far muggles go, I know you better than most." "If this really is business and not as a favour then yes I will accept the job. I wouldn't want Remus to be embarrassed. And I won't let you pay me much either!" he said as if that settled the matter. "Good. Because to be honest I didn't intend to pay you much." He said with another laugh.  
  
At this point Remus returned. He strode into the kitchen. He had now cleaned himself up and changed his muddy t shirt for what was presumably his smartest looking item of clean clothing. It was a t shirt decorated in bad taste, with several bears on the front. It looked a bit small and Harry guessed it had probably been bought for him when he was younger by an elderly relative.  
  
"What are you to talking about?" asked Remus suspiciously as the conversation stopped as soon as he entered. He slid over into his empty seat and immediately started on his lunch.  
  
"Well your father and I were just discussing some work he is going to be doing over at Hogwarts."  
  
"Yes, professor Dumbledore obviously thought that I have done a good job with the back garden, and so I will be trimming a few trees for a day or two." Said his father as he looked down at the table.  
  
"Really! Can I come along dad? Can I Albus? Please it feels so long since I was at Hogwarts. It has been two whole years! I won't get in trouble any more, I promise." He begged as he displayed a big toothy grin.  
  
"Yes, if you wish, although I dare say it won't be very exciting without all your friends there. Unless of course you just wanted to come along to clear out a few things from the old classroom." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "What things?" said Remus and his father in unison.  
  
"Well it is rather strange. I happened to be walking along the sixth floor, towards the eastern tower, when I went into the old transfiguration classroom, into the cupboard, pulled up two of the floorboards and happened to find a box of joke items. It really is rather funny that I just happened to find them." He chuckled as he was unable to suppress a laugh. Remus suddenly felt a little hot under the collar. Obviously the Marauders secret stash had been discovered. They had left it there so that even when they left school they could continue their mischievous rein. Remus muttered something as he tried to think of an excuse, while his father gave him a suspicious glance.  
  
"Don't worry. I can clearly see they would be very important to you and as you were a prefect I thought it only fair I returned the items. I sent them to James, and I imagine he will share them later on when you speak to him. Anyway I think perhaps we should get down to business shall we?" he asked as he finally started on the food in front of him. There was a small cough as Roger finally looked away from his son, and at the headmaster.  
  
"We, er, that is..." he began to say before Rachel interrupted him  
  
"We don't talk about Remus' problem at the table." There was a moment silence as Remus blushed before Dumbledore replied.  
  
"Of course, please pardon my manners."  
  
Harry sat and watched as the next few minutes slowly ticked over whilst everyone sat eating in silence with the only sound being the occasional spoon scraping along the inside of the bowl. Eventually they all finished and as they rose from the table. Rachel excused the three men to go and talk in the lounge whilst she busied herself with the washing up. Harry walked into the tatty living room, which like the rest of the house, had the feel that a strong breeze would blow the walls down. In the middle of the room were a few very old arm chairs. Harry sat down on an empty armchair whilst Remus and his father sat on a sofa opposite. There was an uncomfortable spring digging into Harry's left leg, but he pushed it to the back of his mind along with the hula skirt Snape, and turned his attention To Dumbledore who had pulled out a large piece of parchment  
  
He quickly ran his fingers over it, and as he drew his hand away an intricate series of lines drew out, stoping and turning, dividing and joining. Eventually the lines all joined together and stopped, and the map was finally completed as a name appeared at the top of it. "Meloria Street."  
  
As Harry couldn't see from where he was sitting he moved over and perched himself on the arm of Dumbledore's chair where he could clearly see. As he twisted his head sideways he could finally make out where exactly he was. The street itself was relatively small, comprising of about ten houses, all loosely scattered randomly in a manner which Vernon Dursley would probably describe as disgusting and scruffy.  
  
"Ok now I have already had a look round and done an investigation into any harm muggles might have obtained. I also checked to make sure that none of them who had seen you would remember, with help from the Department for the Regulation and control of Magical creatures." Dumbledore said as he stared down at the map. He paused for a moment, as he expected someone to interrupt him. No one did. He drew his hand further away from the map as it zoomed out to display a larger area. "Now this is the area that I have currently investigating." He said as he ran his other hand in a circle around the house that and the forest behind the field. The ministry officials are continuing to do a more wide spread search of the local area..." Dumbledore trailed off as he could tell that he was about to be interrupted. "So does that mean..." Remus began to ask hesitantly, afraid to get his hopes up. "Yes, as of yet it doesn't seem anyone was hurt, or anyone even saw you." Dumbledore announced with a smile as Remus did a little dance before his father gave him a strong hug. "That's great." Roger said with a deep sigh of relief. Harry himself knew how it felt to be responsible for something terrible...Cedric. I he suddenly had that taken off his shoulders he expected he would be pretty ecstatic as well. "I'm not saying everything is fine at the moment." Dumbledore said as he continued on with only a slight air of caution as to their early celebration. "it is possible Remus went further than we expected although the chance of him making it into town and back is quite slim. Have you heard anything on the news that we wouldn't have?" asked Dumbeldore as he gestured towards the radio which sat over the empty fireplace. "No. I was listening all last night whilst he was out and I checked again this morning and nothing was out of the ordinary... Except a mysterious death of an old lady and..." Roger muttered. Dumbledore's mile suddenly disappeared.  
  
"Yes I'm afraid that is a different matter." "The Evil Master or what it is he calls himself?" he asked as he searched his memory of what his son had told him about the wizarding world recently. "Yes. Still it is good news that Remus is most likely in the clear." Dumbledore replied as he hastily changed the subject. As Harry took a closer look at Remus he could see there were traces of tears in his eyes which he did his best to wipe away, but as he gave a sniff it became quiet apparent how emotional he felt, and he finally surrendered his remaining dignity and gave a small sob of happiness. "I don't know what I would have done if I hurt someone." There are kids on this street. I could have attacked them. They would be just like me. I would wish that on no one." "Not even Severus?" asked Dumbledore with a chuckle as he attempted to lighten the mood. Remus gave a hard laugh, before eventually giving Dumbledore a stern look, and replying "No." without a trace of doubt in his voice. "I will tell you what." Said Roger finally. As everyone had taken in the news. "We can have a small celebration later, before you got out Remus. You can join us if you like Professor Dumbledore. We can have carrot cake!" 


	34. A Traitor Amongst Us

Sorry about that massive paragraph last chapter. There must have been something wrong when it uploaded... I have hopefully corrected it now  
  
Also I discovered I had anonymous reviews turned off, so I turned on. Hopefully now I will get a bit more feedback.  
  
"You can join us if you like Professor Dumbledore. We can have carrot cake!" Dumbledore declined the offer of carrot cake, and made excuses about how he was rather busy. Before he left he had a brief discussion with Roger as he handed over a large case with several dozen vials of Wolfsbane.  
  
"That should keep Remus in good order for the rest of the year. Should you need more please don't hesitate to ask because it really isn't that much trouble." Dumbledore said honestly as he made his way to the front door. Rachel assured him that they would, and from now on they would try harder to make sure nothing went wrong.  
  
Once Dumbledore had left and Remus' parents went back to their afternoon activities, Remus decided he would go and have a lie down in his room. The transformation always made him tired and the hot sun outside didn't help. It was a surprise that he hadn't fallen asleep at the table to tell the truth. He slumped down onto his collapsed bed that was now little more than a pile of wood and a lumpy mattress.  
  
"Well Remus, looks like you had a narrow miss." Harry said as he followed him into the bedroom. He was growing slightly impatient; this was supposed to be a memory that showed how this man was responsible for his father's death. So far it had just jest been Dumbledore being kind and helpful. At this rate it looked like Harry would be spending a while longer just watching Remus sleep. His eyes fluttered closed and a minute or so past as Harry gradually grew more irritated from having his time wasted like this.  
  
He stopped fussing to himself however as it became apparent that Remus wasn't asleep. His eyes snapped open and he quickly pulled himself up so that he was resting on his elbows. He quickly jumped up and walked over to the rotting old chest of draws with the possessions on top. His hand hovered for a moment before picking up the pensieve. As if under his touch suddenly the white mist in it started spinning excitedly. A logical part of Harry's brain that he was unaware of started screaming things about impossible paradoxes from seeing something he was inside, but he was unaware of this. Remus carefully drew out his wand, rubbed it on his cloak and then raised it to his head. He then scrunched up his face in concentration as if trying to remember a memory from a long time ago, or a dream that he had had. Eventually some Silvery mist began to form around the tip of the wand like candy floss on a stick. Once it had formed into a large blob he opened his eyes, and lowered the wand back to the pensieve. The memory carefully plopped off like a small fat seagull plopping into some icy water.  
  
"Let's see if we can find anything." Remus said as he poked the fresh memory with his wand and braced himself for the worst, or at least what he thought was the worst.  
  
It started spinning until it formed itself into a clear picture like a miniature circular TV. Harry could see some woods, a lot of fog, and from the point of view it looked as if Remus was rather low. There was a full moon up in the sky, and Harry finally realised that this was the memory of Voldemort and Peter.  
  
Remus sat in silence as he watched the memory that was apparently new to him. It must have had something to do with the way wolf eyes work, but for some reason all the images seemed strangely blue, as if they were being watched in the reflection on a pool of water. There was however one exception to this, Voldemort. Whilst Peter and everything around him was washed with blue, Voldemort had an area around him that seemed to glow bright green. There was also a pale reddish glow coming from a spot a few feet to Remus' right, where Harry had been standing.  
  
"It must be some sort of sixth sense." Said Harry to no one in particular. "I guess you really could see me." He said as Remus continued watching completely unaware of his best friends son talking inches away from his ear. As the memory went on Remus became more and more pale, until eventually he was just a fleshy ghost sitting motionless, unable to digest what he had seen. Whilst half an hour ago he had won, in the sense that he didn't bite anyone, now had lost something much worse, a friend, and from the sound of it he might loose two more.  
  
Eventually, once he was certain there would be no more Voldemort, he turned his head away and slumped against the wall of his bedroom in defeat. His eyes were dry and his throat was dry, so that every time he swallowed he choked a little. He raised his hands to his temples in desperation, as he tried to squash out the corruption he had just seen. It was his entire mind. No thoughts of friendship now. Just one lone thought. His friend was a traitor. A Death Eater. Cramming his thoughts, compressing his brain. Driving him insane. He banged his head against the hard stone wall in frustration as he started muttering to himself, very quickly taking on the appearance of someone who has spent the last ten years in Azkaban.  
  
"How could he? How could he betray James and Lilly like that? Why would he want them dead? Why would he want Harry dead? I have to warn them I have to tell them!" He said to himself as he jumped up stared round wildly, as if looking for his super hero race car. Once he remembered that he didn't have one, and that he could simply apparate, he did.  
  
Harry waited for everything to fade around him, but instead it suddenly snapped so that in an infinitely small amount of time it had changed to an outside street of somewhere that looked like London. Harry stood by Remus who was looking up at a reasonably large house, belonging to someone who probably shared a lot of opinions with the Dursley's. Remus gave a small sigh as he took a few steps closer to the door. He raised his hand to knock, but as he was about to swing the brass knocker, instead he spun round and took a few steps back in the direction he had just come. "I can't do this." He said as he stood unsurely. "No I have to." He said as firmly as he could, but he made several false starts before he finally picked up the courage, screwed up his eyes and rapped on the door three times, so quickly that it blurred together and sounded like one long unsure knock.  
  
Harry half expected to see a butler names Charles answers the door and ask if he wished to speak to the lady of the manor. Instead after a few moments of waiting the door slid open to reveal an exhausted looking Peter. He was no doubt still tired from being up late, Harry thought angrily as he watched them. Remus didn't say anything. He just stood angrily as all the things he noticed about Peter suddenly seemed more death eater like. The way he stood. The way he breathed. "Oh hey Remus. I was expecting you." He said lamely. "You, you have?" asked Remus, thrown off his roughly planned inquisition "Yes. You can tell James and Lilly that it doesn't matter how much begging they say, I can't go out tonight. I have to stay in and do stuff." "Or go out and do stuff?" "No, I mean that I won't be going out. Hence the reason I said "I can't go out tonight"" Peter said in a tone that Harry wondered he could have ever possessed whilst still having friends. There was a long pause that followed this as Remus tried to think of something to say, whilst Peter looked questioningly, as if to ask whether the conversation had ended and he could close the door and going back to brewing evil juice or whatever it is he did. "Are you not going out tonight because you are meeting You-Know-Who or because you can't face Lilly and James, knowing that you would sell them out to him!"  
  
There was an even longer silence that followed this statement that followed this as Remus stood, half expectantly, waiting for his friend to be confused and then come out with a simple explanation to what he had seen. Instead he gave Remus a quick glance, making sure that there wasn't a team of small Aurors hiding behind his back. His face turned a slight shade of green as he took a step out of his house onto the cold stone path in just his socks. He pulled the door mostly closed behind him so that his parents wouldn't be able to hear the discussion. "I don't know how you know about that Remus but stay out of it!" he said angrily as he advanced on Remus. This wasn't at all the reaction he had expected. Rather than breaking down and apologising, he didn't make any attempt to deny it. He just told Remus to mind his own business.  
  
"You betrayed Lilly and James. Why?" was his next question. "I thought we were friends." "We are friends." Said Wormtail as if the matter of killing each other was just an unfortunate issue which arises here and there. "Some friend who tries to murder two innocent people and Harry, he is only a baby for Christ sake!" "Remus you have to believe me this wasn't personal." Said Wormtail in an unnervingly calm voice considering he didn't have a wand and he had just been discovered to be a Death Eater.  
  
"What so it is simply business is it? I am going straight to the Ministry you know. They always like to know who any hints on who Death Eaters are." Remus said threateningly. "Well yes as a matter of fact it is just business. You no me, we have been friends for the best part of six years. I didn't want to have to betray Lilly and James but there really was no other way. You can report me if you like but you know as well as I do that the ministry is likely to trust a wizard of noble blood, compared to..." "A half blood?" Shouted Remus as he was unable to control his rage. Peter closed the door and made to move a little bit away from the house. "I always knew you looked at me as less. You might not have admitted it but you were the last to become an Animagi and only then was it so that James and Sirius would stop taking the piss out of you. Good old Remus, he's always good for a laugh!"  
  
"I don't know why you are so angry. The thought of saving your own neck must have passed your mind. You know that getting in with the Dark Lord would increase your chances at a normal life. He has influences that could stop the persecution forever. He could make everything better. You would be playing the game of life and rolling a six every time." "Life isn't a game you damn murderer and neither are our friends, my friends. Your sick Peter, you know that. I don't know what else it could be." Remus said as he genuinely admitted his thoughts. "What you mean the way I was always in your shadow? Look at Remus the prefect and his friends! Oh yeah Peter is there as well. That's what they used to say. I'm not a third wheel. I used to wonder where my place was. You are friends but I always knew in my heart that somewhere there was a place for me. Somewhere that was just right. I found it Remus. There could be a spot for you aswell if you could only open your eyes to the bigger picture, rather than narrowing your vision from the real matters, and focusing on things of trivial importance like James and Natasha.  
  
"You mean like friends and love! They may be trivial to the world but to the trivial person in it, they are my world. I can't understand you Peter. I just can't understand. Am I just stupid or is there something I don't know? We were always good to you weren't we? Us three always helped you when you were struggling on your homework, or when you were to embarrassed to ask a girl out we three could make a good impression for you. Please Peter, I don't understand. We never treated you bad. You had a good life." He pleaded as tears started to form in his eyes.  
  
"Yes. You did exactly that. I had a problem you THREE always helped out. If poor little Peter Pettigrew had any problem I always had THREE great friends to be there. We wen't out on weekends after Hogwarts. Just the THREE of you, and me! That is all I ever was. You basically said it yourself Remus. You three were always separate from me. I don't know why but I didn't quite lick like you lot. You were more the kind of friends that I spent time with because it was more fun than spending time alone. Have you got any idea how bad it was to be in the position I was in? I was in your shadow and whilst it sucked it did teach me one thing Remus. The darkness has its benefits. When you're in the dark no one can see you. It opened my eyes to my life now. I only wish I hadn't wasted these last two years before realising this." Peter said in a tone of almost happiness. After years of suppressed thoughts he could finally speak his mind, and in a way it was almost funny because he could stand by and watch the wizarding world and Remus with there arcade ideas on how things should be, when in fact they didn't realise that over the years they had come to accept something far worse than what they could have.  
  
"Your mad. You really are. You think your life was bad? I think you had it pretty cushy to tell the truth. You did well at school and you did have friends, whether you think so or not. You have a job and you are pretty wealthy. I was envious of you in many ways. Being able to live a normal life. Did you ever stop to look at the people around you? No. How do you think I fell Peter? Ever since I was a young child people who knew my problem persecuted against me. People who didn't know my problem thought I was a sickly kid and a bit weird for always having to make excuses when they asked if I wanted to sneak down to Hogsmead next Friday night. Imagine being so poor that you would wake up in the morning and wondering why your house hadn't fallen down yet. Yet all of that doesn't bother me. I was fine with what I had, because although it wasn't much, it was a lot more than some people, and by understanding this I could appreciate the values. You are just a spoilt child who wants it all. My life was going good and here you are, you come along and muck it all up!  
  
I'm ashamed in you and if your mother knew she would be too. But you know what; I'm not going to tell her, because I'm not unfair. I don't like ruining people's lives. People make mistakes I can accept that, and I don't know why, but I think somewhere there is still the friend we knew you were, and that he might fix things. So here's the deal, if you undo your wrong doings, then your secret will be kept and no one need be hurt. I won't be your friend any more but other than that your life will be the same as before. If however, you don't do what needs to be done, then I will still walk away, I still won't be friends with you, but I can guarantee that your secret won't remain secret, and you will suddenly be wishing you could turn back time, change your decisions and stood by those who were the ones who really meant something. If you join Voldemort, providing he doesn't kill you, then you will grow into a sad, bitter old man, full of scars on body and mind."  
  
Remus finished off with nothing more than a look of disgust and pity. He pitied Peter, he really did. He was a weak person. There was a reason why his animagi form was a rat and that was because it fitted his personality perfectly. When he was with another people he was a strong willed person. He knew what he wanted, but separated and left on his own he quickly became scared and confused, seeking out the safety of leadership and the protection that came with leadership. Peter stood routed on the spot for a long time as Him and Remus just stared at each other. Neither saying anything for a long moment. It was a test for Peter. As he stood looking at Remus, if he broke the gaze it would be like turning his back, or being dishonest. If he chose the dark lord then he would fail the test. Eventually tears leaked down his face, like a pathetic child  
  
He fell to his knees and begged Remus for forgiveness. "Please Remus you have to understand that I didn't want to. You have no idea what things were like. People I didn't know started giving me messages and telling me things. They practically made me a Death Eater without even knowing it. I'm just minding my own business when suddenly they appear all around me and start killing everyone. They make it look like I'm one of them." He said as he gave a loud snivel and wiped his snotty nose on his sleeve. Remus cast him a curt look that did says this did not bode well. So far he still hadn't made a choice of which route he was going to take, and either way by the end of this conversation Remus never planned on speaking to Peter again.  
  
"It's just that if everyone thinks you have committed a crime then you might as well go through with it because no one will think any different, the only change is that you get something out of it." Peter babbled as he drew himself to his feet and looked up at Remus who was several inches taller than him. Please Remus. If I could change my decision don't you see I would? I can't just go up to the Dark Lord and make my excuses. Remus it is for life! I never liked the ideas of it all. I don't like killing people, but what it all boils down to is the question, do you want to live?" Peter said as he wiped away some of his tears.  
  
"Are you threatening me?" asked Remus who misunderstood Peter's question. "No. what im saying is that there is the black and the white. Try not to look at it as the good and the bad, but just chocolate or butterscotch. Equal yet different. It is undeniable that the Dark Lord is gaining power every day. There is not a wizard alive who has been able to stop him. Pretty certain he will be unstoppable, and in that case you need to take the winning side, or suffer a pointless death. Remus please, you can't hide your head in the sand. We may not like it but he cannot be stopped, and unless you join him then you are just one more obstacle he will try and get past. Come on Remus, you are my friend. Surely you can see my sense?" Peter drawled as he extended his hand out for Remus to shake. "Friends have to stand by friends."  
  
Remus looked down at Peter's proposal. He knew there was something in what he was saying. He extended his hand whilst looking at Peter who had a small smirk starting to appear of his face. Remus looked into Peters deceitful eyes for a moment, before quickly swatting his hand away.  
  
"This has all just been some sort of joke to you hasn't it. You stand here in front of me breaking down and begging for forgiveness and the next moment you are trying to recruit me again. You are a rat by nature, and I always tried not to associate with Vermin. You think I'm blind? I know what is going on in the wizarding world. These are dark times and undoubtedly there will be many deaths before we see better days, yet I would happily be one of those who gives what I have got in order to stop people like you, and him. As you said friends have to stand by friends, and as you also said, you never were really a friend." Remus said with a small smile. Peter wanted to try and play, then that's what Remus would do.  
  
I know where my allegiance lies. Whilst You-Know-Who is strong, he isn't liked, he is basically on his own other than a few miserable excuses like you. Even if he had an army of thousands, they would all be the dregs of society. Albus said something to me which I think holds a lot of truth. You might not agree, mainly because you don't want to agree but it goes as this. "We're as strong as we are untied, as weak as he are divided." You showed your weakness by joining him. You can't build a house on bad foundations nor can you forge an empire based around a corrupt system run by life's scum." "What are foundations?" Interrupted Peter. "Shut up." Snapped Remus who hadn't finished. Harry actually found it rather impressive that Remus had such strong wording on something like this when he was only a few years older than Harry. "Im going now. You have chosen your side, and if you have nothing else to say then I have two friends whose life has been compromised. You don't have two friends altogether. How sad." He said as he turned his back to Peter, and started walking away from Peter and into the street.  
  
"You choose the wrong side Remus." Peter said as he jogged a little way to lessen the gap between them. "I do warn you that if you try and save James and Lilly he will kill you. In fact he will probably kill your parents first to make you suffer. Maybe even Natasha." Remus' head snapped round fire in his eyes. "Leave her out of this." He roared in caution. "It's not me. It's him." Peter said with a small laugh. "You know what you have to do if you want your loved ones to stay in health." "I won't join you. Never, you disgusting filth! I will protect her. I will protect them all!" Remus said as he again turned and started walking away. "There are two paths to choose." Peter called after him as his voice carried through the air. "You just chose the path of the damned."  
  
As Harry continued walking along side Remus he couldn't help but feel strange. Whilst he knew that Peter was responsible for the death of his parents, he wondered how it must feel for Remus, to stand there and be told by one of your friends that he is working for Voldemort, and if anyone interferes they will be killed. He tried to imagine if that sort of thing could ever happen to him. Could Ron ever turn against him like that, and threaten his life? No. He had been jealous of Harry on several occasions but he wouldn't ever go that far. Still, it made Harry think...  
  
They turned a corner and Peter went out of sight. Harry became aware that Remus was walking very quickly. And he had to jog to keep up. Eventually Remus broke into a run, as he tried to get away from the problems. A minute later he slowed down a little, out of breath. He collapsed down against a tree and sat for a minute, running his hands through his hair, occasionally giving an odd sniffing sound.  
  
Remus knew he had to do something, but what should he do? He could write and tell the ministry, they might be interested in what he had to say. Then again he knew that they didn't exactly view Remus' type very highly. They would probably call him a lying half-breed. Maybe Albus would be a good idea. He always treated people fairly and being the head of the Order of the Phoenix he was bound to be interested. Then again he was probably very busy. He probably had paper work and things to do. It would be stupid of him to waste such an important person's time. After all it was just one death Eater, and when that Death Eater is Peter Pettigrew you know mass murders aren't going to be all over the news.  
  
"If anyone knows Peter it was James, Sirius or myself." Remus thought to himself as he drew himself to his feet and attempted to brush some grass stains off his trousers to little success. He finally reached the conclusion which no doubt was the wrong one, He would have to go and sort it out himself. With one concentratd thought he apparated over to the house that Harry had never seen. Godrics Hollow. The first thing that struck him was how large the house was. The next thing was how insanely jealous Ron would be if he knew that Harry had once, if only for a year or so, lived in a house like this. He expected it was probably the sort of place even Malfoy would have trouble criticizing.  
  
From the outside he could see that it was whilst old, still very well kept and a great house. It looked to be the kind that had been kept in the family for generations, and was passed down. "It's a pity it got burned down." Harry said to himself as he looked round the surrounding area. All of the houses looked quite nice. Allthough none as grand as Godrics Hollow. They all looked a bit more modern, as though they had been built afterwards, and all by the same people. He wondered for a minute whether many or all of them belonged to wizarding families. He guessed they probably didn't in the end as he noticed several children playing in one of the front gardens. Thy looked to be about four or five, so they were a few years older than Harry was. Around where they were standing were various bikes, all thrown down on the ground. This was a tell tale sign that they weren't wizards. The only wizard he had ever seen with a bike and that was Mr. Weasley. Harry spent several complicated minutes one time trying to explain a bike, and tell Mr. Weasley why it wasn't in fact used for drying washing.  
  
Harry felt a pang of annoyance as he watched them having fun. If he had grown up here he probably would have had fun just like them. Instead he found himself at a school where the only people who ever spoke to him were friends of Dudley's, and that was when they explained exactly how they would be bullying him today. He did once or twice have a few people express an interest being his friend, but as soon as Dudley became aware of this, and had a few words with the possible friend, the conversation Harry tried to have with them ended up with a lot of non convincing coughs before they drifted away.  
  
From what he could tell they were on the end of the street, of a small town. Each house was spaced apart a little and he could see they all had large back gardens stretching quite a way back. With a few magical charms Harry could have played Quidditch in the summer. He turned his attention back to his house. It was about three times as large as his home, if he could call it that, back at privet drive. I was made out of large white bricks and had dark red roof tiles which matched the colour perfectly, so that rather than a real house, it looked like an artist's impression of what a house should be. There was a very neatly kept garden that ran round to the back where he couldn't see. An assortment of different coloured flours planted neatly under a long window which Harry presumed led into the lounge told him that either since his parents had been at Hogwarts they had obtained a lot of patients, or else someone else was doing the gardening for them.  
  
Remus walked up the long neatly laid cobblestone path towards the front door. It was a large very dark wood that seemed to be made of the same stuff as his Blue Storm. There was a heavy brass door knocker shaped like the head of a griffin. There was also a doorbell to the side a little but it gave off the impression that to push even the button would be a lot of hard work. Remus gave three loud hard thuds on the door. He paused in between each one as it echoed round the cavernous room inside before hitting back at the door so that each time his knuckles made contact it sounded like a house elf was knocking back at him.  
  
Harry heard the pounding of feet from the other side, of the door, and from the distorted glass he could see the wobbling jelly like appearance of someone running. There was a muffled thud, before someone barked out a string of curse words. Remus gave a sigh in disbelief as he heard this. He appeared to be counting in his head. Abruptly the door swung open to reveal the form of Sirius standing there. Leaning on the door. He was as handsome if not more than he was when harry had seen him in Snapes memory. Knowing Snape, he probably tricked his own mind into remembering everyone to be worse looking than they were. Therefore by comparison his dripping hair and crooked nose wouldn't seem so bad.  
  
One thing that Harry was quite concerned to see was a trickle of blood running down Sirius' head from somewhere above his headline. He opened his mouth into a goofy grin as he saw it was Remus, and was about to say "hi" when he was cut off. "How many times do you need to fall over before realising that you can't run in bare socks on a floor like this?" asked Remus with a little nod as he looked at what appeared to be traditional black and white marble flooring. It reminded Harry strongly of the giant chessboard he had played across in an attempt to retrieve the philosopher's stone. The crucial difference was that this didn't come with sixteen stone figures, all keen on the idea of squashing him, skewing him, or who knows what else. "Hey. I'm not dead yet am I?" Sirius exclaimed with a laugh as he raised his hands to show that he was in perfect health. The blood which had now reached his chin and dripped onto his t-shirt didn't help make this point. Remus however didn't pay to much notice as he subtly lent to the side so that he could see past the hallway into the living room, as though checking that James was still alive.  
  
"So, what you doing here so early?" Asked Sirius after a few moments. Remus racked his brains for a miute. He had the sense enough to know that plunging straight into "hey you know Peter, funny thing happened earlier. Turned out he has Voldemort round for tea." "I just need to discuss a few things with James and Lilly, that's all." Remus said weakly. Sirius raised an eyebrow for a fraction of a moment before shrugging. "Figures. Everyone seems to want to talk to James and Lilly. Never mind old muggings black, he's boring." Sirius said in fake anger. "What do you expect? This is there house. Believe it or not when people want to speak to you they generally don't go to someone else's house. Besides we hung out all Monday, you act like you got nothing to do. What happened? James decide that your clumsy oaf hands would end up breaking Harry?" With this Sisius gave an enormous roar of laughter which made Harry, and probably anyone else who didn't know Sirius that well, jump.  
  
"Shh keep it down Moony. I am hoping I can help look after Harry for a few more months before he realises I'm incapable." He said with a large grin. "Anyway come on, I'm sure James will be pleased to see you. Even if you are going out this evening. Or is that it? You short of change again and come to make a bargain or two?" Remus very carefully walked along the marble flooring. He didn't want to end up scraping his shoes and leaving big rubber lines everywhere. Last time he did that Lilly threw a book at him. At least he didn't have that problem in his own house. Back home nobody minded if you got rubber marks on the dirt. "Hey Remus, How are you?" James said as he hopped to his feet and gave Remus some sort of friendly punch.  
  
It was a little strange because as Harry squeezed past the memory of Remus and Sirius who were standing by the doorway, and looked carefully at his father, it seemed, to him at least, as if he was a little bit taller than his father. Whilst Harry had seen memories of his father before, he found that they were generally walking or doing things. For some reason in his own mind Harry had always seen his father as someone larger than himself, but he suppose it was like a lot of things, you grew older and suddenly found that people were no longer giants compared to you, and in Dudley's case, found out that the slide at the zoo could no longer support his weight.  
  
"You stay right there mister!" Harry heard Lilly scold as she gave Sirius an angry look. "I don't want you getting blood all over the carpet again." "Oh don't be such a stick in the mud." Sirius said, although he made no step forward. Clearly he knew it was in his best intentions not to argue with Lilly. "You could clear it up straight off the carpet with a flick of your wand. A Talented lady like you." Sirius said as he flashed one of his lady-killer smiles. "Nice try Black. You should know though that flattery doesn't work on me. Get a cloth for that or something." She said as Sirius remained standing there, allowing the blood to trickle down his head and drip from his chin. He seemed almost proud of himself.  
  
"Sirius, do me a favour and stop flirting with my wife." James said with a small laugh. Sirius turned his attention from Lilly to his friend. "Come now James, I didn't mean anything. I just flirt with everyone. You should know that by now. A clever handsome young specimen like yourself." He said as everyone laughed, including James, although he still blushed madly. Once Remus had stopped laughing and rearranged himself into what he hoped looked like his usual poor self..  
  
"Hi guys." He said as he gave a weak grin. "How is everything? Ok I trust? No trouble. Been in good health?" Remus asked as he tried the subtle approach. For some reason he decided against "Had any threats from Voldemort?" For some reason whenever they mentioned that subject things went very quiet, very quickly. It was a sure way to kill any fun. "Er yeah everything is fine." James said slightly puzzled as to Remus' questions. "So what brings you here early?" Remus considered how long he could hold out saying. The truth is he couldn't really think of any easy way to put things. Maybe he was wrong in his decision to tell James and Lilly about Peter. The problem was that looking at them now, so carefree Remus couldn't really imagine telling them. Perhaps he should tell Dumbledore. It was always easy to talk to him. He was one of those very special people that had the rare ability to listen to what people were actually listened to what you were saying, rather than stare politely and wait for them to finish talking so that you could start.  
  
He was here now though, and as he reminded him self several times over, just so it was clear in his own mind, there was no turning back. "Um actually James it isn't about the usual." He said sadly. He wished it was just about money. Unfortunately this was more serious than needing a few Galleons for a night out. "You see I spoke to Dumbledore earlier. It seems that He Who Must Not Be Named is intending to attack you!" 


	35. The Truth

"You see I spoke to Dumbledore earlier. It seems that He Who Must Not Be Named is intending to attack you!" There was a long silence that followed this statement. Everyone seemed to stop breathing and the wind outside seemed to quieten. Even Sirius' bloody head stopped dripping. "Yeah Remus, we kind of new that already." Said James after what seemed like a life time of pause. Remus was slightly thrown off by the lack of disbelief or worry in James' voice. In his own head he could hear a chorus of dramatic music drumming out what would be played if his life was a cartoon. "Well I know, but I actually meant that he is trying to kill you more than usual." He said as he stared down at his thumbs which each seemed to be having a little dance on the end of his hand.  
  
Again a silence followed this statement; only the difference was that this was a little more cautious. "Dumbledore said so." Remus lied. If there was one person who could settle things it was him. He probably could have stopped world war one if someone had told him about it. Finally, everyone let out a long overdue gasp. "Tell us what Dumbledore said." Demanded James as he pulled the arm chair he was sitting on closer to Remus, so that they could probably smell each others breath. Lilly did the same. Sirius turned a pale shade, although that could be from blood loss. He put his ear as far into the conversation as possible without entering the room.  
  
It was common practice and so no one seemed to badger him over the quality of what he said. Remus was thankful for this, because he had been very careful over what he had said. Somewhere in the back of his mind he told himself that Peter was under the imperius curse or something. Something where he could be saved. He avoided mentioning Peter at all. Instead all he told them was that Voldemort was closer to attacking them and that there life was in risk. "So you need to stay hidden." Remus told them finally. "It is very important that you stay in the safety of your home." Deep down he knew that the chance of Voldemort attacking tonight was very slim, and even then they could still hide. He would go and speak to Dumbledore first thing tomorrow. Give peter a little more time to realise his mistake.  
  
"So were not allowed out then tonight?" asked James glumly. He had been looking forward to going out for the night. Sirius had kindly volunteered to baby sit Harry. This wasn't really much effort on his part because he spent most of his time there anyway, and the only difference for him doing it was that he had to make sure Harry was ok, as well as eating and watching television. That and the fact that he wouldn't be flirting with an uncomfortable babysitter. Sirius had tried flirting with himself once. He found it to be most unrewarding.  
  
"Didn't you hear what Remus said?" asked Lilly as she gave James a quick punch.  
  
"Oh well. I guess we will just have to wait a few weeks until this blows over." James said with a sigh as he slumped back in his chair. Harry desperately wanted to tell his father that this wouldn't blow over in the next week, or that nothing much would happen at all for them in the next few weeks. He could now see what the present day Remus meant when he warned Harry. This could indeed by psychologically damaging. To see his parents, sitting there, seeming carefree. They looked like they knew something he didn't because they didn't seem as worried as he thought they should be about Voldemort. Maybe he had been after them for a long time... and they had grown used to this sort of news. Anyway, if they had known that tonight would bring about their demise he felt his father wouldn't have been sitting in the chair fussing about his evening out being ruined.  
  
"Is there anything else Albus said?" Asked Sirius after a long silence had fallen. "Remus scratched his head as he thought carefully for anything else he could tell them. There didn't seem to be anything. "No basically I will be speaking to him again tomorrow. After that I will come and fill you in on the details, and you can do any things you might need to do." "Have you told Natasha that we won't be going out tonight then?" asked James after a while. "Um no not yet. I was thinking of telling her later. You know wait till I break the bad news." Remus said as he sighed. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to afford it. "Well no one said you can't still go out. I'm sure we don't need to be there every time." Said Lilly as she smiled at him. "I bet Sirius would like to go aswell." Sirius suddenly looked surprised at the sound of his name and it seemed to Harry as if perhaps he hadn't heard. It became apparent however that he had as he flashed a stupid smile. "Well I guess I have only been out four times this week. It would be a shame if I couldn't make it five." There was a moments silence before Remus coughed and replied. "Sirius, it is only the second day of the week." "What is her name this time?" asked James as he shook his head in disappointment. Clearly some things never changed. "Oh god let me see... if it was... then it must... be... Sharon?" he asked rather than said. "No. It's Sarah this time. And you had better not get her name wrong on this date." Lilly said as she picked up a magazine that she had been reading before Remus came along.  
  
After several moments of what was in Harry opinion, pointless conversation, Remus got up and made his way to the door. "So shall I zip on over to your place in a few hours time?" Sirius asked as he looked at his watch. Remus stood thinking for a moment before replying. "No, muggle neighbourhood and everything. You know how it is. I think you would just be better off meeting us at the three broomsticks and we will go from there." Sirius nodded in understanding. "Ok well me and Sharon will be there at around seven so don't be to late." "Sarah." Remus called to him as Sirius closed the door.  
  
Remus stood for several moments not entirely sure what to do. He could go and speak to Dumbledore now even... No he was probably doing something important. As long as he did it first thing tomorrow there would be nothing to worry about. He was planning on asking something important to Natasha tonight. Heck, there was no point trying to do everything in one night. Got to save something for later on. He fooled himself as he strolled along the path slightly and out of the area that was magically charmed to protect against apparition.  
  
Harry followed behind. He was angrier than he had been for quite a while, and he had a very good reason to be. His life had been misery just because Remus decided to tell a few lies and put things off for a day. Just because Remus was afraid to act on the things he should do, just because he let his emotions get in the way, just because of that, the world was a much worse place. Remus deserved every unpleasant thing's he received over then next fifteen years, and more in Harry's opinion. Anyone who puts their own safety ahead of their friends is a coward.  
  
The surroundings suddenly began to ripple and Harry recognised the all to familiar feeling of it skipping onto another memory. The scenery flickered around them for one final time. This time, when things came back to solid form Harry recognised where they were. They were in the Three Boom sticks. Remus was sitting round a circular table by the window that Harry had sat at before when he first heard about the teachers discussing Sirius Black. Sirius was also at the table, only he looked like he was somewhat drunk, or at least drunk in the sense that he was making sense. Some people who drink to much for a long time develop a sort of condition where they can actually walk around and carry on completely normally. In Sirius' case it actually made him seem a bit saner.  
  
There were two girls sitting at the table as well. One of them Harry recognised from the photo on Remus' dresser. This must have been Remus' girlfriend Natasha. She looked a little tired and was leaning against Remus and playing a little with a spill on the table. The other girl Harry didn't know. He couldn't remember her name, And judging by the look on her faced neither could Sirius. She sat staring straight at the wall, rather than at Sirius who was sitting and retelling a story which was theoretically amusing. The only problem was that Sirius had only had so many adventures, and anyone who spent a lot of time in his company soon comes to learn them off by heart.  
  
"You would not believe the look on his face! It was priceless wasn't it Remus. What was it?" He said as he brandished a large mug of strongly smelling liquid.  
  
"Priceless." Remus replied as if on cue. Sirius continued without a second thought to the girl he was trying to impress, and failing miserably.  
  
"You see the thing was that although he knew we were up to something, he got it the wrong way round and thought that it was actually four large elephants! What was did he think it was Remus?"  
  
"Four large Elephants." He replied in a similar tone as before.  
  
"You should have been there. I could have died of laughter when he told me what it was. I said Will, you're a nice guy but you're bloody crazy sometimes. What did I say?"  
  
"You said Will was a nice guy, but he was crazy sometimes."  
  
The conversation continued like this for a few dull minutes. Remus managed to whisper an apology to Natasha and said that they would go in a few minutes. She gave a small smile to say that she knew it wasn't his fault. He did try to stop Sirius drinking to much, but it was a miracle if he ever succeeded.  
  
"I think we had best be getting going." Remus said finally as Natasha and he stood up. Sirius looked at them questioningly for a moment before Natasha spoke.  
  
"Yes, me and Remus can't control ourselves any longer. We need to go somewhere private!" this wasn't at all true, despite Remus' disappointment. The reason they would say something like this was Because Remus had a one track mind and they knew this would guarantee them an easy escape, without questions. Besides he usually didn't remember it in the morning.  
  
Sirius date looked a little too cheerful at this news. At least Sirius would pay her some attention now, or at least she hoped so. They gathered up a few things and they put on their coats. Just as they were about to leave however, the door swung open with a loud bang and a gust of wind blew in which caused several of the candles to go out, or flicker violently for a minute. Harry saw that outside the door there were two people that appeared to be guards of some sort. Why would you have guards standing outside a pub? Inside a pub, Harry could understand. Everyone enjoyed a drink now and then. But why would they be guarding the pub? Butter Beer wasn't that sought after. But then it occurred to him. If Voldemort was about ad attacks were commonplace, then maybe they were actually there for the safety of the customers.  
  
His eyes wandered back into the pub, where he now spotted a man he hadn't seen before. Perhaps it's because against the night sky he was virtually invisible. The man was covered in various clothes and things, all of which were made of the darkest black velvet available. The only thing that distinguished him from an assassin or something was that he was holding up a badge with the ministry logo on. As He lowered his arm a piece of material moved and Harry saw a belt with a wand and several dangerous looking miscellaneous objects.  
  
"How are you, Corporal Auror Gerrad?" asked Madam Rosmerta from behind the bar as she reached over and picked up a bottle of fire whisky.  
  
"I'm afraid I'm here on business." He replied in a solemn tone as he cast a look around the room with piercing steely grey eyes. At these words all the commotion stopped. People stopped talking and the door swung shut silencing the wind outside. The crackling from logs in the fire was all that broke the eerie silence as everyone listened in bated breath to what the ministry official had to say.  
  
"There has been another attack tonight from You-Know-Who. Everyone gasped. Everyone except Remus who turned a ghostly pale. Harry couldn't see himself but from the way he felt faint he could guess he had done a similar thing. It couldn't just be coincidence? In fact if it was Harry doubted very much whether Remus would have chosen to include this in his list of memories. There was a shriek of cry from several people who jumped up from their table and panicked a little. After a m moment in which they noticed the Auror made no move, they decided to follow his lead and settle themselves back down.  
  
"Approximately half an hour ago, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at Godrics Hollow, where he murdered Lilly and James Potter. At this there was an even louder cry than before. Apparently several other people in the room besides the ones at his table knew his parents. We do not have any reason to believe that you are in danger at this moment but the ministry does advise that you all return to the safety of your home immediately." He said in the calmest voice he could manage, although it did not hide his tone of hatred as he mentioned Voldemort. Sirius turned to Remus, and Harry saw for the first time a look of shear terror in his eyes. A look which Harry had not in all the rest of his time, seen from his godfather. Even when he was fighting Bellatrix or even when the curse hit him and he fell thought the veil.  
  
"James..." Sirius said with his haunted look. They friends had known that it was a possibility, they just never realised it was a very high one.  
  
"My, fault..." Remus said under his breath as he looked down at his hands. In his mind they were covered with blood. Harry felt alone. A feeling of alone he didn't think he could explain. His parents had been dead for all his life, and he had grown up knowing that fact. It still hurt though, more than he could imagine. He had just been seeing his parents, acting as if they didn't have a care in the world, not knowing that it would be there last day. Standing here, listening to an Auror who probably didn't even know them, discuss their death. It felt like he was loosing them all over again. Friends. That is another thing he didn't have at this moment. Despair engulfed him as painful memories filled his mind. He just wanted a friend, someone to be there and yet the closet thing there he had was Sirius and Remus, and to them he was completely invisible.  
  
He was all on his own. For all his life, from this day, he had been alone. He had got friends admittedly, but no one really loved him, or if they did they died, or got their soul chased away.  
  
"According to ministry records the Potters were under the protection of a secret keeper. Evidently a betrayal has taken place, and so the keeper, Sirius Black should from now on be considered dangerous, and not under any circumstance should you approach him." The Auror continued. A few heads turned to where Sirius stood, and Remus realised there wasn't much time.  
  
"It wasn't me Remus. I swear I would never do anything to hurt James or Lilly. You know me Remus. You know I wouldn't." He whispered as he took a step back into the shadows.  
  
"It's ok Sirius. I believe you. I know it was Peter. That bastard. We sold them out. It's his fault. But they are going to pin this on you..." Remus said out of the corner of his mouth as he spoke quickly. It would only be a few moments until one of the members of the pub picked up the courage to point out that a potential death eater was just over there with that other guy and the two women.  
  
"I'm going to kill him Remus." Sirius said in a scared tone. It sounded as if he didn't want to, but knew it was something that had to be done. Would Harry ever kill Ron for betraying him? "I have to run." Sirius said as he backed away further.  
  
"Take me with you."  
  
"No, you have to stay here, act like it's me. They will pin it on you as well otherwise. One of us needs to stay, to fulfil our promise and look after Harry." Sirius said as he took one last step before smashing through the window and charging off down the street. There was a scream from somewhere inside the pub and Harry spotted an elderly witch who quickly said something to the Auror and pointed towards where he had been. The Auror, without a second glance charged past them, leapt on the table and with another jump was out of the pub, charging off after Sirius. There was a stunned silence that came from the table Where Remus, Natasha and the other girl stood in silence. The rest of the pub had broken out in feverish whispers. Madam Rosmerta was particularly enjoying the events, because it was good for business. She was telling several people about how she had never trusted that Sirius black and how he once put someone in St Mungos back when he was at Hogwarts.  
  
Sirius' date walked off angrily as she shoved past Remus. Clearly being ignored and bored to death all evening were bad enough, but turning out that it was actually a murderer who was your date, annoyed her somewhat.  
  
"After a minute Remus spotted a group of wizards several meters away who were having a furtive discussion and throwing the odd glance his way. Remus managed to pick out a few words from what they were saying.  
  
"He knows that Black fellow."  
  
"Thick as glue they are."  
  
"Do you really think Sirius murdered the Potters?"  
  
"He couldn't have they were best friends and Remus over there would have told them about Sirius."  
  
"They probably planned it together!"  
  
He listened in horror as the conversation spiralled off in a direction he was fearing. Would people think it was him? Surely he could explain that it was Peter that was the secret keeper. But then again it was only Sirius and him that knew and if people were going to start throwing accusations at him then his word didn't mean much. Would Sirius really get blamed for the death of the Potters? Would Remus get banded together and called a murderer to. If they used a truth potion they would find out that he knew about the betrayal, and whilst it would clear Sirius' name, with holding information about the dark lord was a crime in itself. He could get ten years in Azkaban. Not to mention Sirius would probably kill him if ever he knew that Remus could have stopped it.  
  
Remus came to the unpleasant yet seemingly only possible solution. He would have to do as Sirius said. Unless Sirius could capture and bring in Peter then both of them would be branded as murderers. He would have to say Sirius did it. That he killed Lilly and James. He wasn't happy about it but as the promise had been. When James first found out that he was in danger, he had made them promise to look after Harry if anything happened. Sirius knew this. He might not act like it but he was more intelligent than Remus, and he had the brains to know how people thought. Why he had played off of knowing people for the best part of five years.  
  
Sirius would probably capture Peter and bring him in kicking and screaming. All would be well and James would magically come back to life. Time would rewind and all the bad would be undone. That is what Remus hoped form.  
  
"I think we should be going, people are starting to talk, Remus" Said Natasha as she gave him a nudge in the direction of the door.  
  
"Yes, I know what you mean." He said as he looked around the pub and realised that the furtive looks were now coming from many more people. As he made to leave he heard Madam Rosmerta called after him.  
  
"If you catch up with that scum of company you keep, tell him he owes me a new window."  
  
Remus didn't respond, he just walked out of the door letting it bang loudly behind him.  
  
Harry had seen enough. He had seen more than enough. He had seen the truth, and it was true, it hurt. Perhaps the lies were better. At least when he thought it was just peter and Voldemort things were clear. Things were understandable. Now however he knew that things weren't so straight forwards. It was a scandal. Peter sided with the dark lord and Sirius was blamed with murder. Remus had kept quiet through fear and lack of respect. There seemed to be no justice in the world. One day things would be straight forward again. One day people would get what was coming to them and Harry would do it if there was no other way.  
  
Harry was glad when things faded around him. When the memory ended. He hoped that it would be the last he saw of the past. So far it had done nothing good for him. It was in the past that his parents had died. The past that Sirius had died, and it was in the past when Voldemort had had his evil reign. The past was bitter, and he wished he could just be alone, or in some sort of eternal slumber where it wouldn't affect him everyday. Where it wouldn't haunt his every action. Eventually Harry felt a jerking sensation that to his pleasure, meant the end of the Memory was over. It was all over. Now he could get back to where he wanted to be. Live the life he wanted to live. The only person standing in his way was Remus. He had to stick his nose where it wasn't wanted.  
  
Harry's feet slammed back down on real ground, in the real classroom. All was silent except for Remus who sat at his desk looking pathetic. He looked up at Harry with something that Harry thought was hope. Only Remus wasn't stupid enough to hope for anything was he? He certainly didn't deserve anything.  
  
"What do you expect me to say?" asked Harry strongly as he stood by the pensieve and cast it a look of disgust.  
  
"Well I don't know what I expect. I just wanted you to know the truth. Know why things are the way they are."  
  
"And what way is that?"  
  
"Wrong." Remus responded as he stood up from where he was sitting. He took a few steps closer to Harry. "That was how things are. That is the truth. It doesn't matter what other people say, because they weren't there. I was the only person to bare witness to it all, and I'm sorry to say that."  
  
"So you knew that Peter betrayed my father. Why didn't you stop him? You should have told Dumbledore or the ministry." Harry yelled angrily as he threw some of the papers off of Remus' desk.  
  
"Yes." Was all the reply he was given.  
  
"You could have told anybody? Anybody would have done. What were you stupid or something?" Harry roared as he thumped the desk and ignored the painful throbbing in it a moment later.  
  
"No Harry, I'm not stupid... I was scared."  
  
There was a long silence that followed this. Remus was being much to calm and it was angering Harry more than he would have thought possible. All he wanted was for Remus to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness or something.  
  
"So because you were scared of da-big-bad voldie-mort your best friend, my father, died!"  
  
"Harry I know you have every right to be angry. I know that I should have acted, but as I said, I was scared and I didn't know things would turn out the way they did. I can only apolagise Harry. I don't know what else there is I can do. Tell me if there is some way I can make it up to you and I will."  
  
"This is my parent's we are talking about. You can't bring them back by buying me chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties!"  
  
"I know that." Said Remus in his still irritatingly calm voice as he looked down at the ground.  
  
"Give me one good reason why I should stay and listen to anything you have got to say? I wasted my time looking through your long boring memories and still I learned nothing. All you showed me was that you are a worse person than I thought you were.  
  
"You should listen to what I say because although you have witnessed the past you clearly didn't take any of it in did you."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Harry angrily as he looked round for something else he could knock over. In the end he saw a pencil on the desk and swept that onto the floor. With any luck the graphite inside would break He thought to himself.  
  
"It means Harry your to naïve to see things for what they really are." Remus responded, still keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the ground.  
  
"You're acting as if I'm stupid? Now if that isn't the icing on the cake. You're the stupid one of the two. If you had any brains you would have happily risked your life for my father. Your life was crap and to be fair I'm not sure why you would want to live it." Harry spat. He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, or what caused the sudden transformation, but something snapped in Remus. He looked up from the ground with fire in his eyes and stared at Harry with a bitterly piercing look. In one step he had closed the distance between him and Harry, and in a movement to quick for Harry so see, he had lifted him off the floor by the material around his shoulders and pinned him to the wall.  
  
"Harry do you have to be such an ignorant bastard? You really do know nothing. You think that just because a few years of school you know everything in the world. You don't! You're just a sad little boy, caught up in his own mind. Your not my father, your not my friend, and you weren't round to know what my life was like. The world isn't black and white and it isn't divided into the good and the bad. Sometimes the wrong thing needs to be done in order to protect the things that are important. I'm not denying that I made a mistake by not telling someone. Do you not think there hasn't been a day in the last fifteen years when I haven't wished my friends were still around? Do you not think there hasn't been a morning that I haven't woken up feeling guilty with images of James' death plaguing my mind?" Remus roared as He stared straight into Harry's eyes, their faces only inches apart.  
  
"Now perhaps it wasn't that clear or perhaps you didn't pick up on it but there were so many things that were important to my life. I don't blame you for the way you are, I just blame you for not accepting that other people are sometimes right and you are wrong. For all your younger life you grew up without family, without friends. The only person to look out for you was yourself. That's sad but that's the way it is. You also didn't have anyone to care for yourself. It didn't matter what happened in the world around you, because as long as it didn't affect anyone else around you it was ok."  
  
Harry stared speechlessly as Remus continued his badgering.  
  
"Tell me Harry' have you ever loved someone? Ever really loved someone? I'm not talking about some pathetic crush on a girl you hardly even know. I'm talking about the heart wrenching agonising torture you go through when they are in trouble. If you haven't then you are lucky, but if you have then you will understand me better. Imagine that love you have for someone. To you they are the most important person around. It doesn't mean that others aren't important. It just means you would do anything for them. Including die!"  
  
"Then why didn't you die for my parents? Harry demanded as he shoved off Remus' grip and dropped back down to the floor.  
  
"Because Harry, they were my friends and although I cared about them there were other people that I loved. I was put into a situation where I had to choose between the safety of my friends or my family and Natasha. It was the most difficult decision I had to make, and it is a decision that no one should ever experience. You know Harry you aren't a child. You're aware of that and so am I. No one else is. I have seen the way Dumbledore and the others treat you and you don't deserve it." Remus said as he took a step back.  
  
"Everyone babies you. If they don't think you can handle something they either don't tell you, or else they dumb it down and treat you like your stupid. I don't. I don't want you to think I'm being mean because I'm not. I'm treating you how an adult should be treated and trying to prepare you for what is out there. I expect you hate me right now but I will tell you that I hate myself more. Expecting you to like me for who I am is treating you like you are stupid. You're perfectly aware of what Voldemort can do and you need to be ready for it. If that involves one day having to choose between loved ones then, crap as it may be, you're going to have to, and when you do you will know me truly. Know what things were really like, and why I kept quiet about Peter."  
  
"I don't hate you." Harry said as he now looked away from Remus. "I mean I do hate you, but I understand that you had to choose between one and the other. I love Cho but if I had to choose between her and my friends I don't know what I would do. I can understand all that you said and I am thankful that you alone treat me like an adult, even when it isn't pretty and I won't like it. The only thing I don't understand is why Sirius was found guilty. Surely you could have just told everyone. Your family and Natasha weren't being threatened about that were they?" he asked more calmly than he had expected. For some reason shouting and being shouted at seemed a good way to relive grief, and between the two of them they had shouted quite a bit.  
  
"Well Harry as I'm sure you saw in the pub people started to talk. I saw Sirius once more before he went to Azkaban and that was the next morning. The daily Prophet was out and you should have seen the news. Your parent's death was right next to the demise of Voldemort. Of course I read the article and found out all about it. It said all about how they had been found by Voldemort and that the secret keeper had betrayed them. The evidence really did all point towards Sirius. It also said about how I was a friend of the James and Sirius and they were actually suggesting that I was involved. Now of course I was going to march straight down to the Ministry and give a statement to have myself cleared and Sirius. But then he knocked at my house.  
  
"Sirius was in no state. He was like a crazy person. They had been chasing him all night. He was cuts and bruises not to mention the effects of a few nasty jinxes. He told me though that he had managed to loose them by apperating and then changing into his dog form. Sirius managed to hide by someone's discarded chips where he pretended to be a normal dog. By that time there was quite a team of Aurors after him and when they lost him they started talking. Apparently said that due to the nature of the situation, with Voldemort gone, we would be dangerous, and so anyone who they thought was involved put up any resistance they would be... well...killed." Remus said as he sat back down by his desk and began tiding up some of his belongings that Harry had messed up. Harry knelt down and started helping.  
  
"Yes but that doesn't really explain why you didn't say he was innocent." Harry said as he pulled out his wand and prepared a drinking glass that he had broken. Remus gave a small sigh.  
  
"Well Harry, you see I knew that he didn't kill your parents. It's just that later the next day he killed Peter, and a dozen or so muggles. Of course I thought he did, and so did everyone else. There wasn't much I could do. Even if he was found innocent for the murder of the night before, he would end up in Azkaban for the other murders. Killing a muggles, killing wizards, breaking the restriction for magic in a muggle area... They had enough to put him away for life. Of course I still wanted to help him but by killing Peter he got both of us in a hell of a lot of trouble. It meant that he wouldn't be able to prove it wasn't him, and it also meant that they couldn't prove I didn't do it. I'm afraid Harry. That I really had no other choice but to go along like he asked me, and say that he was responsible for the murders." Remus said as he ran his hand through his greying hairs.  
  
It was hard to believe that there was no other way but Harry supposed he wasn't there, and so it was tough to know things. After all just a year ago Harry discovered how quickly people could turn on you.  
  
"So that's the full story? You just said that Sirius was a murderer and they accepted it, no questions asked?" Harry said as he looked into Remus' sad eyes.  
  
"Yes, that's it. Everything pointed towards Sirius so they didn't have any reason to doubt me. Of course half of them weren't that bothered. As long as they had a name and someone in jail then they could say the world was safe again, and at the end of the day that was all they wanted." Remus said casually. Clearly this wasn't as disturbing to him as it was to Harry.  
  
"And Sirius was happy about all of this? Wasn't he resentful of the fact he went to prison and you didn't?" He asked as he cleared up the last of the mess.  
  
"No, Sirius is actually a lot more understanding than you think. Azkaban did change him... Obviously he didn't want to go to prison, but he knew there was no way around it, and he was happy that I was free, as long as I kept the promise that I pretend it was him."  
  
"Why was that so important?" Harry asked. We couldn't see that it would really matter.  
  
"Well because as I said, the ministry were running round locking people up left right and centre. If they knew that I was friends with Sirius or that I was trying to help him out then I would have got locked up to. And that meant I wouldn't be able to fulfil the other promise of looking after you."  
  
"But you didn't look after me..." Harry said lamely. Remus considered this for a moment.  
  
"Yes in that sense I did fail. I intended to Harry, I really did. I went to your house the first thing next morning. It was horrible, there really was nothing left. I wasn't expecting you to be there but I was thinking there might be some kind of note about it all. Telling me where I could find you. In the end I found out that Dumbledore had taken you and hidden you away. I tried to find you Harry, I Really did, but Dumbledore wouldn't tell anyone where you were. He wouldn't tell me. You were invisible to everyone for ten years. I don't know what kind of magic he used but it was too good for me to find you. The only good thing I thought was that Dumbledore would have chosen somewhere nice for you, and that you would be safe. It turned out I was wrong about the first part." 


	36. An Exploration of Sorts

Hey guys sorry it has been so long. Maybe its because I have had exams or maybe because I have had revolutions in real life... maybe both.  
  
Anyway little bit of good news. I have found a co writer and in fact this chapter is about half written by her. Therefore if you oculd tell me any noticeable differences you see in writing style that would be great. Thanks  
  
It turned out I was wrong about the first part."  
  
"And that's the story?"  
  
"That's the full story." Replied Remus as he put the kettle on. For a wizard this action simply consisted of getting a kettle and tapping it with a wand. There was a long silence that followed it all. After so much discussion, it seemed strange, still there was nothing that seemed to immediately spring to mind.  
  
"Why did you hit me?" Harry asked after a long time. Remus looked at Harry sheepishly.  
  
"Which time?"  
  
"Well you didn't really hit me just then did you? It was more just a push against the wall."  
  
"Yes I suppose so. Well I guess you must mean that other time then."  
  
"Yes." Harry said curtly.  
  
"Well Harry. I don't know what really happened. I think it just reminded me of your father. You see you are just like your father in many ways. He was a little more daring than you perhaps, but his personality was the same as you. A month or so before his death Dumbledore paid him a visit. He cast some protective spells on your house and suggested that your parents became a secret keeper. I suppose your father chose Peter because he was less obvious, but I offered to be the person who held the secret. He refused my help."  
  
"Another time, must have been when we first found out about your parents and you being in danger. I offered to let them stay with my relatives overseas. James thanked me but again refused my help. I can understand him wanting to not be a burden, but it's as simple as this Harry, If your father had accepted my help on either of those occasions then he would probably still be here today."  
  
"Perhaps, but isn't it wrong of you to take the blame for their death?" Asked Harry as he drank some of the tea that Remus had served up. Remus raised his eyebrow and even managed a small laugh.  
  
"First of all Harry, I don't blame myself, well not entirely. I would probably have gone mad if I did that." He said as Harry interrupted him  
  
"What you're not already?" He asked with a grin. Remus gave another small laugh, and continued.  
  
"And secondly, that is a bit rich coming from you." Harry stopped drinking his drink and gulped.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well you can deny it all you like but I know you blame yourself for Sirius' death." Remus said seriously. Harry thought for a moment. He didn't like it when people told him what he was thought, especially when it was right. Harry didn't like where the subject had gone and so instead replied.  
  
"You're changing the subject. Why did you hit me?"  
  
"Well Harry I suppose I'm afraid for you. I know what things are like because I survived Voldemort's last reign of darkness. I know that things are very quickly becoming the same as they were before. Now I'm not saying it is a fact but it does seem that there is a very real possibility that you will die at his hands." Remus said with a sigh, as though he had said something he knew he shouldn't say. There was a long pause that followed this. Harry knew it was a possibility. He would have to be stupid not to know, but at least when no one else said it he could trick his mind into thinking that he was just being paranoid  
  
"I know." He said finally as he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. He couldn't meet Remus' look, partly due to the hatred he felt, and also to the pity. Remus had been through a lot, almost as much as Harry. Things couldn't have been easy. "It just pains me to see you being so damn like your father. Sometimes you say something and it is exactly the same, word for word as your father had said. Its almost like he didn't die, but he was just off sleeping somewhere for fifteen years, and now he has woken up and is carrying on as though nothing has changed. You are living his life." Remus said in a way that was suspiciously cold.  
  
Harry would have considered this a compliment not long before now... But something about the way it had been said told Harry that it wasn't a good thing. That he didn't want to live exactly as his father had. He was a different person and in a way he was being measured and compared to a man he had never really met. "I don't try to." Harry said hopefully. He wasn't sure what he wanted from Remus but there was an odd feeling that washed over him, as though perhaps he should be sorry for being like his father  
  
"You needn't apologise Harry. I know you don't mean to be like your father. It just must come naturally to you. I think the reason why I get so angry sometimes is because I forget myself. I forget that you don't know the things I know. I forget that there are lessons in life that you haven't yet learned. Its just I offered your father help and he refused. He died. I offered you help and you refused, and now I have an uncontainable fear that you will have the same fate as him."  
  
"But that is just you guessing." Harry said annoyed. Someone shouldn't let their fear contain them. They shouldn't let their actions be affected by an emotion such as that. It was weak in a sense. Remus gave a small laugh, although it seemed disturbingly hollow, almost as though the thought of what Harry said was funny, in the way it was naïve. "Yes I suppose it is just a guess, but have you ever had a feeling Harry, the emotion in your mind and the ache in your gut that tell you it isn't just a possibility. That something is inevitable? Please Harry, you may thing it is just me being overcautious and that may be the case, but no matter how much I say it to myself I can't change my anxiety. I do think that before this war is over death will come for you, and when it does I want you to be standing behind me so I can jinx the hell out of it." Remus said as he put his mug down and clenched his fist tightly.  
  
Harry was speechless. He always wondered about others safety but never really questioned his own. But to find out that other people were changing the way they behaved because of him, it was just what he hadn't wanted. Never once had he asked for help and he couldn't understand why Remus insisted. Harry thought a lot of things, but deep down he thought that Remus was right, that death was possible.  
  
There was something about the way Remus behaved. Harry could tell that he was telling the truth. Still, it wasn't exactly as if it mattered... His parents were dead and Remus had explained everything. Whilst he could understand to some degree how things were a different emotion was in place of the anger, or at least some of it. It would be a lie to say that all the anger had gone away. In fact it probably never would. Not entirely.  
  
This emotion was disgust. He was disgusted that Remus had ever allowed himself to fall into such a predicament, such a situation where he had to make such a choice. Understanding a problem was only half of what was needed. Forgiveness was the other half. Forgiveness was something Harry didn't posses when it concerned Remus. "I understand you Remus. I understand what it must have been like." He said with his back turned to his teacher. "Then we can go back to how we were?" Remus asked hopefully. To hopefully in fact. Harry picked it up in his voice and could practically hear his thoughts. It was selfish to expect Harry to hand out forgiveness that easily. Remus should have known better than to ask, or at least expect.  
  
"You're getting ahead of yourself." Harry sneered coldly. "I understand you, I really do. But I hate you nearly as much as before. I expect with time I will grow to accept what you did, maybe I will be able to put it down to stupidity, a low point in your life. But for now, I can't. I need time Remus. Too many things have been said and my impressions of what things were has changed. Give me time and I will try my best to give you what you want."  
  
Remus stood in silence, staring at the back of Harry's head, at the floor, anything but at Harry's eyes, the eyes which Harry refused to show. "I can accept that Harry. Thank you." Remus said. To know that even a glimmer of hope existed... To think even the slimmest of possibilities was there. If Harry Potter, the son of James, could forgive him, then Remus didn't mind how long it took. He had waited fifteen years already. What more would a few days be? "I don't want to hate you Remus. I really don't." Harry spoke coldly, as he took a few echoing steps across the room, and out of the office.  
  
Harry was silent. As silent as he could ever remember being. It wasn't that he liked silence. Just merely the fact that any sound served as a distraction from his thoughts. Thoughts which had never been in such a mess. Things defiantly needed to be sorter out. He didn't know what to think anymore. That was what it was. Having new thoughts was one thing. Learning something bad, hearing bad news. All of it Harry was used to. He knew how to deal with it. Having to try and put old thoughts, old beliefs back where they once belonged, in a distant shelf in the back of his mind, that was a much harder task.  
  
Voldemort was after him. That was tough enough. Being hunted down by the evilest wizard around was one more brick on his load, weighing him down. But now Remus had become entwined in the murder of his two best friends. What had he done, the fool? Murder. A phrase which sprung up ever increasingly in Harry's life. When he was younger it was just something on the news. A word in the dictionary. But now things had changed and the news was about people he knew and that word had left the pages and gone to the lips of the grave bearers.  
  
The murder of his birth parents. The murder of Cedric, others. There had to be others. To think Cedric was the only one dead from it all. Harry knew better. The prophet might keep it hidden away, but Harry knew others had followed, many. Hundreds? Thousands? It was all becoming a possibility, something no one had dreamt of in years past. Then that possibility evolved. Grew. That possibility became a certainty, a reality. And of course amongst all those unknown faces, right next to his parents, stood him... The man Remus had framed for murder, his godfather. Sirius. He was dead as well... No changing that. The dead couldn't be bought back to life. Nothing could be changed. In the end things always turned out bad, or so it seemed.  
  
Harry was beyond numb. There was just nothingness. He finally slammed the door shut behind him, closing the door between himself and Remus. The shiny brass plate which hung on the door rattled out of its holder and clanged against the cold stone floor. Harry heard its clattering sound as it came to a still. Its sound echoed past him, round the corridors, along the stairs, into walls. It always seemed to come back to him as its sound reverberated in his mind, only accompanied by the dull thumping sound of Harry's receding steps, as they merged with the echo.  
  
Harry wandered around the almost deserted corridors gloomily scuffing his toes against the flagstones. His feet led him somewhere, while his eys and brain seised to dwell on such thins. He wasn't sure where he was going, where he wanted to go, or if he would ever get there. At the moment such matters seemed trivial. As he wandered the corridors a ghostly silence pressed in upon him. He could practically feel its wait weighing down upon his lungs, causing him to suffocate in paranoia.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself Harry. It's only silence. It can't hurt you. It's only silence." He said to himself. The words rung through his mind as he went onwards, repeating it again and again until the words lost all meaning. Eventually once he had gotten over the total and absolute silence he calmed himself and bought his breathing back to normal level. Eventually after walking along a pale blue corridor that reminded him of a hospital, he took a turn and came upon Filch and miss. Norris. He had a mop in hand and was frozen mid-swipe at a soggy mess gracing the floor, while the scraggy cat sat close by gazing at the puddle with great disdain. From the way that Filches mouth was gaping open he had been griping about the injustice of it all, such a terrible mess in his lovely clean school, how dare the water be there. Harry leaned slightly closer and looked at Filch... his teeth were clearly visible and Harry could see little remnants of food that he had eaten earlier. He looked at the wretched cat, the bane of many a pupil who had accidentally traipsed mud into the great hall, or dropped a bottle of ink in a common room. How everyone longed to give that creature a damn good kick and here he was presented with the perfect opportunity.  
  
He stood and thought about the enticing proposition. After all why would it matter? No one would see, everyone else was frozen. Bu then there was also the chance of everyone unfreezing at just the second when his foot made contact, and then he would be in full view of Filch and would have detention for the rest of the year, if not worse. Filch had many forms of punishment so foul people didn't speak of it. One student in particular two years back disappeared for a month before reappearing, white as a ghost. Her eyes were wide with freight, and she seemed deaf to all but the word "Filch." Which would cause her to dive under a desk where she would cry silently.  
  
In the end it was a chance that was just too good to pass up. Harry looked down the hallway in both directions, even though he knew there was no way that anyone would come strolling around the corner. He licked his lips and said in his mind this was for Fred and George; he then swung his foot at the cats behind. Although the kick wasn't hard enough to seriously hurt the nasty little thing (he didn't want to leave a clear footprint on the cat, because when time unfroze Filch would clearly trace down the shoe that left the mark and find Harry on the other end of it), it did have enough force behind it to slide her across the floor into the miniature pond, just in line with the path the mop would take when Filch finally finished off the movement. Harry chuckled and was about to move on when his stomach rumbled.  
  
He grumbled back at it and cast his mind back to his last meal. He was vaguely aware of having eaten something on a morning... possibly this morning. A quick glance out the window showed him that the sun was exactly where it had been for the last few hours. His watch wasn't working either and he suddenly began thinking that time was going to be a difficult thing to measure. But then measuring something that doesn't strictly exist is always a difficult job. For now he would just have to follow time by when he felt hungry, and hope everything returned to normal before he became a fat bloater who ate every half an hour.  
  
He guessed it was past lunch time and so felt that perhaps he should just call this an evening meal. He turned his back on the cat and made his way down to the great hall once more. He listened to the lone echo of his footsteps bouncing off the walls. Something about it struck him as being odd but he couldn't quite grasp the reason why. Turning into the great hall however he was abruptly reminded of the situation. His stomach flipped and contorted as he stared around. There was the whole of the sixth year still in the same positions as when he left. Suddenly the answer rushed to him in all its gruesome reality. His footsteps sounded queer because they were the only sound.  
  
His eyes travelled across each and every one of the people present, some staring at their teacher intently trying to learn as much as they could about the Morbidoroto!!! curse, others still trying to finish the story they had begun to tell their neighbour hours before not getting anywhere. On the Hufflepuff table one girl was frozen half way through falling off the bench. Some of her friends were staring in horror, still more looking on laughing. Ron and Hermione remained exactly where they had been, unable to meet his gaze. They seemed lifeless.  
  
Harry had always thought that if you took a slice of life then perhaps you could understand what makes it what it is. Truly, you could see all sorts of different things, but one thing he couldn't see was what was going to happen. Everything was still as a statue. He knew that his friends had feelings and that they existed but by standing and looking at them as though they were a painting he had fallen into, it was hard to remember that they had ever been alive.  
  
Saddened to see all his friends stuck in time he walked quickly out of the hall and through the smaller door next to it. Moving swiftly down the stone steps into the well lit passage. He wasn't starving, but he didn't want to be in the same room as those shadows, those replicas of his friends. Everything was alone. Walking around on your own with no sound but his own Harry could feel his grasp of company slipping, but actually standing and asking for something from people who can't see you was worse still. He reached the end of the corridor where he reached out and tickled the pear in the still life painting of a silver fruit bowl.  
  
It giggled, or at least it should have. No wriggled took place. Nothing to show that it had worked. Instead the door very slowly swung open as if it was never locked and it only moved due to the most distant of breezes. As he climbed through the large doorway and into the room, he instantly realised it did nothing to lift the depression that seeing all his classmates stuck mid motion had caused him.  
  
Here as in the massive chamber, everything was still. All the house elves normally bustling with activity appeared statuesque. Golden platters stood upon the various surfaces in the kitchen ready to be laden with dishes for the lunchtime meal that never came. As Harry took several slow steps further into the kitchen graveyard he spied his old friend Dobby attempting to carry several plates to one of the central tables, all of which seemed about to crash to the ground. He found it quite a relief to not be winded by the insanely happy elf for a change.  
  
Once Harry had dealt with his surroundings, still billows of steam anxiously waiting to continue their accent, elves mid step to a platter of food and meals half way through being cooked, he proceeded on. He set to combing through the cupboards looking for something to silence his stomach. After opening several cupboards to little success he caught sight of what appeared to be a larder to the left of a large soot blackened fireplace.  
  
In hope of finding something edible he closed a large cupboard which had been stacked to the brim with pots and pans which most certainly would have avalanched given half the chance. Harry slowly walked over, looking at the house elves going about their daily chores as he went. It felt as if he was like one of the many portraits hung within the castle walls that could move freely from picture to picture, only unlike those paintings, in his one all the other figures were frozen as well. As he pulled open a heavy oak door, he wondered briefly how the house elves managed, but upon spotting a series of ropes and pulleys hanging on the wall nearby he dismissed his question.  
  
Harry took a step into the store cupboard and had a good long look. His jaw dropped at some point in the staring marathon and he had a feeling that should Ron ever enter this room he would probably drown in his own saliva. There was so much food in here it was unreal. To say that an army of fat elephants could participate in a twenty four hour eating marathon and still not clear out one corner would be true.  
  
He took a few steps further into the room and heard his footsteps echo on the hard floor, coming back to his ears several long seconds after he finished walking. From side to side the room was gigantic, larger than his dormitory in fact. Larger than just about any indoor structure that he could recall. Looking around he guessed that it was about the same size as something very big, after multiplying it by three and adding on the bit with the sink that smells funny.  
  
Somewhere far above, above the trees and above the birds, up at the top of the high vaulted ceiling, were probably rain clouds forming. If Dobby ever got the chance Harry could quite easily imagine him leaping of the very highest shelf with wings made from leafs of lettuce and marshmallows strapped to his feet for shock absorbers. Each of the walls was lined with shelves about three foot deep that reached right from left to right and top to bottom. On the very bottom shelves were huge jars the size of dustbins labelled variously with things such as "flower," "sugarr," and " Pootatoos!"  
  
Upon the shelves were stacks and stacks of produce. Eggs, jam, pickle...sherbet lemons and other such things. In the centre of the room stood yet more shelves. These ones two meters deep from what Harry could tell. Upon these stood things such as vats of pumpkin juice, and piles of ready made things like the pumpkin pasties and cauldron cakes that often graced the tables. At various points along the wall ladders stretched all the way up into the heights above, towards the ceiling. Every so often there was a wide platform sticking out of the side of the ladder where food could be placed, and they were on castors which rested inside furrows on the floor so they could be pushed along the entire length of the shelves.  
  
He closed the distance between him and the nearest shelves and looked round in awed dismay. He was curious as to how the house elves reached into the huge containers when many of them were higher than the elves heads. He didn't have to wonder for long however, as he strolled down the isle running his finger over labels silently forming the words as he did so. After a few seconds he bumped into a pair of elves he hadn't noticed before. Their clothes were so food stained they blended in with the dark wood of the shelves... probably Maripappu.  
  
One of the elves was holding a small steel step ladder while a second was at the top reaching into one of the barrels and hefting out a sizeable earthenware jug of what was vegetable oil, or so the label said. Harry glanced over the side of the tub to see steps descending on one side and chuckled. He thought hat it would make much more sense to use smaller containers to make things easier and safer for the elves. Then he considered how much space that sort of thing would need and realised why they did things the way they did. Still with a room as impossibly massive as this he did think it was possible. They probably had enough food ready in case they had to feed a whole school of Ron's, each with an insatiable appetite to match the original. After a while more walking in which the elves faded to small dots in the distance he found himself facing another wall... finally. In the corner where two of the walls met there was a sizeable gap lacking of shelves. Instead there seemed to be some kind of contraption similar to an elevator where food could be loaded up ad brought down from the shelves from far above the elves reach - which to be honest was only a few feet above the ground.  
  
Harry knew this was what they were for because yet another elf was in the process of bringing down one such load. Looking at the back wall of the room Harry saw two doors, smaller than the one that led into this room, but sizeable all the same. Having long since lost the fear that everyone could unfreeze at any given second, he strode quite boldly up to the one on the left.  
  
He lifted the stiff latch and pushed it open. Harry could tell it was an old door... a very old door, by the fact all the hinges had rusted up, except in a few select spots where the continuous movement had kept that from happening. The door creaked, and all though normally it would have been quite an acceptable level of noise, in the new found quiet it was almost unbearably loud as it echoed up to the ceiling filling the room. Harry cringed at the unexpected protest of the door, as he waited for it to finally die out... It was a good half a minute before it seemed to have died out. It was tough to tell if it was still echoing distantly or it was just his ears ringing.  
  
Still he carried on exploring and found this new space to be quite small. I t contained nothing but stacks and stacks of step ladders. The small kind that the pair of elves at the oil vat had been using, all neat and tidy, in good working order. Well he expected nothing less of tools that were used by house elves. He exited the room and pulled the door shut behind him with a resolute scraping sound as it passed over the floor. Harry looked round once more, and this time realised he had left only one more door to look through.  
  
The last door was solid and oak, although in places where the wood had warped he could see it had what appeared to be some of lead lining. At first he worried perhaps there would be something radioactive inside, but then the stupidity of this thought struck him as there would be no reason to have a radioactive substance in the middle of the world largest pantry. That and the fact that there were few wizards alive who even knew lead had radiation blocking properties. The only reason Harry knew was because several years back the Dursleyts had been watching a weekly television show which came up with a hypothetical situation.  
  
On the particular episode in question it was about what to do in the event of a nuclear war. The answer was simple and yet clearly ill founded. Take cover in the nearest lead lined basement. The problem? Unless your neighbour was some sort of ex government agent then the chance they would have a lead lines basement was pretty slim. Mad eye Moody might have one but then he wasn't a normal person. After the program finished Harry had remembered lying there thinking that the next best place to hide in an apocalyptic war would be behind Dudley. Few things could get around him and radiation sure as hell wasn't going to get through.  
  
The door handle was solid cast iron by the looks of it. It was very large, probably large enough for Hagrid to use without having to risk breaking right out of its fittings. As Harry touched the iron handle it was a lot colder than he expected, and it gave him a good idea of the contents. Yanking upon the handle with great determination, He managed to open it. It felt like it was frozen shut, and as he was hit with a sudden blast of icy air he realised that was exactly the case. Looking into the room he found that it was full of cuts of meat, ice cubes, ice cream of many varieties and just about any other food that needs to be kept cold, including a few that didn't. Sherbet Lemons didn't need to be kept frozen. Someone should tell the house elves.  
  
Set upon the walls and running back for what looked to be about twenty meters, were torches casting blue flickering light, the kind of blue only achievable when magic is involved. They looked as though they should be burning, although something about the flames stated that they were merely reflecting what they would normally do, now trying to adjust to the lack of time passing. They cast a light on Harry and the stacks of frozen goods in close proximity of them. Curious as to how the food could still be frozen in places where they were very close to the torches, he passed his hand close by one. He pulled it away in surprise as the air near the flames was even colder than the rest of the frigid room. He experimentally placed a finger in the licking flames and pulled it back again. The fire was unbearably cold, and in the few moments he was in contact with it his finger had become covered in a thin layer of frost.  
  
It seemed that the bright blue flames were the very things that were keeping the room cold enough to store ice. Clearly whoever constructed this room wasn't quite sure of how things should be, and since flames made something warm, they felt it made perfect sense that blue flames could make things cold. Beginning to feel the chill spreading up his arms, and his ears, Harry turned to leave. He would have left but as with plans they only serve to highlight what can go wrong, and therefore allow evil spirits to make sure exactly that happens. He felt two icy cold hands clamp down around his neck and begin to strangle him. He made a croaking sound as he struggled for breath and his arms flayed at his side in a desperate attempt to defend himself. 


	37. The Week of Waiting

He made a croaking sound as he struggled for breath and his arms flayed at his side in a desperate attempt to defend himself. He heard a sinistrer snigger from somewhere that seemed vaguely distant.

"Your choking me." Harry managed to rasp out. To hi sudden surprise the attacker let go, and in an instant Harry jumped back and pulled his wand, taking up a duelling stance, ready to immobilise his attacker. Ready for the worst he looked up to see Remus

"Hey there Harry!" Said Remus stupidly. "Bet I scared you there didn't I?" he continued with a laugh.

"It wasn't fear, it was pain. You were squashing my vocal chords. What do you want? Anyway? Following me again, you don't think I'm capable of taking care of myself right." He replied savagely hiding his embarrassment at being startled so easily.

"Oh no no, not at all, I just came to get some ice for my pumpkin juice" Remus held his flagon of juice towards Harry hoping it would explain his presence perfectly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that my hands are all numb and I guess its tough to judge my strength sometimes. Anyway I'm glad you're here. I was beginning to think I would never get out. At first I was worried I would freeze to death but after the first hour things just kind of stayed the same. I guess it is impossible to freeze since Voldemort froze time."

Harry stared icily at him; the blue torches had nothing on the coldness in his eyes. Although as he considered Remus' words something definitely didn't add up. The first hour? It had only been about five minutes since they were in Remus' office hadn't it? Harry had pretty much walked straight here. Harry knew he wasn't an Olympic runner or anything but to consider that it had been an hour, probably multiple hours since he had left Remus office was just absurd.

"What are you on about? It was about ten minutes since I last spoke to you. I'm pretty certain it hasn't been more than that." Harry said sceptically as he stared at Remus with a raised eyebrow, waiting for answers.

"No, I'm fairly certain it has been about four hours now Harry." Remus said as he looked at his wrist watch and gave it a tap. "It doesn't work but I have a pretty good sense of time and I don't think I'm off by more than half an hour." He said very surely of himself. As Harry continued to stare, unchanging of his opinion Remus rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"Maybe, what happened is you were walking from my office to here to get some food…and… yes you were walking… when you fell asleep standing up!" He said with a triumphant hand gesture, as though the problem had been solved.

Harry considered this for several millionths of a second.

"Hmm um how about NO." he said at such a stupid thought. Remus appeared slightly taken back as his smile of self pride disappeared.

"Slipped on a banana skin and bumped your head?" He said as Harry started to walk away. Rather than dignifying it with an answer Harry just made a laughing sound, although the fact Remus didn't believe him seemed anything but funny.

"Well Harry if it isn't something like that then there is really only one other solution…" He said before Harry stopped in his tracks. "With that being that since the flow of time has stopped it must have pooled together in areas and thus depending on what part of the caste we are in, varying amounts of said time must pass." He said. Harry wondered briefly why the latter answer seemed like the less likely one to Remus.

"Well if that's the only other answer then it must be the one." Harry said simply.

As he made to leave the giant freezer he noticed Remus trailing behind him.

"Why are you following me?" Harry asked savagely without looking back.

"Well you see the thing is I'm not following you, it's just that as I said I got stuck and have had to wait for the last few hours. Believe it or not that is the only way into the freezer and I kind of finished in there." He said as he walked faster in order to keep up with Harry so as to avoid having to shout across the room, although Harry had a strong suspicion that given the stillness of the air they could have whispered from opposite ends of the great hall and still heard each other.

Harry was again in the store room and decided to quickly busy himself with the preparation of lunch, or dinner or whatever meal it was, in order to avoid having to talk to Remus. His eyes scanned the areas of the shelves as he quickly summoned up his memories of where he had seen "yummy things". He spotted one of the things he was looking for and strode to a shelf in the centre of the room, where he helped himself to a couple of pumpkin pasties, a cauldron cake, and a loaf of bread. The choice of bread was because he felt it improper to just eat cakes for a meal. It would be tasty, yes, but it wouldn't be a proper meal.

All he needed now was a filling for his sandwich and a drink and then we could sit around eating. He could probably eat very loudly if Remus was still trying to talk to him. Finally he came upon a cut of smoked ham, and not much later a pat of butter. Ham wasn't his favourite choice but it beat spending an extra ten minutes looking round for marmalade whilst Remus breathed over his shoulder, which he was doing. As he was about to exit into the kitchen something shiny caught his attention. Going over to it he discovered it was a heap of chocolate bars. He pocketed one and returned to the kitchen.

Once there he set his findings down upon a worktop next to an elf that had been hastily dicing onions for hours now, and would continue to do so for many hours to come, or so Harry thought. He wandered over to Dobby and took a platter from the top of the precariously balanced pile in his arms. Going to yet another he retrieved a knife from its grip before circling back to prepare his meagre meal. He unceremoniously began to slice the bread and ham. HE spread the bread slices with butter and cautiously placed his sandwich together, as thought going any faster would cause it to bruise. It was better than finishing and telling Remus to go away.

The thing about telling Remus to go away is that if you started talking, about anything, it generally encouraged him to start moving his mouth, and making noises, although rarely making any sense. Harry realised he was thirsty but had forgotten to get anything to drink. He looked around quickly, whilst never looking behind him, and eventually spotted an elf that was half way through mid step that had been wobbling with its pumpkin juice. Harry decided he would save it the trouble of having to clear up the mess by taking the jug from it. He poured himself a glass and then stumped off over to the hearth and sat down on the bricks still radiating warmth to consume his meal in an unnerving silence.

As he was munching through the sandwich Remus reappeared with his arms piled high with all sorts of condiments. He had chocolate, sherbet lemons, humbugs, chocolate frogs, apple pie, fizzing wizzbies, and a jar of extra strength curry paste and several other unhealthy looking things. He looked over to Harry as if he was surprised to see him there, which he may well have been but Harry thought he knew better, and dutifully ignored his arrival.

"Hi Harry!" Remus said as he carefully walked over whilst keeping his eyes planted at the pile of food precariously balanced in his arms, like a newborn baby. Harry didn't reply, but merely cast Remus a disgusted look of disapproval over his selection of unhealthy food. A teacher should behave, well, more teacherly! Remus had looked up in time to catch Harry's glance and after blushing for a brief moment said "Oh Tonks thought I needed to put on a bit of weight. I don't think I need to really. I have always been the weight I am now… although I suppose I was undernourished when I was a child… A single carrot for dinner…"

Harry didn't care to hear about Remus, or about anything else Remus had to say and so he put into practice a technique developed by great scholars over the generations and perfected by highly disciplined monks. It was a technique handed down from father to son for as many generations as the ancient old lady on the corner could count back, which was at least fifty. No one had any proof that she wasn't lying, but with a name like Nora you could definitely believe the scar she sported over her left eye really was compliments of William the Conqueror. Harry started humming a very annoying monotonous tune.

Remus made a small cough as he realised he was going to have to put in a lot of effort to get a reply.

"Who would have thought I'd find you here Harry?" Remus said in feign disbelief as he gestured around the room at large. Harry stared straight ahead and fiddled with his pumpkin pasties whilst increasing the volume of his hum by several decibels. "Looks like you found yourself some good stuff there son…" Remus said in what he probably hoped was a complimentary tone. He however quickly had to extend on what he thought was a finished sentence after receiving a fiery look from Harry.

"Um no I don't mean that. No…Um… Mate? Harry…Harry? No? Ok then good stuff you got yourself there…Sir!"

Harry looked down at the ground in anger. Did Remus try to be patronising? Because if not then it must just be a very powerful natural talent of his. He sat down next to Harry, where he undid the jar of curry paste and began dunking a chocolate frog into it and munching upon it. Harry began flicking crumbs in to the fireplace, all the while humming.

"You don't happen to know what the weather is like tomorrow do you?" Remus asked as he had a shot at the tried and tested traditional conversation of all English folk. Harry stared straight ahead of himself whilst rolling his eyes in a distracting manner. After several more moments of silence, or at least lack of conversation passed Remus decided to speak again.

"Well this was a lovely chat wasn't it Harry, but I really must be getting on…um…lots of things to do you know, busy busy, with lesson plans and things. Still need to sort out the drainage in the lower field as well…" he finished lamely, while Harry continued to act as if Lupin wasn't there at all... Remus sighed got up and without another word he strode off between the tables and out of the kitchen door.

Remus looked round the kitchen for several moments. He was all on his own except for a few hundred elves, except that they couldn't really hold a conversation any better than Harry could, or would. Still, elves were usually not much better than they are now, Remus thought to himself. He dipped a finger into the curry paste, before licking it off his finger.

Something struck him that he would have noticed earlier if he hadn't been worrying so much over not further insulting or offending Harry. For some reason the food didn't seem to taste of anything. Well, that's a lie. It did taste of something but it didn't taste how it should. It was like a tiny bit of curry paste mixed in with an awful lot of card. Almost as if he wasn't tasting it but merely remembering what it was like in the good old days when time still flowed and when he wasn't hated.

Also once he swallowed the food it didn't really feel like he had eaten anything, but rather it felt like he had some sort of weight pushing down on him. Maybe having a large meal wasn't such a good idea. After all who knew what exactly was affected by this time freezing business? If anyone knew it was Dumbledore did. It was just annoying that he didn't. Teachers were meant to know stuff. Still it was probably worse for Harry… How could it not be?

"Nice one Remus. Not only do you get a load of food that doesn't feel right to eat but you also annoy Harry when he is down. It commendable how stupid you are really." He thought to himself. "Well I would like to personally congratulate you, myself, on being the king of men. You big sod!"

Harry strolled along the corridor, or at least it was what he wanted to do. Saying strolling however suggested it being pleasant. It suggested twittering birds and butterflies outside with a beautiful morning sun and a peaceful melody coming form somewhere. This wasn't that. No no, this was quite different, this was storming.

"Yes that is what it is. It's storming. I'm storming down the corridor!" Harry thought as he fulfilled all the requirements of storming. He was stamping his feet unnecessarily loudly, he was scowling, his robe was billowing behind him, and of course he was muttering.

Remus reached for a glass. He couldn't find any ones that were obviously clean. Where the elves kept them was a mystery, but if he looked at the one in his hand and squinted then it sort of looked clean…ish.  It was swirled with all the colours of the rainbow where liquid hadn't been cleaned off properly. There were a pile of rags underneath one of the huge stone troughs that were obviously used as sinks. Remus turned one of the taps as he went to wash the glass, but nothing came out. He groaned in exasperation and wiped it down with the cleanest of the mucky scraps of cloth. He returned to the Pantry and went directly to the central shelves filling it with pumpkin juice and once it was stoppered effectively he left he kitchen to do with his time what he would. He didn't intend to drink too much. Its just somewhere in his mind he was being told that not drinking for a while usually kills you.

Harry wandered aimlessly around the corridors for a time looking for an alternate way to the common room. Having to jump large gaps where the staircases had frozen in mid swing to move up a floor wasn't a safe idea, even if falling to the depths below might not end in death. He didn't want to test it. After walking down several unusual corridors he had seldom used, in his search for another lot of steps going up, he got slightly side tracked, and instead decided a spot of exploring was good. He tried each door he passed to see if it was open. Most weren't but a few were and when this was the case he took a good look at was going on behind them.

There were several lessons in progress at various points around the Castle as he could well see. But most of the rooms were empty and usually unused. He thought about how many times they had ever been used, and wondered weather there was once a lot more students here at Hogwarts, that made need for such a lot of rooms. One appeared to be a storeroom for copies of old textbooks that had been used in the past, the fact one book that caught his eye said "ye old magic for when wat folk is wantin to knows" suggested it was a very long dormant time indeed.

He entered the room and almost immediately fell flat on his face, having slipped on the thick carpet of dust that had settled on the floor a long time ago. As he pulled himself up and went to examine his arm, which he had twisted in the fall, he realised that he had broken one of the lenses of his glasses. He grumbled and pulled out his wand and muttering the repairing spell. Nothing happened. He shook his wand and tried again. Still nothing happened. He gave a grunt of annoyance as he whacked his wand on the floor and tried a third time to no avail. This put him into an even blacker mood as he cast around for something to mend them with.   
  
He found one book being held together by a length of Spellotape, which after a long struggle he managed to remove. He carefully wrapped it round the fragments of broken glass as he stuck them into a roughly correct shape. It wasn't really that he would be able to see but more than anything it was so that when time did unfreeze and he could try the repairing spell, he would have all the glass.   
  
He had a bruise on his arm that he thought would take some time to die down. Although time wasn't really passing, it was more that he was living a lifetime in one split second of everyone else's lifetime. He made his way up to the Gryffindor common room. As he trudged up the corridor leading to his destination he said loudly "Patronus" so he wouldn't have to wait for the door to open. Keeping his eyes down, he reached forward for the hole in the wall and was met by nothing but canvas. Looking up he stared intently at the portrait of the fat lady. "I said Patronus you know!" He said tetchily glaring at her, but she didn't move or reply.   
  
The he realised that time was still frozen and cursed. He hadn't realised just how much he had come to depend upon day-to-day magic within the walls of Hogwarts. He slapped harshly at the picture before him then lent back against the opposite wall as he gave himself a moment to think. After a moment or two he started forward and felt around the edge that always swung free. With any luck there would be a bit of a gap or something. But unfortunately to his surprise the frame was flush with the wall. He slid his fingers up as high as they would reach and at the furthest stretch he fingers but found no sign of a lock or mechanism.   
  
Clearly without either magic or some very heavy duty equipment he wasn't going to be able to get in. He rummaged in his bag and pulled out his ruler which he successfully managed to snap in an attempt to pry it open.   
"So you can't get into the common room." He thought to himself as he considered this carefully. After all who needs a bed? However as he went to walk away it seemed very strange to just be beaten like that. Being beaten by a painting was one thing but when the painting was inanimate your pride is at steak.   
  
"I didn't even want to go into the common room anyway." He said casually to the fat lady, as though in some weird way she could hear him. There are seats else where and if I need to go to sleep I'm sure the…floor is nice and comfortable." He said in what he hoped was a believing manner, as he set off away from the portrait and back in the direction he had just come from.

It was tough to tell what time it was. To Harry it felt as though some hours had passed. He wasn't sure why he felt this, just that he was exhausted, and it felt like going to sleep would be the proper thing to do, despite the fact it was still light outside. Remus thought that a day or so had passed, due to a divine hankering for some "crunchy flakes of sugar coated corn". To Dumbledore, well who knew what he felt or thought? If everyone knew that, then the world would be a much more intelligent place. If however for the purposes of behaviour, he could say that it was four thirty in the afternoon. Just about the right time for crumpets and tea.   
  
As for Voldemort… Harry could imagine the dark lord now probably sitting in the dark somewhere grinning evilly and rubbing his chin. All evil people did that. It was just the way of things. You couldn't have an evil wizard who didn't, or else how would everyone know who to be afraid of? No, Voldemort was definitely in a dark room, and he was grinning, maybe even laughing. Most definitely with one eyebrow raised and one hand poised to stroke his chin. Perhaps in a few minutes he would pull on his big evil boots, the ones with the skulls, and the words "bad boy" written across the side. Then he could go out and do evil things like call you "fat" or "Mr. Smelly"   
  
Also he might try and kill Harry.   
  
But that was to be expected.   
  
Harry lay on one of the tables in the library. He wasn't sure why he had thought the hard wooden tables would be better than the cold stone floor or the dusty musty carpet, but he definitely didn't now. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was shaped a little bit like a bed that had misled him. Perhaps it was its shiny surface, or most probably it was due to the fact he was too lazy to look around anymore.   
  
He stared up at the ceiling above him. It had once been white. It wasn't now. Over time it seemed to have turned into a cream, and then the cram had gone off and now it was some sort of pale brown, that smelt of cheese. Also it had lots of blue speckles from where people had flicked ink. It was sort of like an economy equivalent of the great hall ceiling. They couldn't afford night sky so a dark colour would make do, whilst splotches of ink were a substitute for the stars. They were more interesting in a way. They came in two colours!"   
  
Still, it was strange to be trying to sleep without looking up at the canopy, as he had done for so many years now. Admittedly he did sleep when he was back at privet drive, but at those times he generally found looking up at the ceiling didn't help, and instead opted for the classic position of having his eyes closed. With the spellotape over one lens it was difficult to see, and difficult to judge just how far away the ceiling was. In one way he could imagine that it was only a few inches above his eyes, and in fact all the details were very small. In another light he could see it so that each spot of ink was an icy lake and the bumps of the dark ceiling were dark mountains, miles and miles away.   
  
He liked to think the second one   
  
It would be fun to be big.

As he stared at the ceiling in a tired stupor the lack of entertainment caused him to feel drowsy, and soon his eyelids became heavy. Harry fell asleep. Or at least what he would refer to as sleep. It wasn't really the real thing. For one it wasn't enjoyable and the other it wasn't refreshing. It was more sort of closing his eyes for a long time. After all since it was the exact same moment as before it was tough to tell if he had fallen asleep at all, without someone there to watch him at least, and tell him later.   
  
But for arguments sake, whatever the tired state which Harry had passed into was close enough to sleep to really matter, and so it is possible to say an infinitely small amount of time later Harry awoke with a start. He had been dreaming that he knew, or thought he knew. In a way it was a lot more like being awake than a dream, almost as though rather than seeing new creations of his mind he was just seeing old memories.   
  
Anyway, he was sure it was the dream that had awoken him, after all, what else could it have been? There was no noise no light no movement and no Ron telling him it was time for breakfast and that he was starved. Harry tried to recall what had been so disturbing about it. But the more he tried to recall it the hazier the memory became.   
  
At first he was sure he played an active part in the dream, and that there had been a girl with him, but the more he thought the more unsure he became, and the less sure of himself. Eventually after really questioning himself the only thing he was sure about was that it was a dream with someone else in it other than him.   
  
Giving up he rolled out of bed to be greeted by the same room, filled with rows upon rows of books, each containing their own chapter of the knowledge of man, and the knowledge of a few non man things as well. The candles hadn't melted any lower, but then Harry didn't expect them to have. After a while in which he also decided he was awake, and decided it was at least three hours later, or what felt like it to him, he drew himself out of bed and began to change.   
  
Not literally but he did something strange yet similar. He wasn't sure why he did it, but every morning when he got up he had always got dressed, and it seemed a little strange to just be ready for whatever mindless things there were to be done without getting dressed, even if he was suitably clothed. Instead he mimed getting dressed. Struggling with the socks that were too small for him and falling over as he pulled on his imaginary trousers. He took his time; after all he had nothing to rush for. It was still the exact same moment of time that it was when he had been shouting at Remus all those hours ago.   
  
Some people could have considered Harry as being slightly insane at this point, but as he considered this he thought that perhaps he was a little… but then if you could see that it seemed insane then you probably were actually sane. Still, to anyone who has experience a time freeze, and if you have I pity you, you shall know it is about as fun as dying, except it takes forever.

It wouldn't be much fun to talk about what Harry did for the entire period that time had be frozen. Probably due to the fact it is as boring as it was to him, which was mind numbingly. There were a few exciting bits like when he went to pour a bucket of water over Malloy's head. However after remembering that the taps weren't working he instead made do with what he had, and so as soon as Voldemort chose to unfreeze time Draco would find himself covered in jam.   
  
Remus had visited Harry several times, thinking it was a different day each time. Harry wasn't one to argue. If he could have one thing it would be the marauders map which remained locked up in his dormitory. With the map he could avoid Remus who tried his best to cheer him up, to no avail, but also he could see what Dumbledore was up to. Harry had expected to see Dumbledore at least a few times by now, but he hadn't. All he had was relayed messages from Lupin asking how he was feeling. Harry had tried getting Lupin to tell him about what was going on, but it soon became apparent that he was just as clueless as Harry.   
  
As far as he knew Voldemort wasn't doing anything drastic like riding to Hogwarts on a dragon drawn chariot with go faster stripes, because if he was then surely Dumbledore would be doing something. Harry had been round the grounds of Hogwarts and hadn't seen any sign of new security, but then without magic Dumbledore really didn't have any power, although when Harry thought about it, the chance of someone as powerful as Dumbledore not being able to do magic due to a silly thing like time, was hard to believe.   
  
On one occasion in fact he had wandered all the way down to Hogsmeade just for the walk. Admittedly one he got there he thought of several things to do, like take back several jars of sweets from Honeydukes for Ron and himself. No one had stopped him. Remus hadn't come charging down the sloped of Hogwarts telling Harry it was to dangerous or begged him not to leave in the first place. No one even seemed to care. Clearly someone knew something he didn't, because it was pretty scary to him.   
  
The dreams had continued. Every time Harry had gone to sleep he had had them. He thought at first that perhaps it was because he wasn't in his dormitory which was protected from mind penetration and because he forgot to empty his mind, but even after that they continued which meant only one thing. They were a creation of his own mind. Whether or not they were some distant memory that he had long forgotten, or what, it was tough to tell but it was becoming a little clearer. As if a part of his mind was desperately struggling to tell him something.   
  
There was a woman there. Definitely. He knew that now. Although for some reason her face was blurred, or if it wasn't then Harry forgot it upon waking. It annoyed him that he couldn't remember, and bought back memories of the repetitive visions from last year. The same curiosity arose in him and Harry often found himself sleeping, or doing the whole not-real-sleep-but-still-not-awake business, just because he wanted to find out about what the dream meant, and why he was seeing it.

However it wasn't for many theoretical days until he finally had any luck. He had plodded to the library and his makeshift bed where he had a musty old book for a pillow and a rug for a duvet. He was particularly tired on this occasion, having heaved up some large rocks from the school grounds all the way to the top of the highest astronomy tower. The idea behind it being to see how big the largest dent he could make in the ground would be. He wasn't sure why he had thought it would be fun now, having metaphorically broken his arms. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

He hadn't bothered to climb under his rug to sleep. Instead it had literally been a case of walk until his legs banged into the edge of the table, and then lean forward until he stopped falling. The dream had started as it usually did. Very foggy, as though he was seeing without his glasses. Then gradually as though everything was coming into focus, or as though he was waking up, everything started to make it self clearer.

Harry was lying on a cold stone floor. The thing that separated this stone floor from others was that it was sinister. It had the traditional dirt and grime worn into all the gaps, but then it had a controversial stream of blood running between the stones, winding its path down the street, if that was where they were.

As Harry raised his head from the ground he couldn't tell where he was... It definitely wasn't your usual occurrence that he was taking part in. It seemed as if there was an area of about twenty feet of cobbled stone flooring stretching out in all directions from where he was, and after that it was just darkness. Harry couldn't see where the blood had come from, but there seemed to be a lot of it. Clearly some sort of murder had taken place tonight.

He could feel the fluid as it pooled against the side of the hand that he had placed on the ground as he propped himself up. He hadn't remembered this part of the dream before, but it did have a vague familiarity to it. Eventually it ran around past his thumb where it started to soak into his robes. He quickly climbed to his feet and that is when he heard the cry that struck a memory. This was a cry of a woman. The same woman he'd known before.

Harry looked round just in time to see a blur throw itself into him. He was about to toss it off but suddenly realised that the thing was in fact a person, and was hugging him. He stopped and instead gently patted their back awkwardly.

"Harry don't let him hurt me. Please Harry. I don't want to die. There are so many things I haven't done. Harry… help me!" She begged with a cry. It wasn't the words that left the greatest impact. They did ache in his heart but the fact that struck him, and even scared him, was the fact he realised it was Hermione in his arms.

"Hermione, what are you talking about?" Harry asked as his voice came out surprisingly cracked. It was wrong to see his friends in pain.

"You need to save us Harry. You need to. No one else can. No one else can protect us. I don't know if you can or not, but if you can't then no one can. Please don't let him get us." She sobbed as she held him even tighter. Harry held her closer.

"Hermione, you don't need to be afraid. And who is he?" Harry asked as he tried to get her to look into his eyes. She gave no answer.

"That he would be me, and I think you do need to be afraid." Said a chilling voice from behind.


	38. Madness and Melodrama

"That he would be me, and I think you do need to be afraid." Said a chilling voice from behind. Harry spun around quickly to where the voice had come from. It wasn't that he wanted to know whose voice he had heard. He knew the answer to that only too well. There are only so many people who can pull off such an evil tone, but Voldemort had definitely perfected the technique into something of a science. It was the dark lord, in all his evilness. A big long evil gown in the colour of deep red, probably so the blood speckles wouldn't show up.   
  
With this he had a wand pointing out, never a good sign, and to make matters worse he was wearing his "bad boy" boots.   
Harry quickly fumbled in his pocket and managed to pull out his wand, whilst to his surprise Voldemort did nothing, he just stood and watched. If he had wanted to then he could very easily have just done, although Harry supposed as with all evil villains there are certain rules you must abide to, like never shoot at your opponents head, only non lethal areas. Also you must never kill them before explaining your grand dastardly plan and allowing the flaw in it all to be realised.   
  
"Voldemort!" Harry said as he pushed Hermione further away from the dark lord, although truth be told Hermione didn't need any encouragement.   
"In the flesh." Voldemort said as he licked his lips.   
So Voldemort, if this is the way it has to be then leave my friends out of this, they never did anything to you, as for us…IT'S TIME TO DUEL!" He spoke unnecessarily loudly as he sunk down a few inches into a duelling stance. According to tradition the bad guy always made the first move, that way if he ended up dead the hero could call it self-defence.   
  
"Duel? As exciting as that sounds I would rather not. If you must know with all the late nights recently I have been missing my sleep and I was hoping I could be in bed by ten. Also there is the fact that if we duel one us will die. Most probably you, but of course there is a slim chance it's me, and from one warlock to another, I don't think either of us really want to die do we?" He said as he stared at Harry with his piercing red eyes.   
  
"You don't want to fight?" Harry said suspiciously. He wasn't sure why but it seemed that the he in this dream had received several months of intensive training in the dark arts and how he could defeat the dark lord. He couldn't just let it all go to waste."   
"As I said, if you could just go home that would be pretty good. You don't die, I don't waste time. Everyone is happy, well almost…" Voldemort said as he lowered his wand and in fact started twirling it in his fingers as though it was a mildly amusing toy than an instrument of mass destruction and death.   
  
Harry looked behind him. Hermione had run out of the area of light, and presumably to safety. The only person besides him was Voldemort…Perfect.   
"No. It's my job to kill you. You're meant to wound me a bit but in the end I knock the wand out of your hand and you go onto one knee. Then I point my wand at your neck and you start playing mind tricks saying I can't kill you, and that I'm to weak." Harry said quiet surely. He didn't spend two whole weeks learning this for nothing. "Then of course you say something and I snap… and I do it… I kill you. However in the last moment of your life you smile and say you will be back." That is what is supposed to happen.

"Well yes Harry, I suppose all that does sound very proper, and it certainly sounds like the way I would die, although I won't. However there is no reason why we have to do all that now. Or ever… I try not to kill so early in the week." Voldemort said with a sigh. Harry racked his brain for something, anything that would bring this back to familiar ground where he stood.   
"Attack me damn it!" He shouted angrily after having no luck at finding anything.   
  
"NO!" Voldemort snapped back as he moved was want back so the dangerous end was pointing at Harry. "I have better plans Harry and it doesn't involve you dying…yet. However I know that you are the good guy and being one of them I know how your heart works, I also know that you are about to just as I say." Voldemort said as a smile spread across his heinous face.   
  
"Why is that?" asked Harry angrily. Trust the dark lord to try and be sneaky. You couldn't trust them these days. At least in the good old days they would try and rule the world or something, where as now they always had stupid ideas, like trying to reason with people. Reasoning was Harry's job, and without it he didn't see what to do, other than turn evil, and that didn't really help much.   
  
"Well you see Harry people are a lot like puppets. They are fine on their own, but once you get someone controlling the strings they have no choice but to do as they are told. In this case I have finally got hold of something that I think will pull your strings. You may be willing to die but are you willing to have your friends do the same?" he said with a small laugh. As the realisation of how bad this was Voldemort decided to expand upon his laugh.   
  
He start by tilting his head up and putting his hands on his sides, as though for some sort of support. Then he did a laugh which left no doubt in anyone's mind that it was evil. It sounded something like "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" and was followed by lots of over exaggerated head movement. Harry cursed inwardly.   
"You monster." Harry wasn't sure what was about to happen but according to page three hundred and twelve of the "Guide to Defeating a Dark Lord" after a laugh like that he was meant to say "you monster" in as bitter tone as possible. He hoped it sounded bitter.   
  
"Yes, I suppose I am." Voldemort said with just a grin this time, as he extended his non wand hand and gave a click. Harry looked behind him and saw something move on the edge of the circle of light they were in. It seemed to be moving a lot, but also walking very slowly. Either it was someone very drunk, or else something much worse.   
  
It was the latter.   
  
After another five seconds the figure had moved into the light and Harry could see that it was actually two people. One of them was a death Eater and the other was Hermione. The death eater had Hermione's arms bound to her sides whilst he shoved her forward, all the while keeping a wand clearly pointed at her neck.

Harry gave a gasp of horror as the evil plan started to come together. Now all it needed was for Voldemort to explain it so that any spectators could understand.

"You…you...you FIEND!!!" He exclaimed as he balled his fists. That sounds heroically correct he thought to himself. Voldemort chuckled again with lots of head movement, as he appreciated Harry's distress in a way only a great super-villain could.

"Oh but it gets worse! Much worse! You know when you wake up in the morning and find out your late for work… It's twice as bad as that!" Voldemort said as he literally shuddered at the thought of how dastardly he was

He clicked his fingers again in an expert manner which caused an echoe for a few seconds, and to no ones genuine surprise, another movement started at the edge of the pooled light. Slowly, in fact incredibly slowly, two more figures became visible. Harry wasn't sure what was taking so long but he was getting cramp in his jaw from having it hang open in fear for such a long period. Eventually it became apparent that it was a second death eater and another captive. Harry gasped again as he saw the unwilling partaker was none other than Cho.

The dark lord smiled at her in an almost paternal way, as if a favourite daughter had come to play. Although upon consideration this was a form of play for Voldemort, and apparently dark lords had a habit of saying things like "Luke, I am your father!!!" and quite frankly that just made everything awkward. No one wants to fight someone who can take away your pocket money if you win.

Harry looked for the sneaky route that involved saving both people and involved using a laser watch he had been given earlier. No such option existed, and Voldemort knew this. He rubbed his chin and gave another well timed laugh at Harry's horror.

"Looks like the whole gang's here doesn't it? Yet you don't look pleased, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy to see all your friends again Harry. And in good health as well… for now." Harry growled at him in a voice as un-scared as he could muster.

"You don't scare me!"

"Really?" Voldemort asked as he lowered his voice in case anyone else heard.

Harry risked a quick glance at Hermione and Cho, who upon realisation that they were being watched started struggling again, to no avail.

"Well, you do really. Its just that I'm not meant to be scared, and my girlfriend is watching as well so you know what it's like…" he faded off as he blushed slightly

Voldemort leaned a little closer with a grin.

"Yes…Yes of course." The dark lord replied understandably

"Why Harry I don't need to scare you, using fear is too simple. No I have devised a plan so evil and diabolical, I copyrighted it!" Voldemort said as he returned to the situation at hand.

"What is it…You sick madman?" Harry spat angrily.

"Well Harry. Not all the details concern you, but I think you will find it in your interest to listen to what I have to say. Truthfully, it isn't about you. It's about Ron, the ginger one!" As If by magic Harry suddenly felt something bump into the back of his leg, and looked down to see Ron lying there, massaging a wound which prevented him from walking.

"Ron? What are you doing here?" Harry asked in confusion as suddenly this didn't seem so clear, although upon considering how they were a moment ago it wasn't exactly crystal anyway.   
"Yes Harry. I would like to help you, but alas, I have been wounded, and am unable to run away, or even raise my wand." He said with a groan of pain. Harry looked at Ron's leg where a dark trickle of blood was spurting out, and then turned away as he started to feel a little nauseous. Instead he went back to Voldemort.   
"So what twisted plan have you concocted that requires Ron?" Harry demanded as he waved his wand threateningly, just to show that he wasn't afraid to use it.

"It doesn't concern you, but I will make the basics simple for you shall I?" Voldemort asked as he advanced on Harry, his own wand in hand. "I want Ron, and you're in my way. If you don't move I will make you move, and once you are out of the way I will have Ron, but I won't stop there. No no! As evil laws state I must also kill your friends and family."

Harry wasn't sure what was coming, but the idea of battling Voldemort wasn't an exciting one. At least not exciting in the same way as burning stuff with a magnifying glass in the sun was.   
"I won't hand over my friend!" Harry stated, although it didn't sound as firm and sure as he had intended.   
"Well in that case you're stupid." Voldemort stated quite simply. "As I said if you stand aside I will let you live, and your other friends. If however you get in my way you shall die like so many before you."

Harry looked down at Ron, who gave him a wounded puppy look, and then at Hermione who was still struggling with the tears streaming down her face.   
"I don't want to die Harry!" she pleaded desperately before her captor clasped a hand over her mouth silencing her. Harry cursed inwardly. This was a situation no one should ever have to experience. Eventually, he spoke silently and solemnly.   
"What guarantees do I have?"   
"None. I am evil after all. You will however trust me because that is what heroes always do." Voldemort cackled with a maniac grin.

There was a long silence that followed this in which some tumbleweed blew past and a small cough was heard from the death eater holding Cho. Harry was even certain he could hear someone whistling a way off, it was very annoying.   
"Very well. But I mark my word, I will have vengeance for Ronald. I will not sleep and I will not rest until I have your head." Harry spoke, as he looked at the ground, unable to meet Ronald's gaze.

"Excellent!" Voldemort said as Harry stepped aside, leaving Voldemort to take his kill. He looked up to see the death eaters released Cho and Hermione as promised.   
"You're making the right choice you know Harry. No need to waste three lives I always say. After all if I killed everyone then who else would entertain me? If I was in your situation I would have made the same choice." He said sneeringly as he advanced on Ron who Harry didn't dare look at.   
"I'm nothing like you, you animal. I'm a decent human being whilst you are just a heartless son of a bitch."

"Yes. I like to think so." Voldemort said as he pointed his wand at Ron, as though deciding what part to begin with.   
"Meet me by the under the clock tower at noon in twelve days time!" Harry said as he started walking away. He considered if this was enough, and finally decided to add, "be there or be square!"   
"Actually I don't suppose we could do it in thirteen days could we? I have lunch plans."   
"Fine. You have thirteen days to prepare for your funeral. Bring a large wooden box." Harry said coldly. Voldemort raised his eyebrows in surprise.   
"Very well. I suppose providing you with a coffin is the least I can do. After all it must be tough paying the bills as just a poor orphan boy." He said smarmily as He turned his back and Ron.   
  
Ron, who didn't miss an opportunity took his good leg and gave Voldemort a hard kick in the ankle.   
"OOW that really hurt!" Voldemort snapped as he took a step back and examined his ankle. "You big biffa, you scuffed my boots!" he snarled angrily as he tried to rub it off with the hem of his sleeve. Once he realised he couldn't he instead decided to go to plan B, which involved landing a sharp blow on Ron's side, to make up for it.   
  
"Harry you traitor." Ron called out after him. "You would give up my life so that you can live. Why is that? Are you really that selfish?" Ron asked as he tried to reason. Truth be told Ron wanted to live, but then there was nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong except it's a pity to enjoy doing something you won't be doing for much longer.   
"Ron It's not me that I did it for. Its just that the others…" He began to say as he turned round to look back at where Voldemort and Ron were. The only problem was that they weren't there anymore. Well not exactly. Voldemort was except he suddenly looked more evil, and where Ron was lying, now was his father.   
  
"How did you find me Voldemort?" How did you find us?" He spat as he stared up at the murderer above him. As he said this Harry looked over to where Cho was, she was gone to be replaced by Natasha. Suddenly the Death Eater that had been holding her, let go, and she fell to the ground briefly before pulling herself up and running towards Harry.   
"Thank you Remus. I knew you wouldn't let me die. Thank you. Thank you." She said as tears streamed down her face and she begun to hug him. Harry looked at her completely confused.   
"I'm not Remus." He said as he went to push her away. She lifted her face from his chest and looked into his eyes, as if looking past them and into his soul.   
  
"It's ok. Just because you sold out your friends doesn't mean you don't love them. You did what had to be done Remus and it doesn't make you any less of a man."   
Harry just stared into her face for a long time, before gradually raising one f his hands from by his side, and looking at it. It didn't belong to him. There weren't the usual fingers he knew so well. Instead his hand looked more worn, as if it belonged to someone older, or someone who had used them for many days hard work. Then it struck him, as he lowered his gaze and caught sight of his reflection in a pool of blood. He was Remus.

Harry couldn't understand what was going on, until he realised exactly what was going on. Nothing had changed, nothing about the scenario at least. The only thing that changed was who they were. Remus had betrayed his father in order to save his family and friends, in the same way that Harry had chosen to betray Ron in order to save Hermione and Cho.   
  
Harry could feel everything click into place in his brain, like pieces of a jigsaw all falling together perfectly. It was like a bolt of lightning, an epiphany. In the same situation Harry would have done the same. How could he lecture Remus, or say that he was a monster? Of course betraying a friend is a bad thing, but under the circumstances did he really have any other choice?   
  
It was as Remus had said, perhaps. If he told someone about Peter's betrayal then Voldemort wouldn't have been able to kill them. But then Voldemort would wonder why and the answer was of course Remus. It all boiled down to maths. Or so Harry supposed. If you had to choose between loosing one friend or two, or a friend and the one you love there really was no other choice besides the obvious.   
  
Harry suddenly heard a rumble like thunder. It started off in the distance, so far away it seemed that he was not even sure if he could really hear it or not, but then it increased in volume in an infinitely small fraction of a second that had stretched out forever. There was a bright light in front of him, although after having darkness surround everything for so long it might not have actually been that fast after all.   
  
Harry suddenly awoke, and sat up in his bed, or rather his table. Everything was finally clear to him. Why couldn't he have seen Remus' point of view before? Was he really that blind to the world around him? Could he really not see things for what they really were? Harry cursed to himself as he tried to imagine how naïve and immature to play the blame game in some sad hope at what? At revenge? Did he genuinely believe that Remus suffering from guilt would make matters better? He didn't get to answer these questions however as something else made itself apparent. The rumbling that had begun in the last moment of his dream was still there, it was very real.   
  
In fact it was more real than anything else he could remember for quite a while. It was still growing in volume, although as Harry listened carefully, his mind a jumble of thoughts and emotions, he could hear it start to take on different sounds and notes. It was sound. Real sound. Not the kind of sound he had known for what seemed an eternity. No, this was the kind of sound that needed time. Harry extended his fingers and looked down at them, as to search out for a reason why they had begun to tingle, and then in a quick movement, accompanied my the impending wall of sound. Time returned.   
  
It would be interesting to say that there was a brilliant flash, or some sort of explosion, or even that the news of the time freeze had spread all over the news and baffled the more intelligent of Muggles. However that would be a lie. None of that stuff happened. All there was, as Harry and a few select others could say, was everything wobbled a tiny bit, as though shaking itself awake and then they continued as though nothing had ever been different.

At first the sound of everything, the sound that he had learned to miss, defended him. He found himself on the ground with his hands clasped over his ears in order to shield himself form the fantastic sound that makes up everyday life. The sound of the wind, or the creaking of branches out from the great woods. The noise of conversation and tiny sounds of matierla moving as people waved their arms about. Even the very sound of time itself, like a great clock, except it ticked so fast that it was more a hum that people just learned to block out.   
  
Eventually, and none to soon, the head throbbing sensation of sound began to fade, like a bright light in a dark winters day, gradually its painful presence began to reside. Harry carefully lifted himself off the library carpet, and dusted his trousers down. Truth be told he hadn't been prepared for the time unfreezing at all, and he was only lucky that it happened when he wasn't doing something naughty. He took one last look at the makeshift bed he had used so many times over the time freeze. He wouldn't use it again. In fact he didn't think anyone would ever try something like that again. Not while Madam Pince was in town.   
  
Harry suddenly came to his senses, and started to leave the library. He wasn't running, that wasn't permitted. But he was certainly walking…very quickly. Once he left the library and passed the angry librarian he broke into a run. He had a few things to sort out. First of all he wanted to see his friends, see anyone really. Find out if they knew time had frozen or anything. Hopefully they hadn't been able to think to much. To much thinking was bad for you. It caused people to have ideas, and when ideas get made people get killed.   
  
After that he needed to talk to Remus. They had a lot of stuff to say. Or at least Harry did. Hopefully Remus wouldn't say too much, because given his recent track record what he usually said wasn't good news. Also Dumbledore. Harry would get to speak to the headmaster and see all about what really happened. If Voldemort had done whatever it was he had frozen time for, or if the headmaster had come up with some very complex and intelligent way to reverse the magic. Still that could wait until the Order of the Phoenix meeting which would undoubtedly take place tonight. Voldemort couldn't do something like this and get away with it.   
  
As Harry leapt down the moving staircase which were to his relief moving, he pulled out his wand and gave it an experimental wave, just to make sure that was working after all of this. It was, and he discovered this as sparks shot out of his wand which set fire to the picture frame of three old wizards trying to get a cat out of a tree (Some wizards from remote parts of Spain thought cats tasted very nice with a cheese and garlic sauce).   
  
Eventually Harry came down to the ground floor and pounded across the stone towards the great hall. He could hear the sound of chattering voices inside which seemed alien, almost as though he didn't understand them. There were so many voices it was overwhelming, but above the chatter of the hall he could hear a few distinct voices which he was glad to recognise.   
"As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, kill them and dump the body in a swamp!" a rough voice barked, followed by "Hat hat hat hat hat hat"

Harry pushed open the door a little and slipped in, although not unnoticed. He saw a lot of the Gryffindor's look up at him, with two of them being Ron and Hermione. Harry smiled at their mildly confused expressions as they looked to the empty spot on the bench where he should have been, to him. He quickly and as nonchalantly made his way back to where he had been sitting so long ago. As he plonked down into his seat he had an overwhelming sense of presence. Certainly it could be contributed to the fact that just about every sixth year student was in that class, but more probably it was that he was glad to have his friends back.   
  
"Hi guys." He said, half expecting them to not reply back, but to just sit their frozen.   
"Hey Harry?" Hermione said as she looked at Harry, as though expecting him to explain something. "Where did you sneak off to? I swear you were here a minute ago." She said as she moved up a few inches to allow Harry to turn and face them. Ron also was suspicious.   
"Yeah I saw tyou just talking to Remus a moment ago, then you started shouting um… and when I turned to look you were gone and that was it. Now you come strolling in through the door. You like that sardini bloke!" He exclaimed.   
"Houdini." Hermione corrected as she ran her fingers along the length of her wand, as though it was paining her to talk about this rather than practice the new spell.   
Harry considered this for a moment.   
"You wouldn't belive me if I told you."   
  
True to his guess, they didn't believe him at first. Not until he pointed out that Remus had also gone missing and mentioned a few other things including an explanation as to why Draco was now shouting Tonks, blaming her for himself being covered in jam.   
"If looking like a jammy sod is a side effect of this spell you should have stated that!" He spat angrily as a dollop dropped from his hair and onto the floor.   
  
Harry didn't go into full detail, there wasn't time for that, but there would be later. The fact that it became apparent to the Gryffindor table that their teacher had disappeared and that He finally walked in a few minutes later, out of breath and with his pyjamas concealed underneath his robe only furthered the proof. Hermione and Ron were buzzing with questions which they kept firing at Harry in the hope that if they got him in some sort of ambush from both sides that he would give in.   
  
As however Remus had requested Harry didn't tell them any details yet =, he didn't.   
"Harry, I think it best if you don't say anything about what happened until tonight when DUMBLEDORE WANT'S A WORD WITH YOU IN HIS OFFICE CONCERNING SCHOOL MATTERS." He said in what he hoped was a master form of subtlety. Harry made it clear he understood and shooed Remus away, but not before he could say that they needed to talk.   
  
"Remus, we need to talk." Harry had said.   
"What about?" he had replied.   
"About the whole you me thing." Harry had whispered as he tried to avoid attention.   
"So it's not about Draco being covered in Jam?" Remus asked in surprise   
"No." Harry had said surely.   
"Oh." Remus sighed.   
  
He had been disappointed

For the rest of the lesson they practiced the Morbidoroto!!! Curse. Not on each other of course. It was far to dangerous to do that. So instead they practiced on some stuffed hedgehogs which looked remarkably similar to Lesa the turtle. A few of the Slytherins which had grown tired of Tonks accidentally missing her target and having to duck as the spell bounced back at her, had started playing a game of football with one of the ehdgehogs, although it didn't really seem to mind to much as it went flying through the air, wondering in its own weird mind why everyone was upside down.

Remus seemed to be avoiding Harry, and whilst he would have been grateful for this for a long time, he wasn't anymore. Instead, seeing his adoptive father awkwardly skip ahead to the next part of the table made him feel bad, like he had done something wrong. Perhaps he had. Either way when the end of the lesson rolled round he was pleased, and anxiously jumped up from his seat.

"So when this time stuff was frozen you could do anything could you?" asked Ron excitedly as he started to consider different possibilities.

"Uh yeah." Said Harry abscent mindedly as he watched /Remus who quickly disappeared before the min crowd of students started to jam through the great doors. Ron rubbed his hands together in excitement.

"Harry my friend." He said as he extended one of his arms round Harry's shoulder. "You are going to have to tell me all about it tonight."

Harry however wasn't listening. Instead he left the great hall just in time to see which direction Remus had disappeared into, and as he predicted, it was towards Dumbledore's office.

"Will you guys excuse me for a minute?" Harry asked out of courtesy rather than request, as he squeezed ahead between some Hufflepuffs and onwards, leaving Ron and Hermione on their own.

"So what exactly do you think it is that he isn't telling us?" Hermione asked as she began the conversation they both knew they were going to have as soon as Harry wasn't around.

"Well I have a pretty good idea." Ron said with a lot of furious winking.

"What makes you think it's like that? I'm sure Harry wouldn't. He isn't that kind of boy." Hermione said as surely as she could.

"He is a boy…" Ron said as he patted Hermione on the back.


	39. The Cover Up

"What makes you think it's like that? I'm sure Harry wouldn't. He isn't that kind of boy." Hermione said as surely as she could.

"He is a boy…" Ron said as he patted her on the back.

Harry climbed up the staircase as quickly as he could as he tried to catch up with Remus who was walking remarkably fast for someone who didn't know he was been followed. Eventually Harry had managed to push to the front on the students and was able to break into a run as he dashed up the last few steps and down the corridor towards Remus.   
  
"Remus, wait." Harry called as he panted across the stone floor, his shoes slapping against the floor and his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Remus stopped his walking and turned round to see Harry running up towards him. He looked genuinely surprised to see Harry, which suggested he hadn't been running away from him.   
"Oh hi Harry?" Remus said as he started fumbling with some fluff in his pocket. He would have liked to fumble with a paperclip or a coin but he was to poor to do that.   
  
"Remus. I need to talk to you… About the stuff…that happened." Harry said as he caught his breath, while placing a hand on the wall for support.   
"Oh well Harry I was just going to go and see Dumbledore all about it. Find out what he knows, whether it was him that undid the time freeze… or Voldemort." Said Remus as he misunderstood. Harry was about to try and explain what he meant when none other than Dumbledore himself appeared from around the corner.   
  
Clearly the headmaster wanted to talk to them as well, because he smiled a little when he saw them.   
"Just the person I wanted to see." Said Dumbledore as he looked at Remus. He was wearing a shiny black robe that seemed to shimmer and shift to a purple in the light as he moved. Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore for the whole time that time had been frozen and he was surprised when Dumbledore took Remus by the arm and started leading him back to the study.   
  
"Sir, what about me?" Harry asked angrily that he had been annoyed, but at the same time trying to make sure he didn't sound like he wanted to be the centre of attention. Dumbledore turned back round and looked at Harry. Actually he seemed to look at several other points before Harry, as if to check that people weren't listening in.   
"Oh yes of course. Well if you don't mind Harry first of all I need to speak to Remus. I need to discuss a few things with him such as what he saw, and if he noticed and irregular occurrences during the time in question."   
  
"After that I will need to speak to you so if you don't mind perhaps you could come to my office in about fifteen to sixteen minutes?" Dumbledore asked with one eyebrow raised.   
"Or I could come along now. I don't mind sitting through the boring stuff… It's just I have lots of questions and…" Harry began to say before Dumbledore cut him off.   
"And there will be a time for that, but I wouldn't want to bore you so if you come along in about fifteen to sixteen minutes." Dumbledore said in a very flat tone as he stared straight into Harry's eyes. He felt a small tingle in is temples and for some reason concluded that it really would be boring after all.

Harry wondered along the corridors scuffing his feet along the tiles trying to see how large a mark he could make with the rubber soles of his shoes. There was no point going to lesson for fifteen minutes and there wasn't much else you could do, and so instead Harry just decided to wait around near the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He had considered several times over the last few minutes if he should risk sneaking up and trying to listen in on what was being said, but decided it was probably not worth the risk.   
  
Eventually Remus reappeared as the gargoyle hopped aside for him. Harry watched from his recess in the wall as he looked round. He seemed slightly distracted and when Harry called out his name he jumped.   
"Oh Harry… I didn't see you there. Dumbledore is ready to speak to you now if you still want." He said as he walked over to where Harry was standing. His eyes darted down the length of the corridor and quickly at Harry before he signalled to be followed.   
  
Harry wondered briefly why Remus was showing him the way to the headmasters study considering the staircase that lead up to it was only some ten meters away. Remus had his hand in his pocket and he let out a soft cough. Harry didn't get to dwell on this fact as he felt himself trip over. He crashed onto the floor with a painful thud as a knee an arm and a chin broke his fall. Remus looked at him in surprise as he gave another cough and quickly knelt down by Harry's side.   
  
"Are you all right Harry?" He asked as he turned Harry's arm over and saw where it had been grazed. "I should be able to sort that out for you… if I can just get you on your feet." Remus extended an arm round Harry's side and helped heave him up, although he didn't seem to have a very firm grip. He quickly reached his hand into his pocket and drew out his wand. Which he started off by pointing at Harry's arm.   
  
"You will have to be more careful. You don't want to get concussion." He said as he muttered a spell and Harry's skin quickly healed over.   
"I must have tripped on my robes or something." Said Harry unsurely as he gingerly felt his arm. It felt just the same as ever, to his surprise. "It must be because they are new robes and they are a little big or something." He added as he pointed at his chin.   
"Yes, that's probably it." Remus said understandably as he healed the spot where Harry's chin had been injured.   
  
"Anywhere else?" he said as he surveyed Harry carefully, before brushing off some dust from his sleeve and his knee. When he touched where Harry's knee was, he winced. "I shall take that as a yes then." Remus said as he brushed Harry's school robe aside and rolled up his trouser leg. "Hmm its not grazed. Just heavily bruised I expect, still nothing I can't fix. Not like broken bones or anything, although thinking about it if it still hurts afterwards it could be that, in which case you would be best going to see madam Pomfrey.

Remus used a different spell this time. One that felt as though an old flannel had been hung over his leg, but under the skin. After a moment Harry prodded it, and it felt a bit better.   
"No, I don't think I broke anything." Harry said with a grin.   
"That's good to know." Remus said as he rolled back down Harry's trouser leg and took a few steps closer to the gargoyle. "Coming?" he asked a few seconds later when he realised that Harry wasn't following.

Harry didn't respond immediately. He wasn't sure where to begin. In the end he decided to go with tradition and just go from the start.   
"I understand." He said as he remained on the spot.   
"Understand what?" Remus asked as he ran a hand through his hair.   
"I understand." Harry repeated, only this time he moved his eyebrows a bit more   
"You Understand?" asked Remus as his eyes started to widen in, well, understanding.

"Yes. I don't blame you anymore Remus. I forgive you." Harry said with a small smile. He hoped his apology would be accepted.   
"But how? What changed?" asked Remus as he remembered Harry's adamant behaviour over the whole time that everyone was frozen.   
"Well I had this dream you see. It was strange. Enlightening… and horrible. Voldemort was there and so was I. I wasn't sure why but he was saying… he was saying that he needed Ron for something. And that he would kill me if I didn't give him up. He also said he would kill my other friends." Harry said as he tried to put into words everything he had seen and felt in that dream.

"And then for some reason I became you. And at first I didn't understand. But then it came to me. I was just the same as you. I made the same choice. It was the only choice really. Choosing between them. It was the worst thing I can remember feeling, but I knew what I had to do… and I did it. Does that make sense?" He asked as he stared at Remus hopefully.   
"Perfect." Said Remus as a smile started to form upon his face.

"Good. Because I don't know what it was. Why it took that for me to realise. Maybe because in some way I was fooling myself." Harry said as he looked down at the ground and tried to think of a better way of putting it.

"What do you mean?" asked Remus softly.   
"Well. I suppose when you told me about what you did. And when I saw it all. Well I must have let anger obscure reason. I didn't really put myself in your situation. I just thought that I would be able to do better. That I would be able to save everyone. I guess it took that dream for me to see that. That I can't." He finished. He couldn't think of a better way of explaining it, but he knew he wouldn't have to. He knew somehow that Remus would know exactly what he meant.

"I know exactly what you mean." Said Remus as he strode forward, and in an instant was hugging Harry.   
"I'm sorry Remus. I'm sorry for insulting you and being rude and ignorant and everything else. I'm sorry for the way I treated you, and now I'm also sorry for the choice you had to make. You can have my forgiveness, if you will accept it." Harry said quietly.

"I accept your apology Harry, and I'm honoured that you found it in your heart to forgive me for everything I did. I'm sorry I was also rude to you back, and I'm sorry I did such a rubbish job at looking after you, and most of all I'm sorry that you suffered so much from the decision I made on that night. I'm sorry." Remus croaked as he patted Harry on the back in a fatherly manner

There was a long silence that passed between them, but it wasn't awkward like before. Things were different now. There was a deep understanding beyond words that they shared, and merely through the silence they could understand each other's feelings.   
Eventually Remus did speak and when he did he said   
"I don't suppose you want to give the whole father thing another go do you?" Harry smiled as he pushed Remus back so he could see his face.   
"Well at the moment I can't think of anyone who could do a better job." He said with a smile.   
  
"That's good." Said Remus as he put his hands in his pocket for a moment. "Anyway yeah Dumbledore might be wandering where you got to. You probably don't want to keep him waiting do you?"   
"No I suppose not." Harry said as he took a few steps closer to where the Gargoyle was patiently waiting. "Aren't you coming?" He finally asked as he turned round to see Remus still where he was.   
"No. I have already heard everything Dumbledore has to say and there isn't anything you need me there for anyway. If you need me I will be in my office though."   
  
Harry merely nodded, and took a few steps closer to the statue which sprang to life and jumped aside without even requiring a password. Harry stepped through the large doorway that had revealed itself before the massive hulk o the gargoyle jumped back once again to conceal the doorway. Harry walked up the steps and found himself at the wooden door. Although in his time he had been in the office every time he entered he always found himself in a state of awe and worry. There was some sort of power that naturally made it so being in close proximity to a teacher scared students.   
  
He raised his hand and raped on the door, only to find it swing open for him. The sight that greeted him was of the headmaster sitting behind his desk with his wand pointing at the door and a smile on his face.   
"Nice to see you again Harry. How was your Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson?" he asked as he picked up several notes and pieces of parchment and put them neatly inside a draw.   
"It was a bit boring. It seemed to stretch on forever." Harry said truthfully as Dumbledore gave a small laugh.   
"I'm sure it did."   
  
"So I expect you have several questions. Please feel free to ask away and I will answer each of them to the best of my ability." Dumbledore spoke as he readjusted his spectacles.   
"Yes. Let's see." Said Harry as suddenly his mind felt a lot blanker than it had done a moment ago. Still, after thinking for a minute he managed to come up with some of the questions that had been plaguing his mind recently. "Ok why was time frozen?" Harry asked as he looked at Dumbledore's eyes, which stared straight back at him.   
"Out of all the questions you ask the ones I find hardest to answer." Dumbledore said with a nod of his head.   
  
"Now Harry, I'm not entirely certain at this point in time, but it would appear the reason that a stopper was put on time was due to the fact that Voldemort wanted to try and achieve something that he could not do otherwise." Dumbledore said as he rubbed his hands together.   
"What was he trying to achieve?" Harry asked as soon as Dumbledore had finished speaking. Had he really been trying to kill Harry or steal something else?   
"Well again, it isn't certain, but what I can conclude is that he wasn't after you Harry. I in fact saw no sign of him coming any closer than several hundred miles south of here. Therefore we can guess that he was after something else, a material object perhaps. With any luck time will tell the truth, and the answers may appear in the prophet tomorrow."

"So, that means that you don't know whether he succeeded?" Harry asked as he raised his eyebrows hopefully. There had been a time when he thought that Dumbledore knew everything. Or at least everything about evil wizards and their dastardly plans.   
"Your right Harry. I don't know." Was the reply.   
"If he didn't succeed then why do you think he unfroze time?" Harry asked as he slumped down in his chair a little. He had expected better answers than this. All he got was someone else asking the same questions back at him.   
  
"Well there are several reasons for this. Playing with time is magic so advanced only a handful of wizards in the world can attempt it and therefore it is very difficult to stop time. Let alone maintain that state. He could have unfrozen time because he succeeded or another possibility is that he didn't intend to stop. He could have grown exhausted from the drain that a spell of such caliper exerts on your body, or he could have let his emotions get the better of him and lost control of his concentration and power."   
  
"What do you mean about a spell exerting force on you?" Harry asked confusedly.   
Dumbledore stared blankly for a few moments before blinking a few times.   
"Oh I'm sorry. I forgot that you haven't learned about that yet. Professor Flitwick should be teaching you about it in class later this term." Dumbledore said as he smiled in reminiscence of the days in which he learned about it. "Any other questions?" He asked, as Harry remained silent.   
  
"Yes…was anything affected by the time freezing?" Harry asked. To his surprise there was a definite answer.   
"No Harry. Everything has returned back to how it was, and everyone is unaware anything happened at all, with a few exceptions such as a Slytherin student who is now rather sticky, and Ron and Hermione, who, if I know you as well as I think I do, you have already told. However if I could request that you keep what happened to yourself for now, as will myself, Remus and the rest of the Order."   
  
"Yeah. I can do that." Said Harry surely. It felt like a personal assignment had been made to him.   
Objective: don't let anyone about what happened.   
Conclusion: don't tell anyone except Ron and Hermione.   
"Good." Dumbledore said with a smile as he wrote something down with some parchment and a quill that he seemed to have drawn out of nowhere.   
  
"I only have one more question at the moment." Harry said as he ran over it in his mind. "It's just that when I spoke to Remus he seemed to think that several hours had passed in time, or rather he had been consciously doing things for several hours whilst to me it only seemed to be a few minutes. How is that possible?" Dumbledore looked At Harry and nodded before reaching into his draw and taking out something that looked like a rust coloured sand tier, except it was filled with not sand, but some sort of flowing substance like Harry had never seen. He couldn't quite place whether or not it was a liquid.

"This, Harry, is an instrument for measuring the flow of the passage of conscious time." It is this intricate device that allows me to answer your question. Since time has unfrozen and we are all at the same point still, we can conclude that the conscious passage was equal to the few of us exempt from the spell upon the world. Whilst several hours might have passed in what seemed like seconds to you, the same thing happened the other way round, and by that means you both experienced the same duration of time." Dumbledore spoke, making it sound such simpler than it really was.

"So how long was time frozen for exactly?" asked Harry, hoping that from what Dumbledore had said, and what he understood, this was possible to be answered.   
"Well I am afraid I can't list it down to the minute." Dumbledore said as he weighed the time instrument in his hand. "But it was about fourteen hours and thirty two days."

Harry stared in disbelief.

"It was really that long?" He finally questioned as he tried to conceive that it had been that long. Yes, it had felt like a lifetime yet Harry just thought that it was one of those things like going to bed and rolling round for hours trying to get to sleep, only to find out that it has actually only been thirty seconds.

"Yes Harry, it would seem so. Admittedly my measuring instrument might be slightly out of order but only by an hour or so."

Dumbledore looked down at his desk where he started shuffling papers. Harry had the distinct impression that the conversation had ended, and as Dumbledore started humming to himself, something that sounded remarkably like a Christmas carol, Harry took this as a sign that he was right. He stood up from his seat and started walking to the door, but just as his hand reached to open it, he thought of one more thing.

"Sir, when is the Order meeting going to be held?" Harry asked as he looked on expectantly. "It's just that I was going to have a bath later and I wouldn't want to get caught in the bath…" He said as he trailed off.

Dumbledore looked studious for a moment as he seemed to examine for a few moments through his glasses, before replying.

"Quite, quite. No Harry. We won't be having an Order meeting tonight. Remus and I discussed the matter and concluded that it wasn't of a high enough priority to interrupt everyone's busy schedule. We will however discuss it in our next meeting which hopefully won't be any time soon."

"Oh." Was all Harry could say, as he was caught in surprise… Any matter of Voldemort was high enough for Harry to think worth discussing, but Dumbledore probably knew better, and so Harry left it at that. "Ok then…Goodbye professor." Harry said as he opened the door.

"Yes." Dumbledore replied absent minded as Harry left.

Albus had work to do. Once Harry had left the office he listened carefully to the footstep die away. No doubt about it. Matters had to be taken carefully, and the situation would have to be well hidden. Harry wasn't stupid and he could tell when people were lying to him without Occlumency. Still Remus had done a good job. He had managed to obtain the Galleon used for calling the Order meetings from Harry, and from the discussion just now, it had gone smoothly.

Matters were just too risky these days. Not like the good old days when you could trust the good people to be good and the bad to be sneaky. No these were modern day, and with modern day came difficulties previously unknown. Heck, you couldn't just identify the bad guys by picking the ones with the silly moustache and the eyebrows which sloped in!

Dumbledore reached into his pocket and drew out the galleon. He thumbed it for a moment. When would be the good time for calling up the order. There were several things to discuss, and several more to contemplate. Severus, Minerva, Remus and Nymphadora would be available at short notice. Arthur however… he was at work and Dumbledore wouldn't want him to get in trouble on account of this. No…Arthur finished work at six and so he would be free after that… But then Molly would have started cooking dinner, it truly was quite a conundrum.

Harry quickly walked down the steps... If he hurried he wouldn't be that late for dinner. Hermione probably would have finished but the chance that Ron had was slim to none. As Harry sped along the corridor which joined up with two others and went into a main corridor he met up with a few late stragglers. Either those to engrossed in other activities to notice that dinner had started, or those that lacked the proper physical state that allows them to arrive on time. As he walked along he saw Moody hobbling up ahead.

"Stupid leg." He cursed to himself. "Swells in the damp and doesn't work properly." He said as he caught Harry's eye, through the back of his head.

Further up ahead was professor Flitwick, whose short legs were moving at over time as he slowly ran along the corridor. Harry was tempted to offer to pick up the teacher and carry him, but decided his offer could be conceived as sarcastic.

"Hello… Mister Potter…" Flitwick squeaked as Harry started to overtake the teacher. "These corridors get longer every year don't they? Why I remember when I was your age… I could walk them just like that." He said with a click of his fingers. Harry had the impression that this would be a somewhat long affair, and from one of the teachers who thought more highly of him, Harry decided that politeness was required.

"Oh really?" he asked as he slowed down his walking pace so that Flitwick could keep up.

"Oh yes. Why I wasn't always small you know. In fact when I was your age I was seven foot tall…" he said as he reached his arms above his head to try and symbolise he might be bigger than he appears. Harry gave him a sceptical look. "Well… Seven foot-ish." He said as he nodded to confirm the matter. "But that was before I got the accursed shrinks. Smaller everyday! Although I suppose it does make food awfully cheap. A single sausage and a dozen baked beans for me please!"

Somewhere off in the Ministry of Magic, past the Golden fountain which had been repaired, and down the lift, off onto one of the floors and in an office coming of the corridor sat Arthur Weasley. His office was dark except for a flickering light. It had been playing up all week and the only reason he hadn't tried to fix it with his muggle tools was because he was the one that broke it in a similar way in the first place. "Still…" he thought to himself. "We should be getting that window installed next week and then we won't need lights."

He was stood at his desk, hunched over. Logic suggested that he should sit, but for some reason it seemed that if he stood then it meant he was nearer to leaving. The clock showed five minutes past six and although he had finished work a few minutes ago some idiot had to go and make another magical porridge pot and flood another village.

It wasn't that it was difficult to clear up the porridge. It was just that he always had trouble remembering how to get it to stop in the first place. He couldn't remember for the life of him. And of course it was hell trying to get dried on porridge out of your cloths. It went like cement if you didn't run it under a hot tap quickly.

Arthur Weasley anxiously scribbled down some notes before screwing them up and throwing them in a small dark hole at one side of the room. He wasn't exactly sure what happened to the notes after that, but he never dared find out. That is how they lost Nancy. Poor girl. According to a note he found in his lunch box, he shouldn't be late for dinner. He wasn't sure what they would be having because he had accidentally bitten off that section when he took a bite out of his sandwich without noticing the note concealed underneath. He only became aware that something was wrong when his bread seemed to be crinkling in his mouth, and when there became a very distinct taste of ink.   
  
The light gave a flicker and went out. It was the third time today it had done that. It was ridiculous. How was any one meant to work in the dark? No, it had gone to far now. He would have no choice but to march right down to maintenance and have a strongly worded request that they fix it. After stuffing the screwdrivers and wire clippers down his pants of course It was more than his job was worth to be caught tampering with Ministry Property. Especially when it was the kind of Property that makes your hair stand on end and make your body feel all tingly.   
  
He was just about to send off another form down the dark void on the far wall when a burst of light appeared. It faded as quickly as it had come but after a second there was some smaller flickers of lights, and as he turned he saw the fireplace burst into life. Oh dear. Either this was one of those unnotified inspections or else it was Molly, come to fetch him for dinner. Both options were equally unpleasant, and he just hoped it was the former. Maybe if they saw the light playing up themselves they would do something about it.   
  
Unfortunately for him it was his wife. Her head appeared in the flames, and she glared angrily up at him.   
"Honestly Arthur. Do you know what time it is?"   
"Yes dear." He said as apologetically as he could, whilst looking at the floor in the hope it would make him seem more helpless.   
"Do you know when dinner is?" She asked expectantly, although she knew full well he did. It had been the same time everyday for the last seven years.   
"Yes dear." He said with a sigh. Yes, she was probably going to hit him again. As long as he kept his answers short and simple though he shouldn't say anything to really offend her.   
  
"So you know you're late. Come on then Arthur. Explain yourself. What excuse have you got this time? Has someone bewitched some bears into bullying a little girl again? Or is this another one of your silly stories about magic beans and giants?" She demanded as she tapped her feet impatiently. He couldn't see her doing it, but it was something about the eyes. After several years you got to learn all about a person including some things you would rather not know.   
  
"It was a porridge pot dear." He said crestfallen. Few people outside the department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (which consisted of him and one other) appreciated just how much effort it took to keep things running smoothly. Molly seemed to swell up indignation at this statement.   
"So you would rather have some sloppy old porridge than the meal I have been slaving away on for the last hour would you? I don't do it for fun you know." She scolded. Arthur sighed. It was going to be a long night.

She stopped short during her usual rant, and Arthur knew why. She felt the same sudden warmth in her apron as he did in his pocket.   
"The Order?" He asked  as he slipped his hand inside his pocket just to make sure it was the galleon making the heat and not another molten hot treacle bomb. Sydney down the corridor thought it was hilarious but quite frankly it was painful and only mildly tasty. It was the galleon.   
"Oh what could Dumbledore want at this hour? Honestly. I find it hard to believe that it is urgent. Evil things never happen at dinnertime. Its just irresponsible!" Molly frowned.   
  
"It's not worth risking dear." Said Arthur thankful that a distraction had come up. Voldemort might have been evil and a killer and all that other stuff, but he couldn't make you feel guilty for missing dinner. He could kill you for missing dinner. In fact he often did. But guilty? No. Molly seemed to think for a moment.   
"Right that's it!" she said resolutely. "No other way. I'm going to have to bring dinner with me. You and Bill can eat it there. Dumbledore talks a lot. I'm sure he won't mind."


	40. Blaise Zabini

"Right that's it!" she said resolutely. "No other way. I'm going to have to bring dinner with me. You and Bill can eat it there. Dumbledore talks a lot. I'm sure he won't mind."

Harry sat down at the dinner table. Everything was so much clearer now, although it was still weird to eat with everyone else. It would take some getting used to. It was sort of like coming back after the summer except that everyone else didn't notice.   
Ron and Hermione asked more questions, and Harry told them again that he wasn't supposed to tell them everything, even though in his opinion there wasn't much of importance to say. It wasn't like top-secret information concealed from Voldemort.   
  
Harry looked round to see what Remus was up to, but he seemed to have disappeared somewhere, along with a few other members of staff. He would have questioned that matter further, except as he was reminded; it was Monday, which meant he had Quidditch practice, for the first time.   
"Oh Harry, looking forward to Quidditch practice tonight?" Ron asked excitedly as he rubbed his hands together at the prospect.   
"What?" he asked mid-mouthful as he looked up from his plate.   
"Remember? For the Quidditch training they said we would be trained by professionals. Honestly Harry. I think that the time must have affected your brain or something?" Ron said as he shook his head.   
  
Harry thought about this carefully. He wasn't sure how much he would like to be trained by a professional. Logic suggested it would be fun, but then what if it turned out he had been doing something wrong? Before he was left to train on his own. It was just a case of release the snitch and try to catch it as fast as he could. Now he would probably be told off for that. He could imagine it now. Having to wear a blindfold and having the wise old seeker telling him to try and catch it using the forks or something.   
  
Harry had training on his own tonight, as he did most nights. Apparently chasers and the Keeper were training together, or so it would seem by looking at Ron and Hermione's times table. It made sense when you considered it. Ron still thought the idea of Hermione playing Quidditch was funny, and took her reason of academic exploration as an insult to the game.   
  
"It's an art though Hermione." He tried to explain to her whilst spluttering gravy over her robe. "In fact it's more than that. Quidditch is beyond art. It is a science. It is a beauty in its own elegant form." He said as he started waffling on in what he obviously assumed was some sort of poetic description.   
"There is nothing elegant about your playing." She said tiredly as Ron tried to educate her, something no one other than a trained professional should ever attempt to do.   
  
"I have to go you guys." Harry said as he finally stood up. He still had about twenty-five minutes before the match but it had started to rain, and so he would have to put on his thick socks, not to mention everything else. He walked through the cold stone corridors once again before getting back to his dormitory before depositing his school things and picking up his blue storm. "Hopefully my broom will be distracting from anything I do wrong." Harry thought to himself as he inspected it carefully. It was still in mint condition, except for a thin layer of dust, which had accumulated on the top.   
  
He wiped it off and set down off towards the Quidditch area. As he stepped outside it hit him just how rainy it was, and unlike the time when the Quidditch team had met before, this wasn't pleasant rain. This was the sneaky kind the got you wet in ways you never knew existed. Intelligent rain had learned long ago that going straight down simply wouldn't do, because a lot of people had umbrellas, or could hide under a surface. No, this rain knew how to go back up once it came down, and so Harry found himself with rain up his nose.

He gloomily slumped out onto the dark Quidditch pitch, after getting changed. He didn't know who his Quidditch trainer was but it was hard to imagine it being a fun person. Knowing his luck it would be an athletic version of Gilderoy Lockheart, who thinks he is king of the world. Although his Quidditch uniform was dry, he still felt wet. The cold rain outside, the cold intelligent rain, also had a way to get you when you were inside. It truly was the subtle demon.   
  
As he stood in the doorway hoping for something to come up which would allow him to avoid having to go out. In the end he spotted a lone dark figure signalling for him to come over. He gave a depressed sigh and stepped out into the sheet of coolness that swept over him like an icy waterfall. He ran, although he didn't really know why, towards the figure. As he got closer he started to get a terrible sinking feeling that had only been slightly present before. This was due to his instructor which was gradually becoming more visible as he got closer, and the more visible he became the more Harry's fear was confirmed.   
  
"Good Night Harry Potter." Said Victor Krum as he stood looking at Harry.   
"Um. Hi." Said Harry awkwardly. It wasn't that Harry had to choose his words carefully. Victor Krum was quite good at English, but once you had beaten someone in an international tournament it made things awkward, and when that person also went out with your best female friend it just got silly.   
"Is your veather alvays raining at zis time of year?" He asked as he cast a look up in the sky. Harry gave a small nod.   
"More or less."   
  
After a few minutes Victor had instructed Harry on their training program, and how they would be making the most of the time before the match, which was now only three weeks away. Harry had managed to become just as wet As Victor had, and considered if he would drown from opening his mouth and looking up.   
"So Let me see Vat broom you are owning." Said Victor as he stretched out his hand. "I have rain in mine eyes and I cannot zee properly." He explained. Harry reluctantly passed over his broom. It was a lot of money and the risk of it being stolen was unnerving. Ron had suggested Harry get a secret Keeper for his broom.   
  
"Oh, I Zee it's true then." Said Victor Krum crestfallenly. "I heard zat you were in ownership of a Blue Ztorm, but I vasn't sure. I vas planning on buying zon but I couldn't afford zit." Harry stared awkwardly whilst hoping he could have his broom back. He felt something was needed and so he patted victor on the arm caringly.   
"If you save up really hard I'm sure you will be able to afford one…"   
Victor looked up from the ground with a glint in his eyes.   
"You are Vight Harry Potter. I vill save extra hard untzil I can afford von, then I will fly through the sky like I used to. Ze fastest zhere vas!"   
  
the rest of the night passed by ok. About half an hour into the training Moody came out carrying a parasol over his head. Harry knew that moody was supervising him for the Order, and by the look in Alastor's eyes, well eye, he didn't trust Victor Krum as far as he could throw him, which was probably quite far.   
Moody merely explained his presence with a statement about enjoying the autumn rain, and remained on the ground at all times, not even looking up as Harry flew far above in the sky. But then again Moody didn't need to look up. His eye had a tendency of seeing what it wanted to see.

Harry spent a lot of the night showing his ability, and trying to catch the Snitch, which was quite difficult considering it was so late at night and the thick rain which had soaked him beyond all sane measures. Harry's clothes actually contained more water than was physically possible. The real truth was his clothes had absorbed another water to fill a small swimming pool. Harry had indeed become so wet that his life was in danger itself. This was terminal wetness!   
  
The rest of the night Victor Krum tried to teach Harry how to perform the Wronski Feint, despite Harry's adamant argument that he already knew how to do it. However all in all it was still training and by the end he felt a little bit more prepared than he had. At least he had some real practice on his Blue Storm whilst trying to catch a snitch. He was just about to say to himself that the night had gone smoothly, when something happened which disallowed him to. Victor Krum spoke   
"How is Hermoninny?"   
Harry wasn't sure what to say. He knew that there was a slim possibility that this might happen, but since he wasn't really certain what had happened between her and Victor Krum it was difficult to know how to treat the situation.   
"She's ok." Harry said cautiously. He didn't want to have a fight with victor Krum for two reasons. The first being that there was a reasonable chance that he would loose, and whilst Moody would surely have vengeance, It wasn't worth the risk. The second was that if they got in an argument then it would be pretty difficult to practice with each other.   
  
"I do not zuppose you know much about her do you?" Victor asked hopefully as he looked at Harry. He wasn't sure what had happened but for some reason he seemed to feel sorry for the rich international Quidditch star, adored by all and loved by women.   
"Um. Well I know lots of stuff about her. But I don't think I know anything about what you mean." Harry said truthfully as he wiped his hair away from his eyes, which had been dripping and obscuring his vision.   
  
"Vell I Vas Vondering if perhaps you are knowing vhy she stopped writing." He said solemnly. Harry stopped. He knew that something had happened and that they weren't going out or anything as they had maybe been in their fourth year, but Harry always assumed it was through fault of Victor. If however it was because Hermione had stopped writing… then that made matters a lot different. Not to mention a lot more confusing.   
"No. I'm afraid I don't but I can ask if you like." Harry said. It was more for himself than anyone else.   
  
"You vould do zhat for me?" Victor asked as he raised his eyebrows. Technically it should be eyebrow, since as Harry had started to know. Victor's eyebrow was sort of joined up in the middle.   
"Yeah. I suppose." Harry said honestly. Victor Krum gave a smile, which was a rare occurance.   
"You are a good man Harry Potter. I shall enjoy vorking with you I zhink." He said as he extended his arm and gave Harry a firm handshake, which signalled the lesson was over.

Harry walked back up to the castle, covered in mud from the ground that was becoming increasingly like a swamp. He would have to ask Hermione about Victor Krum, although it was still hard to believe. It sounded almost as if she was unkind, which Harry knew her not to be. They would definitely have a talk… Maybe a long talk… hopefully it would involve cake.   
  
However Harry didn't get a chance to talk to Hermione that night, nor the next. When he got back to the common room Hermione had already gone to bed early, and due to the strenuous training from the previous night he was late getting up.   
"Stupid inadequate socks!" he cursed as he hopped round the dormitory trying to pull on some socks that seemed adamant not to be worn.   
  
The Morning didn't go much better either. He entered the great hall fifteen minutes before first lesson only to find that Hermione ha gone to the library to get some books on various matters of which no one cared or knew about. After a few hurried slices of marmalade on toast, which he succeeded in dropping on his lap, he dashed off towards transfiguration. He sat next to Hermione so hopefully he could ask her then.   
  
As He sat down however it became apparent it would have to wait. Professor McGonagall walked in looking rather disgruntles.   
"Hermione…" Harry began to say in a whisper behind his hand.   
"No talking mister Potter!" McGonagall said without even looking his way. Harry wasn't sure exactly how she knew he had been talking, but decided it would have to wait for a few minutes until they started practising, and the noise level picked up enough.   
  
Professor McGonagall looked at everyone glaringly.   
"I'm not blaming any of you in particular, but that fact remains that one of you thought it would be funny to glue a hedgehog to my desk. Now unless the culprit steps forward then I will have no choice but to make sure you all get enough homework to keep you to busy to do such childish pranks!" She said as she stared at Harry as though trying to read his soul.   
  
No one did come forward; although rumour had it that Neville had accidentally done it when missing with a spell before everyone else came in. Once The class had been assigned what was a deliberately boring topic, the transfiguration of gold into lead. Harry looked at Hermione who gave her wand a few complex waves and required the desired result. Harry looked at his own lump of gold, and considered giving it to Ron as a Christmas present.   
  
"Hermione." Harry said with a sigh. To tell the truth he would rather not have promised anything, but now that he had promised he couldn't just not do it. He could imagine victor Krum chasing after him on a dragon with built in turbo boosters.   
"You said you vould help me Potter. Vhy vould you lie?!?!" he bellowed as the dragon gave a roar and a cloud of flames consumed Harry.   
"What is it Harry? Do you need help with your gold?" she asked as she inspected it curiously.   
  
McGonagall who had been pacing the gaps between the desk spun on her heel so she was facing them. Still angry over the hedgehog, which despite her best efforts remained firmly planted upon her desk, and making hissing noises whenever she tried to reach for her pens.   
"Miss Granger will you please not help anyone. I'm pleased that you can do it, but unless he tries he won't be able to do it himself."   
"But…" Hermione began to say before she was cut off.   
"No buts! Harry. Go and sit next to miss Zabini." McGonagall commanded with a point of her finger

Blaise looked up from her gold which she had been prodding with her wand. Her eyes widened in horror at the thought of having to sit next to Harry and she began to splutter protests which Harry mirrored right back. It was bad enough that she was on the Quidditch team but having to sit next to her in class was bound to be bad news.   
Harry angrily scooped up his books and his gold and wand, before plodding over and slumping down all his stuff on the vacant seat next to Blaise.   
  
"Hi." She finally said, which surprised Harry. He was perfectly aware of the fact that she hated everyone.   
"Hi." Harry said back unsurely. It was a well-known fact that Slytherin never willing spoke to Gryffidor's. Blaise growled angrily.   
"You're not supposed to say hi back. I was just doing it as an introduction to the fact I was going to talk, because I know you're slow and would miss the first five seconds of what I said otherwise." She hissed whilst leaning over to him.   
  
"I'm not slow." Harry said indignantly. He didn't need this. Life was stressful as it was and he had a feeling that a conversation with Blaise wouldn't be as relaxing as a hot bath with fragrant soaps.   
"Whatever. Anyway I just intended to say don't try and talk to me because I don't intend to have anything to do with you. The sooner this lesson is over the better because your stupidity might be contagious." She snapped whilst giving her gold a swift tap with her wand, which caused it to fall off the table.   
  
"For someone who doesn't intended to talk to me your doing a pretty poor job aren't you." Harry muttered whilst shifting in his seat so he was facing away from her. Blaise cursed to herself inwardly. Stupid Harry Potter and his stupid life. Had to make things awkward. What would her friends think if they knew that she had been sitting next to Harry Potter? It would be like betraying the entirety of Slytherin.   
"I'm trying not to talk but I keep noticing blatantly annoying facts about you which are hard not to insult." She said as she ducked below the desk. "Pig boy." She added whilst fumbling for the gold.   
  
Harry sat in disbelief. He knew he wasn't perfect but in no way did he resemble a pig. Infact Harry hated Dudley so much he had deliberately gone out of his way to be the exact opposite, and so he knew he wasn't like a pig.   
"At least I have friends." Harry said as he spoke through the desk which Blaise was hidden under. Professor McGonagall probably would have told them to stop talking if it wasn't for a mistake Neville had made which had set a display board on fire.   
  
Blaise eyes widened in shock as she quickly drew herself up, and in the process made swift contact with the hard wooden desk. She rubbed her head painfully for a moment before kicking Harry in the ankle.   
"I have friends. Why I have so many friends, that I could have a big party and it would be bigger than a Weasley family reunion. Harry gritted his teeth and turned away whilst secretly massaging his ankle.   
"What is that supposed to mean?" Blaise demanded, as Harry remained silent. "I have more friends than you know." She said in his ear. Hopefully then the words would get through his thick head.

Blaise didn't intend to talk to Harry. It was just that she couldn't allow people to point out her flaws and get away with it.   
"For your sake I hope so, because as far as I know you have none." Harry said with a smile to himself. Potter: one, Zabini: nil. He thought to himself. Blaise remained quite for several moments and Harry thought that perhaps he had gone to far and made her cry. Girls had a habit of crying about things he said in his experience.   
  
"What are you looking at?" she snapped as Harry shifted back in his seat and looked at her.   
"Nothing. Harry responded, after cursing himself in the first place. It would be good if she cried. She deserved to have no friends.   
"And don't you dare tell anyone that you spoke to me." She said as an after thought. Harry looked down at his gold which still remained untransformed, and back at the clock, which said the lesson wasn't even close to being over.   
"Don't worry. I don't have time to waste recounting stories about obnoxious girls insulting everyone." He said with a glare at her.   
  
Blaise stared back at him angrily, before they both shifted in their seats to face away from each other. Several long minutes passed as neither said anything. Harry wanted to apologise. He didn't like being insulting. It made him feel like Malfoy, and he didn't like that. The only other thing that made him feel like Malfoy was loosing in Quidditch. Eventually Blaise let out a sigh and turned back in her seat.   
"What colour is lead supposed to be anyway?" as she stared at the lump of gold which was still shining in its proper colour.   
  
"It's supposed to be a sort of dark grey I think." He said as he looked at his own which was only a little bit darker than regular gold. He leant forward and looked over to the other side of the room where Hermione had several pieces of lead. "Yes. It's definitely meant to be dark. Blaise stared down at her own lump in frustration before poking it and saying in the incantation again, and watching as nothing happened.   
"Is it lead yet?" she asked as She risked the quickest of looks in Harry's direction only to find out that he was sitting in his seat properly again.   
  
"No. It's still gold." Harry said in satisfaction. It was nice to see people he didn't like failing. His Gold admittedly, was still that, gold. But as long as she didn't do better than him that was all that mattered.   
"Don't sounds so smarmy. Let me see your gold then if you think your better." Blaise demanded as she reached out her hand. Harry reluctantly glanced at his gold before passing it to her. "As I thought. Your is hopeless." She said before sliding it across the desk and back to Harry.   
  
"Hey. It's nearer to being lead than yours. He said as he grabbed her piece of gold and held it up against his own. "Mine is darker see." Harry said as he waved them in Blaise's face patronisingly.   
"Don't be so sure stupid. The only reason yours is darker is because its in the shadow of your arm." She snapped as she took the two pieces off him and placed them flat on the desk to examine. "See. They are exactly the same. Pig boy." She said with a grin on her face as she crossed her arms in a victorious manner.

"I'm not a pig." Harry sighed as he slumped down on to the desk. There was no point trying to argue. He concluded. She would no doubt find fault in what he did, and insult him in the process.   
"Besides you're doing the wand movement wrong. If you keep jabbing it you're going to get nowhere. You have to sweep your wand like on the board." Harry grinned as he pointed at the wand movement drawn up for them. Blaise looked taken back before turning from Harry to the board, and scanning it for a few moments.   
"You mean that big scribble?" she asked as he face displayed a look of disgust.   
  
"Well put it this way, it isn't there for decorative purposes." Said Harry as he spoke in a patronising manner.   
"I thought that was when Professor McGonagall sneezed and slipped with the chalk." Blaise said as she kicked Harry in the ankle again. "And your hardly one to lecture me. You're pronouncing it all wrong. It's not Kallikooro, its Callikeroo" Blaise explained in a manner that seemed remarkably reminiscent of Hermione.   
  
The rest of the lesson passed in a similar manner. Harry achieved several more kicks and had a satisfactory piece of lead on the table, as did Blaise. Except she hadn't been kicked. Harry would have to say without a doubt it had been one of the worsat lessons of the year, or at least the worst since he had spilt the potion over his lap in Potions and Draco had taunted him.   
  
"Oh had an accident did you potter?" He asked as he pointed at the wet patch on Harry's trousers.   
"Yes I did have an accident actually." Harry said truthfully. Draco stared in silent disbelief.   
"You admit it?" he asked finally after opening his mouth several times.   
"Well yeah. It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's just something that happens sometimes if your not careful. It can't be helped." How was Harry meant to know that Draco meant a different kind of accident?   
  
Blaise and Harry both sat counting down the last minute of the lesson. It would be safe to assume that if ever there had been two people who hated each other more than Harry and Blaise, then they had probably killed each other pretty fast.   
"I won't have to sit next to you next lesson so you had better do your homework, because you won't have anyone to help you." Harry chided. Howevber after saying this one of those things happened. Not the good kind of thing, but the other. The kind of thing which happens just to prove you wrong. It was bad.   
  
Professor McGonagall strode over to where Harry and Blaise were standing to give their work a quick inspection before the end of class. She picked up their pieces of lead and turned them over in her hand, before looking at the colour they had left on her hand. She weighed it up and gave each piece a tap on the table.   
  
"Well it would seem, despite my disbelief that you two have both successfully created some perfect lead. You two will want to wash your hands before eating anything by the way." She said as she noticed Harry who had his hand rested near his mouth. "I think that the rivalry between the two of you must have driven you to do better than you normally would. I think that from now on you two will always sit together!" She spoke as Harry's world crashed around him.

No. I don't want to." Harry said softly as his throat suddenly seemed dry.   
"I can't work next to him every lesson. It's like dying except that it lasts all year." Blaise complained indignantly.   
"She hits me miss!"   
"He smells!"   
"She insults me."   
"He is stupid and immature and a pig."

Professor McGonagall looked back between the two as they both shouted protests. After they had talked themselves into silence she merely nodded and said.   
"The decision is final."   
  
After the lesson Harry hurried out to meet up with Hermione as they made their way over to the other side of the school for Charms.   
"You would not believe the outrage of it Hermione." Harry spat as he waved his arms in anger.   
"What happened?" Hermione said absentmindedly as she was thumbing through the textbook and sizing up the homework they had been assigned.   
"Sitting next to that Zabini girl. I told you Hermione. Weren't you listening?" Harry sulked at the thought.   
  
Even though the lesson was over the prospect of having another lesson in the future was enough to make even Christmas feel like a funeral, which is generally a very unpleasant day. Unless of course someone you hate has died because then you get to smile that your life will be better, and you get free food afterwards. More often though it was an aunt you knew when you were younger called something like aunty egg. Also they never had food. They had those things that looked like sausages but tasted of something very different. If the funeral was of someone you didn't like, and the food was rubbish, you could always make your day better by weeing up against their grave.   
  
"No. I am listening Harry." Said Hermione slowly as she turned a page and risked a glance up to make sure she wasn't going to walk into a wall in the next ten seconds. "I just think that you are making a bit of a fuss over nothing Harry. I know that she is rotten and she insults you but you can just ignore her. It's not as if she is stopping you working or anything!" Harry wished that Blaise had stopped him working because then professor McGonagall would have no reason for them to remain together, and even if she did, he could always rely on Hermione to give Blaise a black eye and a few frank words.   
  
"But she hit me!" Harry said as he gritted his teeth at the thought of what his leg would be like the next day. "I'm going to be bruised like the last banana at the bottom of the fruit bowl that no one wants." He stopped to see Hermione putting her book away, and thought that perhaps she was going to offer some good advice, but instead realised it was only because they had rounded the corner and were now outside the Charms classroom.

"Ron. You will listen to me won't you?" Harry asked as he spotted Ron leaning against the wall on the other side of the door.   
"What?" Ron asked as he opened his eyes and looked round for the source of the voice. Harry walked over and let out a sigh. Why was it that only after one lesson he was completely exhausted? It wasn't even a Monday, or a Friday, so he hadn't an excuse.   
"You would not believe hw bad my last lesson was." Harry began to say, but as Ron raised his eyebrows it caused him to stop what he was going to say.   
"Well Harry, I doubt it can be as bad a mine." Ron challenged as he showed a hand from behind his back that was covered in bandages. It was emitting what appeared to be green gas of some sort.   
  
"What happened?" Harry asked as he took a few steps back. Generally his experiences with green gas wasn't good.   
"Well I was sitting there and… Never mind. I will tell you about it during lesson. Ron said as he spotted Flitwick strolling along the corridor as fast as he could. To those who didn't look down they wouldn't know who opened the classroom door, and would only have been alerted to his presence by the squeak of his voice, that to the untrained ear could be confused for the intelligent mouse. And there were intelligent mice. A high magical field did funny things to animals…   
  
Harry grudgingly mumbled as he stumbled into the classroom. He walked over to the far side where he took a seat next to Ron and the window. During the few minutes that the class took to settle down Harry sat staring out of the window… it was raining, to no surprise. At least he didn't have Quidditch practice in it tonight. Instead tonight was one of his Occlumency type lessons with Snape, which was a laugh a minute. Also he still had to find out about what happened between Hermione and victor. Everyone always depended on him, he decided.   
  
Harry snapped out of his daydream as he felt Ron prodding him in the arm with an elbow.   
"Can you open my book for me Harry?" he asked as he waved his bandaged hand.   
Harry looked up to see a page number on the board, and then pawed through Ron book and his own until they both displayed the correct page. It was entitled.   
The Energy Consumption Of Magic   
  
"So how did you injure your hand?" Harry asked under his breath as Flitwick pulled out a ladder and began to write the date in the top corner of the board. Professor Flitwick had a strange manner of writing. Due to his height he couldn't reach the top, or the bottom, but he only needed a few thick book to reach the lower section. Therefore he would start his writing on the bottom and work his way up to the top if he needed to.   
"It was Malfoy. He said he didn't intend to jinx it but there was no doubt about it. He blamed it on me and said I was incompetent…" Ron began to complain in a way that Harry noticed was remarkably similar to himself. "…So how was your lesson?"   
"About the same." He said with a sigh as he slumped his head in his hands and turned his attention back to the lesson.   
  
"Hello Class." Professor Flitwick began as he climbed down from his ladder and up onto the desks at the front where he liked to march backwards and forward whilst talking. "Today is a very important lesson. It is a lesson which will be invaluable to later in life." He began in a serious tone, or as serious as someone can sound whilst speaking in a voice similar to a normal person after breathing in a dozen helium balloons.   
"If it's not got any value why do we need to know it?" Ron asked stupidly as he gave Harry a look of disbelief.


	41. The Cost of Magic

"If it's not got any value why do we need to know it?" Ron asked stupidly as he gave Harry a look of disbelief.

 "Now technically I should have taught this to you before you learned the Crelatio charm, but I generally find that it isn't wise to start off the term with boring things, because the students don't like it. However professor McGonagall has requested that I teach this to you soon, because apparently some of you are under the impression that since you can create an item out of thin air, that there is little to no use for transfiguration. You could not be more wrong." Lectured professor Flitwick as he pointed at them sternly.   
  
"You see not only does it take a very disciplined mind to be able to summon objects of a larger size and complexity, it also drains the very energy from which you live. Now this brings us onto a general thing about magic which you may have been told by your parents, if you are of a magical family that is. Every spell, no matter how simple uses up energy. It uses up energy from which you live. You need to eat and you need to sleep in order to maintain your energy."   
  
Harry looked at Ron with raised eyebrows. He hadn't known about any of this stuff before, and apparently by the look on Ron's face, neither had he. It certainly hadn't been mentioned in their textbooks, because having read through it three or four times Harry would have noticed. Still, since it was apparently, as professor Flitwick put it, a more general thing about magic, it wasn't that surprising   
  
"You, Listen.!" Shouted Flitwick as he spotted a Hufflepuff poking a pen up his nose. "This is very important and it may very well save your life in future. The point is that up until now you have never really had to know it, because it didn't affect you. With however the increased complexity of magic from which you are learning, you will be summoning more energy to perform the spells. Let me give you an example. If you were all to take a simple spell that you could perform, say for example the jelly leg curse. I know what students are like and I know that you have all practised on each other over the years. However the reason none of you passed out in the corridor is because it is a very simple spell."   
  
"In fact you could probably practice all day without felling so much as light headed. You must however, when performing complex magic take into account the enrgy it drains from you, because if you found yourself in a dangerous situation then you wouldn't want to be falling asleep would you?" Flitwick asked as he stared at the class, all of who looked at him with some look of understanding, some more than others. Hermione was sitting just a desk away from Flitwick and Harry could see her often nodding and making comments such as   
"Oh absolutely!"   
  
"Now, the complex spells take a lot of energy, but one spell that takes more energy than any other spell you will be learning at Hogwarts, is the Crelatio spell. To be able to create an object out of thin air takes an enormous amount of energy, and so it is not wise for you to always use it whenever you want it, but often better to transfigure something. The amount of energy that is in fact required is about equal to the amount it can make. This means that if you were to say, summon up a loaf of bread, after eating it you would not have any more energy than before. This is one of the reasons Wizards still need to buy food."

Professor Flitwick stopped and flicked through a text book for a moment before looking back up.   
"That is the rough basics of it all. Generally, people refer to this energy drain as the cost of magic. However, you should also know that it isn't always a fixed cost either. Despite what I said about food, it is a little different from a lot of things. As you can imagine, and as I'm sure many of you realised from practising the spell in class, that some elements of the creation are easier than others. To get the colour of something is the easiest aspect, whilst texture, temperature, solidity and taste are harder, in that order." He said as everyone in the class seemed to roll their eyes and remember back to their quills they had made, that were floppy or smelled of cheese.   
  
"However, if your creating something that doesn't need a taste, then you can simplify it, and it uses less energy to create. With practice and greater mental discipline you can even refine your abilities so that it takes an increasingly small amount of energy, until eventually you will be able to perform relatively complex spells with minimal energy consumption. An example of this is that whilst you can make a quill with the Crelatio spell, I could decorate a house, whilst Dumbledore could fill the great hall with sleeping bags, as he has before, or build a house itself. It is difficult to reduce the energy consumption of spells, but mainly with practice and concentration you can get there." Flitwick finished with a sigh.   
  
Harry wished he had taken notes because he imagined that it was going to be tough to remember it all. Flitwick decided to demonstrate to the class exactly how important it was by having a Ravenclaw girl stand up at the front and produce several large and complex items, as she went to mutter her eighth she suddenly started swaying, and stammered, before eventually closing her eyes and falling back. Several cries went round the classroom.   
  
"Is she dead?"   
"She's dead!"   
"Professor Flitwick murdered her."   
"Lets kill him and see how he likes it?"   
"Can we not kill him? I might get in trouble."   
  
Professor Flitwick allowed then to talk for a minute whilst he removed the levitation charm he had used to stop the girl hitting her head on the floor. He strode over to his desk and pulled out a potion that several over excited students probably assumed was poison for the next unfortunate student.   
  
"Now now class. She isn't dead. Honestly you will believe anything if you want to. She is merely unconscious. This is because as I said, she consumed a large amount of energy, and in such a short time it decreased the energy flow to her head, and so her brain wasn't able to function properly." He explained as he took the small cork out of the bottle and placed it on the floor whilst standing over the student, ready to revive her.   
  
"Professor? If you decrease the energy flow to someone's brain couldn't it do them serious permanent damage?" Hermione asked as she looked down from her desk sceptically at the girl on the floor. "Isn't there even a possibility of death?" she added.   
Flitwick gave her a quick glance before looking at everyone else to see if they had heard what she had said. Thankfully a lot of people had become attuned to ignoring Hermione's voice, that way the surprise wouldn't be ruined when teachers told them what their homework was. Now that it was a pleasant surprise. It was the kind of surprise they never hoped to have. In much the same way as finding out that your overweight mother is going to be performing ballet at the next school talent night.

He wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead as he gave a small incoherent cough.   
"Now watch as I revive the student." He said as he waved the potion under her nose. There was a moment of silence in which everyone stared expectantly, and in which professor Flitwick prayed. There was always someone. Always the smart aleck of the class who had to complicate thigs and point out the dangers. Why couldn't he have stupid classes like he used to? If someone died then he could just say that it was their own fault for performing a spell wrong. These days he wasn't so lucky. The ministry liked to investigate deaths. Or even worse… The please-men.

Thankfully, after a few moments the girl sprang awake and looked round the classroom before her eyes landed on professor Flitwick and the potion he had in his hands.   
"That stinks!" she said as she climbed to her feet and hastily returned to her desk, blushing from having everyone look at her. Harry and Ron, although glad, were a little disappointed to see what would have happened if she didn't revive. They returned to their notebooks and started writing down the rules and properties of the cost of magic and how to avoid overexerting yourself.   
  
Once the lesson was over they all walked out of the class grumbling slightly over the homework. They had been told to try and calculate their own magical potential and how much magic they could do before it became dangerous. Harry himself couldn't see why anyone would mind doing the homework since it seemed easy enough. It would probably only take about ten minutes. Ron however, was less than excited.   
"As if magic wasn't dull enough. Now I have to try and figure out if I'm allowed to do a spell or not. It's ridiculous is what it is." Grumbled Ron angrily as he scuffed his feet along the corridor.   
  
Potions was the next lesson, and as with all bad things, it came in two's. A lovely long double lesson. Being in a cold damp room with Snape. What more could he want? Ron walked off in the separate direction to go to his next lesson, whilst Hermione walked alongside Harry as they headed down to the dungeons. To their displeasure Snape was already there when they arrived. There could be a few reasons for this. One of them is that unlike professor Flitwick Snape didn't have any limitations with the length of his legs.   
  
Another thing was punctuality.   
  
He exuded the quality of punctuality in everything he did. From the way he walked, in his greasy fluid manner, to the way he breathed over your shoulder. Snape indeed set a lot of importance on punctuality and by being late for any one of his lessons, you were committing yourself to a detention or some other form of demeaning punishment. It probably could be said that Snape was in fact a punctuality pervert.   
  
Of course he might not possess any quality, which allowed him to be on time at all. It could be that he simply lived in the dungeons, which was the common theory around school, and therefore it was literally impossible for him to be late in any sense, since all he had to do was step out of his grimy little room, and there was no doubt in any ones mind that it would be grimy, into the classroom, and if being on time meant arriving in pyjamas then so be it. Although Snape did get up three hours earlier than necessary just to make sure that such irregularities didn't cause him to fall into this situation. Sleep was for the week.   
  
Harry and Hermione took a seat as near to the back of the room as they could get away with. Not the very back because that was suicide. As students learned very quickly, if you sit at the very back of the classroom then you end up seeming to keen not to be there, and if teachers pick up on this then they try to make sure your a lot more keen to get out of the room by the end of the lesson. No, Harry sat on the second back row. It was the sneaky row. Whilst people at the back would try and subtly sleep during lesson, thinking they couldn't be seen. The people in on the second back row would draw fake eyes on their glasses and sleep like that, unblinkingly.

Snape slinked in to the classroom before moving over to the front silently. Everyone stopped talking, if they had been stupid enough to start talking in the first place. The art of talking in Snape's lesson was a very precise one. What you needed to do was start off so quietly that you couldn't be heard, and then increase the volume at such a slow rate so that he wouldn't be able to consciously notice it. By the end of the lesson they could normally get into the volume region of whispering.   
  
"Today we are going to be doing something thoroughly exciting… Snape began as he drew on the board silently for a few moments. Whatever they were doing was in bullet points. That meant it wasn't going to be fun in any sense of the word. "We are going to brewing a potion that allows you to change the quantum…" he began, before saying lots of words, none of which were at all interesting. If Snape had known better he could have slipped in a few words, like death, chocolate and sex, because that always made people pay attention   
  
Harry looked at Hermione who had her face pointed forward towards the board. Maybe now would be a good time to bring up what Victor Krum had said.   
"Pssst." He had said.   
"I'm busy learning, Harry." She had replied.   
"I want to talk about something…" he had whispered   
"I don't" she replied tartly as she remained focused on the lesson   
  
It wasn't for a long time that Snape finished talking, and it wasn't until their potions were bubbling and simmering away that Hermione turned to Harry.   
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" She asked as she quickly added a dash of Hinkypuff oil. There was an art to talking, which was if you did it in a very snake like manner, then the hissing of your voice blended in with that of the potions, and it was very hard for anyone to tell you were talking unless they were only a few feet away.   
  
"Well you see the thing is Hermione that well. It's about my Quidditch." Harry began to explain as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.   
"Oh how was your Quidditch Harry? Ours was rather good and I was surprised to find out that we were actually being trained by a woman. It goes to show that women can play for Quidditch at a professional level, which is something not a lot of people appreciate. I can't remember what her name was… She was rather good. Anyway who did you have Harry?" she asked excitedly as she went into much more detail than was asked.   
  
"I had Victor Krum." He said glumly. There was a silence which followed this only broken by the shouting from Snape at someone on the other side of the room, and Harry potion which was starting to bubble over. He decided to take this opportunity to quickly rectify it, and turn the heat down. Stupid potion.   
"Oh." Hermione finally said as her face showed an expression of comprehension and confusion, without saying anything about what she was thinking. "Did he say anything Harry?" Hermione asked, as she guessed that he had, otherwise they wouldn't be discussing it right now.   
  
"Yes Hermione… He sort of asked about you actually." Harry said with a cough as he failed to meet her gaze.   
"About me?" she asked quietly as she put a hand to her chest. "What did he say Harry?" He considered for several moments if there was a way of putting it that wasn't as obvious as it sounded.   
"Well Hermione… He said that you stopped writing to him. And he wanted to know why."

"Oh." Hermione said again as she looked down and started playing with her fingers, something she only ever did when she was nervous, which is something Harry very rarely knew her to be.

"Hermione? What is the reason, if you don't mind me asking?" Questioned Harry worriedly. She looked up at Harry, as if judging whether or not to tell him really.

"Well Harry. I suppose you know that Victor and I sort of went out a little bit." She said timidly. Although she had never said it before it was a genuinely acknowledged fact between the three that she had done something of the sort.

"Yes. I suppose you did." Harry said after a while, when it seemed something was required of him.

"Well you see during the summer we had a sort of argument of sorts. Not a serious one but we sort of moved backwards in a way. You see he kept sending me letters and I responded at first, but then I went to the Order and because of that they said I wasn't allowed to send any mail unless it was absolutely necessary. Because of that I couldn't reply to any of his letters…" She sulked. There was a pause between them as Snape walked past and Harry pretended to be interested in his potion which had gone horribly wrong. It hadn't actually gone wrong, but Harry knew Snape well enough to know that if he saw Harry failing, then he would simply leave him to fail more.

"Is that it?" Harry asked, a little relieved and at the same time disappointed that he had been worrying so much over something like that.

"What do you mean was that it? It was horrible Harry. How would you feel if you were getting letters from Victor and he was pouring his heart out? "You haven't replied yet Hermione. Is your owl ill?"… I am worrying about you Hermione, has something happened? ... Do you not want to be friend with me anymore Hermione? Please just tell me the answer."

Harry didn't think it worth mentioning that he would be somewhat disturbed if Victor ever started pouring his heart out and writing letters to him.

"He always wrote me letters but I only got to read them. It was like I had lost my voice, I could hear everything he said to me, and yet I could never say anything back." She said as a few tears appeared in the corner of her eye, which she dabbed away with the hem of her sleeve.

Harry sat awkwardly. Yes. Once again he had said something and she had started crying. Apparently when girls cry you're meant to give them chocolates, but Harry fumbled in his pockets and only found a squashed banana, which he doubted would suffice.

"Well I'm sure if you had explained they would have let you write a letter." Harry said as he metaphorically patted her on the back. He would have done the real thing except girls slapped you a lot when you tried to touch them, or so Seamus had said. Harry questioned this because he had bumped into Hermione several times when the corridor was crowded, and Hermione never whacked him one.

"No Harry. I did explain. It really was a very tight security thing. You were the only person we were allowed to right to. Dumbledore said it was because you needed to know you had friends…"

"Really? You weren't allowed to write to anyone else?" Harry asked in surprise as he forgot about Hermione crying for a moment.

"Well yeah. I mean it didn't matter to Ron since he is a loner and you're the only person he writes to, but it really was a problem for me… But did Victor say anything else? What tone did he ask it in?" Hermione demanded as she suddenly brightened up at the thought that perhaps he didn't hate her.

"Well Hermione… He said it in his usual tone." Harry said as he stretched his imagination and tried to contemplate there ever being a different tone.

"But did he sound angry at me?" Hermione persisted as she took Harry by the shoulders and gave him a shake.   
"No. He just sounded disappointed." Said Harry as he quickly took a step back before Hermione could decide to assault him again.   
"Oh…" Hermione said as she closed her eyes in intense contemplation for a moment. "Do you think I should speak to him?" she finally asked as she looked at Harry for advice, something he had been hoping she wouldn't do   
  
"Well. You can if you want, I won't stop you. But I wouldn't want you to say something that would make it awkward for me to practice Quidditch with him. I do see him most days of the week after all." Harry said as he looked away. Admittedly it could be considered selfish to put himself above the needs of Hermione, but at the end of the day Victor Krum could shove it with silly love letters. Quidditch was more important. As Harry had learned, or at least as he was starting to learn, love wasn't as easy as people made out. If you ever found someone you liked they usually ended up hating you, and in the rare occurrence that they liked you back, they slipped into comas. Cho still wasn't any better…   
  
"Oh yeah I never thought about that Harry." Hermione muttered as she started rubbing her chin and thinking again. Harry knew what was coming and his brain frantically searched for a way out. One of the options was to run, except it was difficult to run away without someone noticing and so he very slowly started edging his way backwards away from her, although his seat was making a loud sound as it moved across the stone floor, and as Snape turned round he would have to resort to plan B. Now the next challenge was to come up with a plan B, and quickly.   
  
There was always the option of pretending he didn't hear, although after having someone repeat a sentence several times it became increasingly difficult to maintain the sharade. It generally only worked if the person tried to ask you something in a busy corridor and you would reply "What? I didn't hear you. Talk to me about it another time." Before dashing away in a hurry.   
"Harry…I don't…" Hermione began to say.   
  
Oh dear! She had started to talk. Think Harry think. He knew what was coming next and he still hadn't thought of a way out. He was hoping that she would take longer to conclude what he had concluded, but that was stupid because with Hermione ideas generally came along pretty swiftly. Maybe if Harry started dancing on the desk and got in a lifetime detention with Snape that would work. But it was to late now. Her mouth was moving and the words were coming out, like the runs, except it couldn't be resolved by a quick trip to the loo.   
  
"…suppose you would talk to Victor for me would you?" She asked hopefully as she stared at him in a way that made her eyes look very big and pleading.   
"I…"   
"Great! I knew I could count on you Harry." Hermione said sneakily. He wasn't sure why it was legal, but the thing was when a girl asks for something, before you replied they often just took the answer they wanted. If you simply said no from the start it was one thing, but by employing the technique that girls used, it made everything seem like you were changing your mind after already saying yes, and then things got said, and people cried, and you walked away with a slap round the face.

"But I…" Harry began to protest. Hermione gave him a small smile that made it impossible to argue. He gave a sigh. This wasn't going to make Quidditch easy. Snape walked round near them, which completely stopped any other last stabs at saving himself Harry could have made. Nope he would just have to suck it up and soldier through it. Either that or take the mans way out and run.   
  
The rest of the lesson crawled by, and the only satisfaction Harry had was when he saw Snape's face contort at the sight of a perfectly formed potion. Harry however had a suspicion the the greasy potions master would probably slip in some dirt from the floor, just so it wouldn't be to good. It was difficult to justify shouting at someone who does a good job, unless your shouting praise, but that generally didn't happen in life, and it certainly didn't happen from Snape.   
"YOU ARE FANTASTIC HARRY! EASILY MY BEST STUDENT. TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!" Never…

The rest of the day passed by faster, but then that was to be expected. Few things pass as slowly as a double lesson of potions with Snape. Probably something to do with quantum physics… everything was to do with complicated stuff these days. Harry groan angrily as his dinner was coming to an end. He had been trying to delay it and make it stretch out for a long time, but hadn't had much luck. The idea was that if he didn't finish eating then he wouldn't have to go to his Occlumency lesson. Snape however had other ideas. He had even reminded Harry at the end of potions, just incase it slipped his mind, which he was hoping it might.   
  
Still with nightly torture sessions the only mistake he would make was to accidentally go to Quidditch, which Hermione and Ron were doing today. They had disappeared ten minutes ago to go and get their stuff. He sat on his own playing with a bowl of custard, which was developing a skin. He was wondering how long it would be before the skin was strong enough to support the weight of a grown man.   
  
He looked down at his watch, and to his disappointment, but not to his surprise, found time hadn't stopped again. He climbed up from the Gryffindor table and with one last glance walked off towards the dungeons. It wasn't as bad as it had been when he first started. Harry thought to himself as he tried to look on the bright side. Now he had pretty much mastered the art of Occlumency. It wasn't like having someone attack your brain over and over again.   
  
Instead he was continuing with Legilimancy, which wasn't the easiest thing ever. Still it wasn't to stressful on his half. The only thing he didn't like about it was that after an evening of being in Snape's mind, Harry felt rather dirty, and often found that a good bath helped him. Harry walked along the dank corridor into the dank classroom that reflected Snape's personality. Remus was there, which was nice. It made it more enjoyable, although Harry did have a bit of a feeling that most of the reason was in case Harry saw something that he wasn't meant to see, like a vision of him killing his friends or torturing muggles. The other reason was so that he could insult Snape. Something Harry enjoyed watching   
  
"Finally decided to arrive Potter…" Snape sneered as he wandered along the length of the benches, as if inspecting them.   
"I'm not that late." Harry said indignantly as he glanced down at his watch. "I'm only one… and a half minutes late." Snape leant forwards as he reached Harry.   
"You think that time doesn't matter? My time is valuable. Very valuable. Do you know just how much money I could make in one and a half minutes?" He said with little specks of spit flying from his face and infecting Harry's skin.   
  
He wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical answer or not, but decided to answer anyway.   
"About half a sickle?" Harry asked, as he tried to guess how much Snape got paid. There was a moment's silence in which Snape continued glaring, Harry looked expectantly and Remus gave a small cough.   
"Lucky guess Potter!" He said as he quickly turned on his heel and took a few steps backwards.   
"I think perhaps we should begin?" Remus suggested, as he decided to try and get them focused before a fight started.   
"Yes. For once in my life I think it is a good idea. That way we won't have to deal with any more of your stupidity Potter." Hissed Snape smarmily.

Harry raised his wand unsurely… It had been a long time since he had last practiced, and Snape didn't know that. He would think that it had only been a few days since Harry was last here, practicing, when in actual fact it had been over a month.   
"Legilimens" He said as he pointed it at Snape's head. There were so many other spells he was tempted to say, but unless one of them was the Avada Kedavra curse Harry couldn't see he would get away with it.   
  
Harry saw the unfamiliar sight of a few images whizzing past him, before he felt himself slam into the ground with a jolt that made him fall to his knees. He looked round and once again he was at the entrance to the labyrinth that was the mental defences of Snape's mind. Harry started of unfamiliarly. It was going to be different from last time. It had to be, or else he would always be able to break straight through it. He took a few steps forwards, and into the maze.   
  
The giant walls towered above him, and cast the thing passageway that he was standing in, into darkness. Some of the walls looked moss covered, or grimy (which wasn't surprising considering Snape's mind) but all of them looked to be very solid, and un-scalable. Once again, as before, the only way was to progress further forwards, winding his way through the maze, round the walls until he found the path that would take him out of the other side.   
  
He started off at a jog as he took a turning to the right and found himself in a larger passageway. He hadn't been told but he had a belief that the larger the passageway the better, to an extent. Everyone knew the real way out involved going through a thin bit at the end. He jogged along past several turnings on either side, until he came to a section of the wall that was broken. Harry stopped by it carefully and examined it. It appeared to have crumbled from old age, only instead of showing powdery brick, the inside of the wall seemed to be made of swirling grey water.   
  
As Harry peered at the wall in curiosity, fighting the urge to touch it, he realised what the gap in the wall was. It was a hole in Snape's mental defences, where Snape had failed to adequately block it off. Harry carefully stepped over the wall and continued on. If his calculations were correct, and he hoped they were, then he was now travelling away from where he came, which meant he was probably going where he wanted to be.   
  
Harry started running as fast as he could which wasn't very fast. He knew how to rectify that. He closed his eyes and continued running. The dirt stone path under his feet told him where the wall was, since it sloped up slightly to either side. He tried to separate his mind from his body, in much the same sense as he did for Occlumency. "Think Harry. Think. They aren't your legs. You aren't you. You're just standing in a classroom and you're not in a maze. You're not running anywhere, and what you think is you is just a shadow, a projection of yourself. You aren't using your muscles and there is no reason why you can't go faster, so hurry up and do it."   
  
Harry opened his eyes and stared straight ahead. He had learned that by looking at his legs he started to think to much, and when he did that he came to conclusions which weren't true, and ended up slowing down. He saw the walls start to blur past him, as he accelerated more and more. His feet pounded on the dirt tiles under his feet as he carried on, they didn't make a sound because they weren't real.

Eventually Harry came to the end; he could tell it was coming to an end because the passageway which was thin was now getting smaller. The walls were pressing in from both sides, slowly but surely. By the time Harry managed to slow himself down without falling over, his shoulders were rubbing up against the walls. The end was several meters in front of him, and he realised he had gone to far. The nearest turning was bout ten meters back, and Harry went past that one. It wouldn't be the last turning; it would be the second last that he wanted.   
  
As however, he got near to it, he started to feel a tug on his back. At first it was just gentle, but as a few seconds passed it became stronger. Harry stood in puzzlement as some wind started to blow, and before he knew it he was sliding back across the ground. He thought for a moment and realised what it must be. Snape must be trying to force me out. But the question was. Is Snape trying to force me out because he doesn't want me to go any further, or is he trying to teach me to resist it?   
  
Harry decided on the latter, and started trying to walk forwards, at first he was winning, but as the pulling force got stronger Harry had to start running on order to get further along. He took a turn to the right, and carried on as best he could. "Concentrate Harry. The force isn't real." He told himself, except to his surprise it didn't lessen at all, it just continued to pull at him.   
  
Harry then decided to put his concentration into running faster, into fighting the force trying to expel him as he drew ever nearer to the goal, except that as his feet increased in speed, they started slipping on the floor. He dug his heels in and held onto a bit of moss on the wall, which came off with a snap, and a tile came up from where he had stuck his feet in. With a massive rush of Speed Harry felt himself flying back, and being pulled out of Snape's mind. He had failed.


	42. A Dirty Mind

Hey everyone… what have I been up to since last time… not much… I saw a few films... since I'm English Shrek 2 only just came out last week… and if you haven't seen it I would advise you do because it is one of the best films I have seen at cinema this year (and I have seen about 15) and it is hilarious…

Anyway this chapter is longer than some… 2000 words longer than normal actually…..

Also as this is chapter 50 that means this is now the half way point… theoretically…

I say theoretically because although it is only a planned 100 chapters it doesn't look like it will be that case… probably creeping up to be a bit more than that…

Thanks to all that have reviewed… finally made 100… which we are very pleased about. Please keep reviewing because hearing the comments is usually nice, and always entertaining.

Another warning is that the next chapter might take a little longer than I wanted before its done because all the comps at my school seem to have gone down for the rest of the school year… (Which is about 10 days….)

Anyway I think I have blarbed on enough for now… can't think of much else to put o I will shut up and let you read…

With a massive rush of Speed Harry felt himself flying back, and being pulled out of Snape's mind. He had failed.

Harry came back to his reality with a throbbing in his head, which he rubbed before opening his eyes. To his great disgust the first things he saw and heard were both of Snapeish origin. If Harry could taste the essence of Snape, which he under no willing circumstances would he, it would be slimy and rotten and have an after taste similar to gone off milk. He was sure of that much. Snape laughed, as he savoured delight at Harry's failure.

"Well Potter" he sneered "That was a truly an abysmal attempt. If you could take your abysmalness and sell it you would be a millionaire. I would expect better of such a great, great, wizard as yourself." He said with a repulsive laugh which sounded as if he had a primordial soup bubbling in his throat. "I could almost believe that you haven't practised at all. It has only been a few days." His voice was dripping with mockery and sarcasm

"Yeah just thirty-odd" muttered Harry under his breath.

"What was that?" demanded Snivellus. Harry made some mutterings as Severus leaned over him. I would advise you not to even make offhanded comments like that, because correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm not, but people aren't intended to know about your little alone time. Snape spat with anger. Harry leant back as far away from Snape as he could without having to move his legs.

Harry suddenly realised what Snape has said.

"Hey…" he began to say, before he was hastily cut off by Remus.

"Oh right yes Harry you see it just came up while we were waiting for you to come along. I kind of said about it since he is in the order and everything and I thought it would be unfair for you to get shouted at for not having practiced when you weren't able." Remus said as he flashed a warning glance in Snape's direction.

"At least I wasn't the one who left a massive great hole in your wall. You call that mental defence." Harry grinned as Snape's lip curled slightly and his eyes widended.

"I did that on purpose… See if you could find it…" Snape said defensively s he tried to make it seem believable. He flicked a strand of hair out of his face in what would be a princely manner, if it weren't for the fact that Snape was filthy and hideous.

"Right Potter." He drawled as he pivoted back to his original position where he wasn't so close that Harry could not only smell Snape's breath, but actually make out what colour it was. "As that last attempt was so awful let's try again shall we?" It wasn't a question and they both knew it. Harry emptied his mind of the fact Snape knew about the time freeze, and instead focused at the task at hand, at the task of invading the most sadistic mind to grace the earth in the history of man. Harry raised his wand level with the teachers head once more.

"Ligilimens!" He growled and once again he was rushing into the professor's mind bending mental-maze.

Harry looked around him and fond himself with the usual path going either left or right. Straight away, without wasting time on excessive consideration, he shut off his mind of simple matters and focused solely on his running. No reality meant no rules. Speed was just a word used to describe the movement from one place to another. With a bump, as though something had thumped into his front, he felt himself rapidly accelerating as he reached a full running speed, and began darting along the passageways through the puzzling place.

His arm waved in the air behind him as he pounded along the floor, charging forward, he saw a turning up ahead so with one massive jump he launched himself into the air, as he came back down he slammed one foot hard against the floor, and sprang off down the turning, without slowing down at all. He sped along, past turning after turning, dismissing them because they looked too easy and didn't have the right feel. Nothing concerning penetrating Snape's mind would be easy. However Harry had started to pick up a feeling about which path to take. It was difficult to define it through any normal earthly senses, but if he could hear through his skin, that is what it would be.

There was like a silent whispering which spoke to his body. It didn't tell him exactly which turning to take. It just kind of felt like a hinting. Further up. You're getting closer, it would say as Harry advanced forwards. Suddenly Harry noticed a depressed stone at the base of one wall. It wasn't that all stones caught his attention, in fact if he looked up above him there were several miss matched stones in view, it was just that this one was out of place, and as Harry stared at it he had another tingle in his skin which felt to be urging him to turn. Without  to much thought (he had learned that thinking to much about anything actually made matters worse)he sped through into an adjacent passageway. This one was wider but even more gloomy, than the others, whish was either a good sign or a bad sign. Change was good, or at least that's the opinion Harry adopted.

After he had travelled a few metres, he felt what he had been hoping not to feel. The strange backwards wind started tugging at his back again becoming more and more insistent as each second passed. Harry pushed forwards more insistently as he tried to find the end of his search. He knew that either he had to do it quickly, or else find a way of resisting Snape's mental expelling. As the horizontal gravity became more insistent on dragging him back the way he had come, it became apparent he would have to try the latter. Harry took one final turn before he found himself beginning to slip on the floor. However, as he continued to advance, he suddenly he felt himself sinking into the ground. He looked down and found himself standing knee deep in sludgy bubbling bog.

He rolled his eyes. That was just what he needed, Snape adding in traps as well. He smiled at the irony of falling into a none existent trap and sinking into it when he was really stood still in a room doing nothing at all resembling running or standing in quicksand. Out of all the areas in Snape's dirty mind, the swampy mixture which he was standing in was probably the cleanest. Then it dawned on him. Not like a bolt of lightning because that suggests a lot of pain and having your skeleton show whilst your hair stands humorously on end. No, this was the much more logical and lazy kind of revelation, such as being given a swift jab in the kidneys by Mr. Idea.

"Oy you son of a…" you turned round to say, only to have your eyes widen in understanding. "Oh… It's like THAT!"

He grasped something that his mind had been trying to show him for awhile now. None of the things he could see, feel hear or do in here were real. The floor wasn't real, the quicksand wasn't real, his body wasn't real, he was just a projected thought in here. So if the swamp wasn't real there is no way he could sink in it, let alone be standing in it. As Harry looked down at the ground, he found to his excitement, that the swamp had disappeared and he was now stood on clean ground, or metaphorically speaking clean ground at least. All that was left from where the swamp was been, was a small stone that seemed to want to turn into liquid, and a banana.

Banana's were a strange fruit that always seemed to turn up at just the wrong time. An example of this is when you go to rob a bank with a trusty old gun. Instead you reach into your pocket and your finger tips clasp round something big and hard. The only problem is this object doesn't go bang when you squeeze it. It goes squelch. They also had a habit of tripping people up, and Harry wondered whether this was also another mental defence meant to make him fall flat on his chin.

Admittedly he had never seen anyone trip on one, but that is because the bright people that tried it always used the skin. It is the inside that is the slippery sod, but then most people didn't want to waste a perfectly good banana on a practical joke. Also you could kill someone with a banana if you knew where to shove it, although this wasn't the sort of thing mothers told to children. Unless of course you lived "down that bit of town what's well dodgy". Anything went there. 

Harry went to move over the item of fruit, except that now he was no longer in the sticky concoction that was the swamp, the pulling force was free to drag him backwards. Harry felt himself on the verge of loosing contact with the ground all together, and knew that in a few short seconds he would loose again, unless he could come up with something. He closed his mind and tried the old logic trick.

"If I'm standing here then it means I'm not really standing here. The path however is also not here, which means it doesn't posses the properties of a normal path. This means it doesn't have a temperature or a texture or a smell." Harry stumbled on the last bit. The path certainly did have a smell.

"Therefore by that logic this path has, no friction?" Harry asked as logic led to the wrong path. Suddenly, at this revelation the path decided to become a lot more slippery. "No no no." He hastily said as he changed his mind. If he worded it carefully then… "If this path was a normal path then there would be friction. However there would be such a thing as maximum friction. At maximum friction I won't slip on the path no matter how hard I'm pulled. A natural path doesn't have that. What it does have however, is a lack of perfect friction." Harry said as his nonsense started to make sense, in some weird twisted way. "But since this isn't a real path it lacks the lack of perfect friction, and must therefore posses lots of friction!" He exclaimed triumphantly as he stopped skidding along the floor on his behind, and put his feet down which made a loud burning rubber sound and he came to stop.

The traps couldn't affect his progress, and neither could the feeling of the invisible bungee chord ripping him backwards. Harry drew himself up and continued with a renewed enthusiasm. As he took a few experimental steps, still keeping part of his mind fixed on how the floor had perfect grip and friction. The tug from behind was there but due to the fact it could no longer pulled him back, it seemed to pull him down a bit, and so instead it felt like he had eaten a large meal and his legs were protesting a bit under the additional weight.

Harry started speeding up again, although he didn't reach his maximum speed, since it seemed That he didn't have the pressing issue of Snape yanking him out, he could afford to go a bit slower and take his time. Of course knowing Snape he was probably chuckling to himself inside whatever part he was hiding. He was probably laughing at Harry, and other things, like when it rains on peoples holidays, or when a kitten gets hit by a bus. Or when you go to a fast food restaurant, and despite specific instructions from you, still fill it with ketchup and relish.

As he made a turn on the left and squeezed through a very thin gap, which wouldn't accommodate someone of a larger mass than himself, the gloom in the corridor thickened into an impenetrable darkness so he could no longer see anything ahead of him. Snape was a gloomy bitter person, and Harry reasoned that therefore he must be nearing the far side of Snape's mental defences. Within seconds of walking he came into contact with something very large solid and cold, and it wasn't Hagrid on a winters day. He has smacked straight into a hard stone wall and squashed his nose painfully against his face.

"Oh for the love of Christ." He yelled out in pain as he fell on the floor and held his nose painfully. He tried to concentrate on the fact that  nothing in here was real and that he hadn't really hit a wall with his nose at all. The funny thing was that it didn't work. It still throbbed painfully. The only difference was that now Harry looked like one of those idiots who walks round talking about mind over matter.

He looked up at the walls that had stretched up in front of him. "A dead end?" he thought to himself as he went to turn round and backtrack to the last turning. However, the problem was that as he went to walk backwards, he found a rather large, rather solid wall blocking his way. He put his hand up to make sure it was really there. It was. As he looked round it quickly became apparent, that at least one of the walls had changed, or rather the space between the two side ones, because he was now completely blocked in.   
  
"Lovely. If things aren't tough enough you can always count on good old Snape to fix it. How am I supposed to get through when the damn walls are moving?" he cursed inwardly, after a moment in consideration as Harry thumped the wall in one last attempt, he gave up. He let his mind wander onto the thought of not being there, and before he knew it he felt a pulling force from straight up. Clearly since he couldn't leave by going through the wall the only way for Snape to get rid of him was blast him right over the top.   
  
It was a very interesting sensation to say the least. It was like doing a wronski feint without the broom, plus your going up instead, he could feel the air in his lungs sinking down a few inches as his body was propelled upwards with amazing velocity. There were a few seconds in between the time Harry found himself in the maze and in the classroom, and during these few seconds he saw everything. As he passed the top of the walls, and they shrunk below him, he looked out ahead, a long way in the distance he could see the walls stretching off, except that some way off past the point where the walls seemed to end he could see a feint blue glow. A glow that no doubt marked the exit. The light seemed to burn itself into his mind for a moment before it disappeared and was faced with the horrible sight of Snape peering down his nose at him.   
  
"My my. You're all show until you get presented with a small problem." Snape said as he tutted falsely. In actual fact Harry's attempt had been rather commendable.   
"Stop acting so high and mighty Severus." Said Remus as he got up from leaning against a desk. "Harry did a good attempt and you know it, so don't be so condescending." He said as he waved a finger and deliberately poked Snape in the eye. Harry stared at Remus. Maybe he had done a good attempt after all. He felt like he had, but then he wasn't sure how fast most people got a hang of Legilimancy.   
  
"Well I suppose by your low standards Potters performance would be something to marvel at. I however am the veteran here. As I myself can survive even the metal offence of the dark Lord, I think I should be a judge of Potters progress, and when I say he did badly, he did badly." Snape said as he blinked furiously before turning his back to hide his eye that had started watering. Remus leant back against the desk nonplussed.   
  
"Well for someone who was doing such a bad job Snape, you certainly seemed to be having a lot of trouble keeping your defences up. Your face looked like were taking a sh-" Remus said slyly before Snape angrily cut him off.   
  
"I was doing a wonderful job! Now Potter again." He demanded. Harry considered not trying, and instead waiting until they started arguing again. However, as Snape scrunched up his face in a manner that did indeed suggest something and shout "Hurry up." Harry concluded it wasn't in his best interests to wait.   
"Legilimens." Harry said with a flick of his wand.

Inside the mind again, Harry looked round. He still couldn't think of a way to avoid the walls that had trapped him, and he had been thinking the whole time. The only thing he could think was to hurry and beat Snape to it. Surely there would be some indication that the walls were about to move, and when Harry learned it he would be able to avoid such a problem as before. He looked around him. This time there was a path in front of him as well as to either side, as there hadn't been one before, and it led furthest away from where he was at the moment and nearer to where he wanted to be.

He stared ahead of him, if the distance between him and where he wanted to be was nothing, then technically it would take no time to walk, or so he reasoned. However, you couldn't walk straight to the other side of the walls, because you might get stuck inside the middle of one, which would cause a lot of trouble. No… if however he could see that there was nothing in the way there didn't seem to be anything stopping him trandescending the space instantaneously, and at the end of the day it was what Harry thought that counts.

As if his mind dictated his physical movement, he moved. Admittedly it did always control his movement, except not in this same sense. The only people who's limbs didn't move according to their brains were Crabbe and Goyle, but then that might be different if they actually had a brain to do the thinking in the first place. With a simple thought of where he wanted to be he managed to instantaneously skip the distance in between the location and where he was currently stood. The only time he stopped was so that he could look down the turnings and decide whether or not to take them.

"Hopefully Snape won't be able to trace me as well." Harry thought as he flashed onwards. The changing of his mental defences must take some time and effort so as long as I don't stay in one place for to long, he shouldn't be able to trap me. It was good in theory but as Harry continued on he found it didn't quite work as he had planned. He came to a junction, to see the turning on his right was closing up, a wall growing out f the ground and stretching up. He saw similar things as he carried on. Clearly his path was being tracked more carefully than he thought.

Increasingly often Harry was having to jump over walls that had started to emerge from in front of him. At one point Harry actually tripped over the top of a wall as it appeared beneath his feet. "Damn." Harry cursed to himself. Unless he either changed his tactic or was very close to the end then he wasn't going to be able to make it. He took a left followed by a forward followed by a path which snaked backwards and forwards several times before opening up again.

As Harry reached the end he saw the wall closing up in front of him. Undoubtedly his exit behind him had been sealed and so Harry did the only thing he could. He jumped. He caught onto the wall just as it rose above his head, and feet dangling, hanging for life, or whatever it was that would get very hurt from falling, he began to pull himself up

It rose quickly and as Harry saw the path below him he realised just how high the walls really were, the answer was much higher than he had hoped, because it did seem that without a ladder there would be no way of getting back down, even if he could get to the end. He looked down on the maze and the paths all twisting and running along next to each other, from up here he could probably jump over some of the thinner gaps, and move between rows. Also it was easier to see where there was a dead end, because some passageways which looked quite good to go down, turned off and then stopped three feet later. Harry began cautiously walking along the bricks. For some reason they didn't feel as solid as they should do, although when your fifty feet in the air on something two foot wide, there are probably very few things which seem solid, other than the ground below.

Harry walked a corner, and saw that if he jumped diagonally then he could probably make it to the other wall, and that seemed to run in the direction he wanted for a long time. However only thinking you can probably do something, and risking your life for it can, be very different things, and if you are sane then they should always be different. What if he fell short? Would he plummet down and land with a bump, none the worse for wear? Or would he plummet into the hard stone floor below him with a lot of sound. First there would be a whistling sound that got lower and lower in pitch until there was a loud splat sound, as his body became either several feet wide, or he sunk a meter into the ground.

Harry hoped for something like a bungee chord or a parachute, something he could use to jump without fearing for his life. He wished he had asked what would happen if he injured himself, but then when your running along a simple maze you don't expect to be making life threatening decisions. He felt his nose, which still ached a bit from bashing into the wall earlier, and he decided that he didn't want to fall after all. Nut as he looked round it was either go off where he didn't want to go, or risk the jump.  After all it was probably no more than two meters. Probably.

He took several steps back to where he had come from, turned round and looked at the gap ahead of him. With the best run up he could manage from the thin wall itself. His legs pounded furiously against the stone and as he reached the corner he carefully angled his foot so that instead of flying straight forwards, he could push off at an angle and go diagonally instead. This plan sort of worked, but at the same time didn't. If Harry were in a film he would no doubt land with his fingertips gripping, and pull himself up with freakish strength that few people without harnesses possess.

NO, instead Harry made the jump, except in a way he made it to well. He hadn't managed to push off as hard as he had hoped, and so he actually didn't fly off at a forty-five degree angle like he had hoped. Instead he flew off at about thirty degrees, and so his jump was longer, and also it meant rather than having a nice corner to land on, he found his feet coming into contact with the thin stone wall where he stumbled forward trying to sow down, and ended up balancing on the very edge, pivoting over the drop.

If a gust of wind came along or a well-timed bird landed on his shoulder he undoubtedly would have fallen. However Severus' mind wasn't nice enough to have birds. No it would probably have bats instead. However Harry didn't see any bats, and the wind didn't come along, yet. He waved his arms in small circles as he tried to will himself up into a balanced position. With one desperate attempt, the kind that you never expect to work but try anyway, Harry's gave a large blow. Slowly, as if it was considering not happening, Harry began to edge back a fraction of inch, to a safe standing position. With lots more frantic puffing and a bit of help from the deranged physics of Snape's mind Harry managed to gain his balance again, and slumped down onto his hands and knees as he got his breath back and gave his heart chance to recover.

Once he had got his breath back, ad his nerves had settled down Harry looked round. All he had to do was walk forwards for a long time and he would be much further on. Hopefully when he got there, there would be some way to get down, because Harry wasn't to keen on the idea of jumping. He set off along the top of the wall, but after taking two steps he suddenly felt his foot slip out from under him as several bricks gave way under his weight. Harry quickly flung himself flat against it and clung on, with his eyes closed, waiting to see if anymore would fall. They didn't but as he listened carefully, it almost seemed as if he could hear a snickering. As if Snape was laughing at him.   
  
Harry stood up and tried to look brave. Maybe it was his imagination, but if Snape could see him then Harry didn't want to be caught looking scared. He looked ahead of him and realised if the whole wall was crumbly, or if Snape could choose to make it crumble at random, then the chance of making it to the end was going to be pretty slim. He gingerly put a foot forwards to test if it was safe. It seemed fairly safe, and so he moved forward.   
"One step down. About one thousand to go." He said to himself as he tried to make it sound simpler than it was.   
  
He could probably have just imagined himself moving from one place to the other as he had on the ground, except that it seemed a bit risky, should he accidentally appear a few feet to one side. Also he didn't get much chance to think about doing this, because a few seconds later a gust of wind started blowing. At first it just seemed like a little gust, the sort that blows along tumble weed in tense situations. However, it quickly became apparent to Harry that this was no ordinary wind, this was mental wind. It quickly picked up speed until within the space of a few moments it was blowing with full gale force. Harry put his legs a bit further apart so he had better balance, because it seemed quite possible that if he wasn't at the height of his awareness.   
  
Eventually it reached such a point that Harry had to lean right forwards just so the wind didn't blow him off the top of the wall.   
"You're not getting rid of me that easily." Harry yelled. If it was Snape making the wind, then it was Snape who could hear him. Harry was quite shocked when he hear Snape's voice reply back to him.   
"Oh really? I think I will." And with that the wind stopped, and Harry suddenly found himself leaning very far over a wall, with no way back. Harry looked down below him, and did a quick sum of how likely he was to land unharmed.   
"Oh bugga!"   
  
Harry felt himself falling down towards the ground. Several thoughts ran through his mind, most f which were not at all helpful in saving him from whatever fate was on the ground. However one though was there. If Harry could manipulate the properties of things and make a swamp disappear, then surely it would be possible to make something as well. He could make himself a parachute. Harry had closed his eyes already; he imagined it would make the whole thing less painful.   
  
With all his concentration he tried to focus on the fact that would allow him to materialize a parachute and break his fall. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to think of something I actually understand, Harry thought later on, because a parachute is certainly not the simplest of items. However as he failed to slow, he learned on important fact. You could take something out of someone's mind, but one thing you couldn't do was put things in. If Snape didn't want a parachute to be there then he wouldn't allow it, and if he didn't want Harry to have a broom stick and simply fly over the whole thing, then that also was out of bounds. Harry, with no parachute, continued to fall

The impact should have hit by now, and it would have, if it hadn't been for the intervention of a mind at work. It wasn't Harry that did it. It was Snape. Harry felt his clothes wiping around him as he fell, except for some reason he just continued to fall. He dared open his eyes after another five seconds of falling, and found to his pleasant surprise that he was not actually falling at all. He was floating about three feet in the air as a strong updraft held him suspended.   
  
Harry wasn't aware it had come from, but he was fairly certain it was Snape who had placed it there, and decided to take it away. Any kind person would have gently lessened the wind until Harry was gently lying on the ground, but Snape wasn't any person. No Snape had a bitter category of his own, away from normal people. Instead he simply stopped it, and Harry slammed down onto the ground. His head thudded painfully on the dirty cobbles and the colours swam in front of his eyes.   
  
For a brief moment all of Harry's thoughts that he had been maintaining in some section of his mind disappeared. He quickly found that with out their perfect friction he relied on the pulling force quickly returned. He gave his head a shake and quickly called back all his thoughts and reasoning which he depended on to advance through the maze Snape had concocted so cunningly. As Harry looked round he noticed that although he had fallen, he had actually fallen onto the side of the wall he wanted to be, for just like the wall next to it, it ran straight down for a long time.   
  
Harry needed to be fast because although long passageways made life easier, it also took him a bit longer to travel along, and where Snape was concerned he only needed a fraction of a second to batter you round the head with the bastard stick. Harry focused as far ahead as he could see, which wasn't all the way, due to the gloom and fog, which seemed to hang about. With a quick flash he advanced down, and looked behind him to see a wall shoot right out of the ground, so close behind him that it brushed against his robes. Harry looked ahead again. He was close. He could almost taste it. It tasted of cabbage.   
  
Harry looked ahead of him, and in the distance, so far that it was possible not to really see it, but just imagine it, the wall stopped, and there was a faint blue glow. Harry put to fingers to his forehead and with a flash he moved to the end of the passage, and to the end of the maze. As he looked round he dared not believe it, he had done it, He had beaten Snape's mental defences and all that stood in front of him was large open space, to an extent. It seemed large, and depending on the context you were talking about, it was large, probably about the size of the great hall.   
  
Some way to his left and right several other passages seemed to lead to the same area he was standing in. A wall on either side, in the far sides of the maze, continued on and curved round so that they formed the large semi circle that Harry was stood in. He looked round for the source of blue light that he had seen twice now, and spotted it almost immediately. His eyes seemed almost magically drawn to it (which they probably were.) and even though he wanted move forwards so that Snape couldn't try some last minute tricks, he remained stood, staring at it.

Admittedly he couldn't pinpoint what was so fascinating about the sight of the wooden door at the far side of the opening. But, as the light poured from the edges of the door, he knew that whatever was behind it would be interesting, very interesting. He took a few steps forward, as he continued staring. He also knew what was behind the door. Every bit of knowledge and every memory that Snape possessed was hidden behind the door. As he managed to tear his eyes away and walk closer he examined the area he was in again. He noticed that the closer to the door the walls got, the darker and grimier they seemed to become. In fact the bricks around the door frame where so old they were actually stone, held together by a muddy mixture.

Harry cautiously reached a hand forward towards the door. He knew that this was the final stage; there was no doubt about it. No one wasted time making a mysterious looking door like this just to put old brooms in, except filch of course, who believed brooms and other cleaning equipment to be a type of religion. The door handle was a plain round one that lacked any form of elegance.   
  
It wasn't shiny and didn't have intricate engravings round the side, all it was, was an old dull looking wood, that seemed like it was in need of several years of polishing before it would be presentable on any kind or real door. Some ivy seemed to have started climbing up the base of the door, and wrapped itself round the door handle, which indicated it was a very long time indeed since anyone had forced their way in.   
  
Harry clasped his hand around it, only to draw it back straight away. He hadn't felt anything like it before, but a painful sensation passed through his body. It was a mixture of fire and lightning, that tingled his body whilst bubbling at his flesh, there was also the subtle aftertaste of biting cold. Harry was just checking that he hadn't actually been hurt in any real way when a plaque appeared on the door. It merged out of the wood, and in the same dull colour as the handle, it became a solid object. Harry watched as black engraved letters started appearing on it.   
"I don't think you should try that again Potter"   
  
Harry looked at the message and sighed to himself. Snape probably thought it was big and impressive, but as Harry had learned from living such an eventful life, if you want something to be impressive it needs to be big and shiny, a bit like Madam Maxines prom dress, which was often confused for a royal marquee. Harry glared at the door calculatingly. There must be a way in, maybe he didn't need to use the door handle.   
  
Harry had to admit the door didn't look that strong, a few well placed blows and it would probably fall of its hinges. Harry took a few large steps backwards, and with one quick calculation at the best place to ram it, he charged forwards. (The last thing he wanted to do was ram the door handle, and end up doing himself a mischief.)   
  
Harry ran forwards and did a jump as his body slammed against the door. He wasn't entirely sure how it happened, because it happened awfully fast, but the door remained firmly stood and Harry found himself being flung several meters back. He groaned as he pulled himself to his feet, and dusted down his robes. As he looked at the door he cursed, he was sure it would work, or at the very least damage it enough so the next attempt would work.   
  
He walked back up to the door to examine it more closely. Perhaps there was something he had missed. However as he looked at the message on the door, it had changed and now it read   
Tut tut. You really thought that would work? Try some manners.   
Harry considered this for a moment, and in the end reached forwards and knocked on the door. He wouldn't have believed it to work if he hadn't seen it happen at Azkaban. However to his surprise again it didn't work. Instead the writing faded and was replaced with a third message.   
No one's home

Harry grinned as he read this.

"Yeah I guessed that when you stared vacantly and started dribbling in lessons." He said allowed. Immediately the text in front of him changed.

_Oh my aren't you funny Potter. You're like a big funny clown. I wish I were as funny s you. I really do. You hero._

Harry read it and smiled to himself. He could image Snape's face, not that he wanted to, but he could, and Snape wasn't laughing. However as he laughed to himself he hadn't been thinking about some of the other important things, such as the fact that he was still in Snape's mind.

Harry should have noticed the walls around him growing closer, but he didn't, not until one sprang up in front of him and blocked him from accessing the door. He spun round immediately, only to find that he was trapped, as before, between four close walls. Still, this time Harry wasn't prepared top give up so easily. Knowing that the door and the goal to it all was just a meter away. Perhaps he could somehow climb higher. If he really concentrated there had to be some way out. Still if there was Hary wasn't about to discover it now, as a plaque, just like the one that was on the door, appeared infront of him. Once again the writing appeared, and it said a message which Harry didn't like the sound of.

_Don't look down_.

Harry probably wouldn't have looked down, but the message saying it was basically forcing him to. It was like pushing the big red button in front of someone and then turning your back. Harry very slowly, lowered his gaze so that he was staring at the space floor below him. He expected to see something horrible, but all he was met by was the floor that was becoming so familiar to him. Its usual old cobbled stones, its thick layer of mental grime, and of course the not so usual dark spot which had appeared in the middle.

Harry stared at it questioningly, almost daring it to do what it was thinking. It began to grow. Now the problem was that Harry was afraid of touching the black spot in the ground, truth be told it could be a very localised black hole, and the last thing Harry wanted was to fall through it and get thrown into the distant future and meet up with a race of monkey people who all mysteriously speak English.

But as the seconds past, Harry soon became aware that he wasn't going to have much of a choice, because when your in a small box, you generally can't run for very long, unless you run like Wilbert Thistle Bottom, the oldest wizard alive who moved so slowly he could walk for four days and only just have walked from his bed to the corner where he kept his slippers. As any wizened wizard knows it is very improper to walk around without slippers.

The black hole hit the sides of the wall, leaving only a small amount in the corners remaining, and that small amount continued to diminish. Just seconds before it became blatantly obvious Harry managed to conclude that in actual fact the black spot that was replacing the ground, was a very distinct lack of ground. Also he knew that the hole was very deep. He could tell this because of how black it was. It was actually so deep that light had yet to reach the bottom and reflect back, and this is why it was so dark.

One second past, then another, and then the floor was gone. Harry looked below him as he floated in mid air for a second, and for a brief moment he actually thought it was some kind of trick, then the gravity kicked in and he started to fall. Harry frantically made to grab the walls, but they were smooth and lacked any ivy or indents which would allow him to obtain a decent grip. Quickly the stone all around him rose up as he sunk down into the dark depths of the black bottomless pit of Snape's mind. Harry's limbs flayed in all directions, hoping to find something to stop himself falling, although at this point he was going far to fast to be able to stop anyway.

Blackness consumed him and gradually the small circle of light above him shrunk and disappeared into a dot that was lost with a blink of an eye. Harry was just about to cry out for help of some kind, when he felt a sensation. The vaguest of tingling that ended as briefly as it had started. In a flash everything around him had gone, or at least the darkness had, because that was all he could see. Harry's eyes were met with familiar and relieving images of the classroom and Snape. In an instant the sudden falling sensation took its toll on him and Harry fell straight to his knees with a painful thud. He rubbed then gingerly as he cursed to himself. He had failed, again.


	43. Cho

In an instant the sudden falling sensation took its toll on him and Harry fell straight to his knees with a painful thud. He rubbed then gingerly as he cursed to himself. He had failed, again.

"You okay?" Remus asked from across the classroom as he walked over to Harry and brushed him down. "You might want to wash your robes. The floor in here is pretty filthy." Remus said as he wiped his hand on the table

"My classroom isn't filthy! I clean it every month." Snape protested angrily as he turned his back on Harry and Remus.

"I failed…" Harry said once Remus had stopped fussing. He hated failing, it left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth that made him feel inadequate at his attempts. Snape didn't help

"Of course you failed, if you had succeeded then you wouldn't be snivelling and I wouldn't be having to teach you."

Remus glared angrily at Snape.

"Stop being so damn critical. I'm sure Harry is doing a good job and just because you think he should be doing better that is no reason to be so rude. I think you owe Harry an apology." He demanded as he waited patiently for Snape to say some sort of apology. Truth be told Harry thought Remus was wasting his time, but that is because he couldn't imagine Snape ever saying sorry to anyone.

"I will only apologise when I wrongfully insult someone, and I have not done that at all. Potter shouldn't be failing. And therefore he is doing badly."

There was a moment of silence as Harry turned to see if Remus was going to say anything. He had found t best to leave other people to argue and then choose the winning side at the end.

"How far did you get Harry?" asked Remus curiously as he started to consider that Snape was being over critical. Harry thought for a moment. It sounded strange to talk about it. Was the mental maze you fought your way through always the same for everyone? Was it even a maze that other people saw?

"Um, well there was a maze." Harry began unsurely. However, Remus gave a big nod and a smile which reassured him.

"Well in the maze lots of things happened. Walls moved and things. But I managed to avoid them for a while. Then I managed to get to the end of the maze and get to a door. I couldn't open it but I tried… I haven't figured out how yet, but I think I would have been able to if I had more time. I got distracted though and I didn't notice that Snape formed walls around me and that's when I lost." Harry finished lamely, unaware of the wide eyed look Remus was giving him.

Several moments of silence passes as Remus continued to stare at Harry, who shifted uneasily. Had he said something wrong? That is what happened so why should Remus be acting all weird over it? Snape decided to busy himself by cleaning his nails. A long and tedious task which would require a weeks work from several determined manicurists.

"What?" Harry finally asked when it became apparent that no one was going to say anything. "Just because I only got that far its no need to treat me like I'm a freak. I might be a bit slow but I'm not dumb you know." He complained indignantly.

"It's not that Harry." Remus said weakly. "It's just that…. Just… That is really good." He said eventually. Harry stopped looking at the ground in embarrassment and looked Remus in the eye. A slow grin was spreading across his face.

"It is?" Harry asked as his lip curled in bewilderment. "But Snape was moaning and…"

"He was lying Harry. To get as far as you did. Its impressive. Exceedingly. I'm astonished you got that far. Severus is renowned for his good mental defences." Remus said as he patted Harry on the back in a congratulatory manner.

"I really did well?" Harry asked as he dared believe he was doing well at something he was constantly being told he was awful at. Remus considered how best to explain the situation.

"Well put it this way Harry." Remus said as he lowered his voice several decibels in a conspiring manner. "The only other person to ever get as far as you have in Snape's mind is Lord Voldemort. Not even his highest Death Eaters got where you did. You couldn't get much further to tell the truth. The door is the last step. Once you have opened that you have access to it all. To all the thoughts and everything. If you were to try it on most people I think you could do it Harry. I think you could crack their mind." Remus said in awe as he tried to imagine what it would be like to possess talent like Harry's.

"Oh stop praising him already." Snape spat angrily. "You don't want him getting big ideas. Besides he doesn't deserve praise. He still falls short of expectations. No matter how well you think he is doing, I know better, and I say he should be doing better than he is. He has fallen short of expectations." He finished of simply. Remus shook his head in disbelief.

"But he has done better than just about anyone else who has ever tried to get into your mind. How can you say he falls short of expectations?" he asked incredulously.

"Because." Snape said coldly. "I have great expectations."

Harry's lesson had finished after that. Harry didn't know what to think. On one hand he was dead chuffed to hear that he was doing well, but on the other hand if he was below expectations then that was a bad thing. He had almost reached his goal tonight. That was one more thing that ran through his mind. Harry was anxious to know what was behind the door. Would it be a vast swirling pool of knowledge like a giant pensieve? Or would it be like a thousand TV screens each displaying a chapter of his life?

As he and Remus had strolled through the corridors Remus had told him that he thought the only reason Snape had insisted they stopped after that particular try was because Harry had gotten too close to beating Snape at his mind games, and that the greasy scum bucket needed some time to think of ways to make it harder for Harry to succeed. That way Snape could maximise the amount of time that he was able to laugh at Harry. He thought the whole idea of what Remus said quite funny and more than just a little bit probable.

When he thought about it he had almost done it that time. Or at least that is what seemed to be the case. Unless the door was literally impassable then there was no reason why Harry would have taken to much longer. What it all boiled down to inside the mind was simple logic, or lack of it. At times it was hard to be sure. He did however agree that Snape wanted to try and make it harder for him next time, and was probably stewing (literally) in his dungeon right now, trying to think up various unpleasant obstacles for Harry to bypass.

After a few minutes discussing the techniques Harry had used in the maze, and several approvals and congratulations on being so inventive from Remus, he told Harry he had some marking to do for one of his third year classes and made his leave back to his office where a large pile of papers, an overactive Tonks and a big mug of milkshake awaited him. Now the only problem left to confront was how to tell Sarah Simpleton she had got no marks again without making her cry, and how to get Tonks to stop drawing on the back of peoples homework.

Left alone in the corridors he wondered what to do. He didn't have any homework or Quidditch training. He had made very sure he didn't have homework these days. He had perfected the art of doing it during the easier lessons, and during lunch, and even though he looked like Hermione at times with a book in one hand and a fork half way to his mouth in the other, it beat getting back after a long wet night of Quidditch and having to write up a potions essay on the importance of the importance potion.

Harry considered going to watch some of the rest of the team training to get a feel of how they would be playing from now on. After all it wasn't like he had played on a tem with most of them before, and he needed to know their style in order to be able to know where they would be and when, so that he wouldn't end up flying into them in his search for the golden snitch.  Also he expected their styles would have altered a but as they learned new tactics and better ways of performing old ones from the professionals. Hopefully they wouldn't try that special move Victor had warned him about that involved throwing a kettle at Harry. It sounded painful. In the end after looking outside and seeing it raining Harry decided against it, and instead stayed inside in the warm.

There was something else that had been niggling at him for a while now, something he had to know. Harry set off to the hospital wing to visit Cho. Despite the fact he had seen her before several times, and each time she was just the same… just as lifeless, he had been thinking, and his subconscious had been thinking whilst he slept, and he finally decided that enough was enough. Unless she was any better this visit then Harry would have to offer Dumbledore a gentle reminder that Cho was still in the hospital wing. After all he was rather busy, and it could have slipped his mind.

Harry silently walked the corridors. Thank you Prefect privileges. He thought as he walked loudly, not worrying about bumping into Filch. When he reached the hospital wing he stood in the doorway and carefully poked his head round the corner. He was ready to pull it back hastily if he needed to. You never knew when a knife wielding maniac was going to hidden around the corner, or worse, madam Pomfrey. His eyes quickly darted round as he scanned for any sign of danger. Eventually it appeared safe, and Harry took a few steps into the room.

Looking down there was a row of beds on either side. Time was getting on and he wasn't sure what hour visitors were generally encouraged to leave. Since Harry was a regular member to the wing as both a visitor and a patient, he felt that perhaps he should be allowed some sort of members discount. He looked at his watch and sighed. Yes. If students weren't allowed out of the common room this late at night then there was a very slim chance that they were allowed into the hospital wing.

He decided to make a bit of noise. He really didn't want to get on the wrong side of Madam Pomfrey, and if it looked like he was trying to sneak in then he felt she would be less inclined to be helpful, and Harry expected she could be very unhelpful when she wanted. Unhelpful in the most painful way possible. She was be a fiery person, when angry. So much so that she could rival Norbert the dragon for striking fear into a person and being able to singe your hair with a blast of her breath.

Snape could also singe your hair with his breath, and make your face contort like a deflated football, but this was for a slightly different reason.

"Can I help you?" asked a voice. Harry jumped as the sharp question took him by surprise. He looked to the side to see madam Pomfrey looking at him with suspicious curiosity. He placed a hand on his chest as he waited for his heart to get out of his throat and settle back in his chest. When he realised where and from whom the question had originated he quickly regained his composure, and turned to answer her.

"Well I was hoping that I could see Cho if that uh... all right with your madam…ness." He asked as he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He looked at her hopefully. There was a certain technique he had learned to employ to some effect. If he tried to make himself small and make his eyes seem big then he generally got what he wanted. Also if he could make little wounded dog sounds that worked like a treat, but not with the more intelligent of teachers. They told him off when he did that. Snape even sent him outside last week for trying. Although Harry actually enjoyed standing out in the corridor. It meant you could breath without having to risk a lung infection.

He knew that she didn't feel that it was proper for people to come traipsing into her nice clean wing to talk to other people that couldn't even hear them, let alone reply. Heck, his shoes might have dirt on… and he might start breathing on people. It was practically begging for a bacterial outbreak. She stared at him with piercing eyes weighing up the pros and cons of giving him permission. If she let him he might start taking liberties and feel that he could come in here at any time of the day. But on the other hand if she said no he would probably kick up a fuss and end up being around for even longer. It really was quite the conundrum.

"Well I don't really have a choice do I?" She asked angrily. She had learned only to well how stubborn he could be, and the answer was as stubborn as a big stubborn idiot dressed in stubborn clothes after having an all you can eat stubborn buffet lunch.

"Nope." Harry said as he flashed her a smile. She muttered under her breath for a moment in which Harry impatiently bounced on the spot.

"Fine. But only for five minutes…and you have to take your shoes off…and don't breathe to much!" She said as she tried to think of all the things he might do wrong.

Harry quickly kicked off his shoes and silently walked up to Cho's bed, slowly looking around him. He had to be careful not to accidentally break something, because he knew she was looking for a reason to chuck him out of the hospital wing for life. There seemed to be only one other person in tonight and they were far down on the opposite side. Harry sighed to himself. The fourth years never seemed to learn the dangers of inflating each others heads to the size of a beach ball. Harry quietly pulled the curtains around her bed and settled into a chair by her side.

He made sure to do some talking to start with. He would hate Madam Pomfrey to possibly think he was doing something else.

"Hello Cho. How are you? Not so good. Don't worry. Couple of aspirin will have you good as new in no time. Me? I'm fine. Dandy. Never Better. Pity about the weather." He said to himself as he talked to the lifeless form of Cho. He looked down at her small pale form and cursed. Why hadn't he taught her better? If Only Harry had been able to summon a stronger Patronus he would have been able to protect her. She wouldn't be going through pain. He wouldn't…

His soul stung to see her like this, A mere shadow of the girl she was meant to be. A limp form of the lively girl he knew. A shell of the bubbly spontaneous person he had liked. But he wasn't sure whether it was because he really liked her, or just because she was a friend. Harry thought he had loved her, and in a way he thought he still did, but it was tough to love someone you haven't spoken to in the last month. Someone who you know is practically dead. What was love? Harry found himself wondering. He knew that there had been feelings he knew. A tingling electric buzz when they kissed…

He knew he was sad that she was in the hospital wing and not out around school with all her friends. But then wouldn't he have the same feeling if it were just a friend lying there instead of her. Would he not feel the same if it was Ron who lay dying on the bed, at the weakness of Harry. He took hold of her hand again and squeezed it, then frowned. He had hoped to find comfort in it, to feel the faint pulse on her wrist, but what he felt instead caused fear to wash over him. Her hand felt even colder than before. e frowned. Cold wasn't be a good sign, but even colder must be much worse. She was worsening. She was dying. He squeezed her hand again and whispered

"Come on Cho. Come back. Come back to me."

He sighed. He knew that him sitting here wasn't going to make a damn bit of difference, but he also felt that there must be something he could do, there had to be. It certainly didn't feel right to just sit around. No Harry could think of one thing he could do. If he couldn't heal her himself then he was just going to have to make sure those that could would. He let go of her hand and came to a decision. He would do something. She was defiantly worse than she had been, and he couldn't risk her getting much worse. It wasn't actually possible to get much worse…

He would go confront Dumbledore. That was the only thing Harry could think of to do. Harry knew that Dumbeldore couldn't help her himself. If he could have he would, there was no doubt in Harry's mind over that. But Dumbledore must know something or someone which could help. The headmaster always knew exactly what to do. Harry nodded to himself surely.

"Don't you worry Cho. I'm going to speak to Dumbledore. We will get everything sorted out. You will be up and about as quick as you can say Quidditch." He said to her. There was a long silence which followed before Harry added. "Actually…quicker than that." With that he stood up and left, walking with a purpose.

As Harry was about to leave the Hospital wing madam Pomfrey scurried over to him with very small and very fast steps. They were probably more hygienic. Without a word she thrust his battered trainers towards him, before disappearing off down into the shadowy end. Harry looked at them briefly for a moment… She seemed to have cleaned them? And what was that smell? A fragrant combination of pine and jasmine? He shook his head in disbelief before slipping them on. At least misses Weasley would be happy about the shoes… Even if the Quidditch team would laugh and call him a big ladies boy.

Harry walked quickly, and relatively quietly considering the way that the corridors had a habit of picking up the tiniest noise and making it into a roar. They could make a mouse sneeze sound like the horn of a freight train in a tunnel, if they were that way inclined, though this evening it seemed that they were erring towards quieting things down a little. Also his shoes, now lacking the cushioning dirt seemed to squeak with every step. There was always some sod with squeaky shoes that walked when everyone else had stopped walking. Harry sighed. For the next few weeks it would be him by the looks of it.

After walking for a surprisingly short amount of time he reached the gargoyle that both marked and concealed the entrance to the professors office. Must be because my feet are clean… he thought as he looked at the gargoyle expectantly. Up until now it hadn't asked for a password from him. It had just moved. However today it looked a little slow off the mark.

"Move!" Harry commanded as he pointed to his left, commanding it like a dog.

The gargoyle grinned as it bowed to him then leapt aside in its customary manner.

"Don't take so long in future." Harry sad to it as he starter up the stairs. Normally the Gargoyle moved when it saw that Harry was coming, but having to wait… what was the world coming to? When he reached the top he took a breath and rapped on the door. Dumbledore wasn't expecting him and Harry hoped he wasn't knocking at an inconvenient hour. Of course Dumbledore did always seem to know when Harry was about to arrive, and so he was probably ready sitting behind his desk looking thoughtful.

He stood for a minute and waited. There was no reply, which was strange. Dumbledore was rarely out. In fact all the time Harry had been at Hogwarts Dumbledore had always been in his office when Harry had arrived. He extended his hand and knocked again, this time slightly louder this time. He looked at the floor whilst waiting. He didn't want to be like the sort of rude person that keeps knocking. Maybe Dumbledore was asleep. Harry had to admit that he was getting on a bit and old people did often seem to be in the habit of going to sleep after dinner at three in the afternoon, and then sleeping in a chair until two in the morning, at which point they would fumble around complaining about how they couldn't sleep.

He tapped his foot impatiently. He wished he had his marauders map on him. That way if Dumbledore wasn't in he would know about it. Harry was about to knock for a third time, but as his hand was about to come down upon the door he hesitated, if he listened very carefully, and didn't breath, then he could hear something coming from inside. It sounded a bit like music, although Harry couldn't imagine why music would be playing. He strained his ears as he moved his head so it was pressed up against the door. Yes… there was definetly music coming from inside the office. Was it possible Dumbledore was having some sort of important dinner party? Probably not, because if that were the case then Would Remus not have been invited… Maybe Remus had been invited and he had lied to Harry, although that probably wasn't the case.

He very carefully decided to push open the door. You had to be careful with an expensive door. A clumsy person would have p[pushed it to hard causing it to come of the hinges and break various valuable and fragile items in a sad yet humorous fashion. With a loud creak that was lost in the song that met his ears it had swung open and he was presented with something rather horrifying. Horrifying in the sense that he thought it would never happen. It was the kind of thing that you had long ago dismissed as a wild dream, much like Father Christmas. But this… if something like this could happen maybe these truly were the darkest hours of man. Here there be demons!

The office was brightly lit in its usual manner, with a vast array of magical objects in glass cabinets decorating the walls. As Harry looked up the pictures of the previous headmasters however this is where the first irregularity struck. Rather than dozing in their frames, or pretending to doze and actually listening into what was being said, they were all looking down excitedly, and several of them were bouncing around, often bumping into the wizard besides themselves.

Harry slowly and unsurely followed their gaze, and at last found what was perhaps the strangest of things he had seen in his life, since of course an enormous hairy bloke knocked down his door and a flying car awoke him in the night. Dumbledore's desk had been pushed back, along with the chairs so that there was a large space in the centre of the room. Dumbledore was standing in this space, although standing was a rather strained use of this word. In timing he was moving his hand from his hip, to diagonally above him, whilst making smooth stepping motions.

"Well, You can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man: No time to talk!" He sung extravagantly as Harry just stood and looked on.

A few more moments past in which Harry considered his option. Number one was to simply try and sneak away. That was good. If he got caught trying to sneak away he could go straight into plan B, and run away. Both seemed good, although neither of them got answers to the questions he had come to ask. Cho couldn't just be ignored. The third option, was to simply make his presence known, and possibly embarrass Dumbledore, although some compliments about how well the dancing was going would probably smooth the whole situation over a bit.

Of course he could always try and sneak back down the stairs and then stomp up them very loudly. So loudly that there was absolutely no way he could not be heard. "Yawn. I can't wait to speak to Dumbledore." Harry would say to himself on his way up. "I hope he can answer the questions that I will ask him when I am in his office, which will be in a moment after I knock on his door… Hopefully he will be in and not out, or dancing!"

Dumbledore was to clever for that though. He would probably notice Harry, and then Things would go down hill form there. Yep, the only option was just to go for a well placed and traditional cough. Harry quickly took one step back to the door so that hopefully it wouldn't look like he ha just witnessed the hole chorus and second verse. He raised his hand to his mouth and gave and cleared his throat, whilst looking on the opposite direction, that way He could actually pretend he had just been fascinated  by the fat headmaster painting who was laughing his head off at Dumbledore.

"Hem Hem."

The music seemed to jump for a minute, before slowing down and decreasing in pitch like a tape player running out of batteries, before finally ending up on a low continuous "Wooooomaaaaan'sssssss Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…"  Dumbledore froze in mid step so he had his hand extended, pointed up towards the sky whilst one leg remained raised. The music finally faded into nothing and Dumbledore's eye slowly swivelled sideways in their socket until they focused on Harry who was still looking determinedly away. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead, before he quickly spun to face Harry and shoved his arms behind his back inconspicuously."

All the paintings instantly resumed their usual positions of pretending to be asleep, most of them doing it with great success, except for the fat wizard who was quit obviously just laughing with his eyes closed. Harry didn't dare close his eyes in case he started thinking about dancing. It could prove rather fatal if he started laughing at this moment. Dumbledore gave several long and chesty coughs that he hoped would possibly disguise the song. Although it had already finished he had found that when he lied, children became quite accepting of his ideas. It was practically magic.

In a flash much faster than most people could see, Dumbledore had dashed across the other side of the room and was pulling his desk back to where it had originally been.

"Hello." He said as he strained at moving the desks weight without getting his wand. "How are you… this fine…fine evening?" He panted as he tried to get his breath back. "I was just doing some exercise. Not dancing. Stretching! I find that after several hours of sitting down its good to have a stretch. It gets the blood flowing and helps improve your ability to think." He said as he tried to deny the blatant act of seventies disco dancing he had been caught doing.

"But I saw…" Happy began to say as he pointed to where Dumbledore had been sitting.

"What did you see?" Dumbledore asked as his eyes flashed up from his desk which he was trying to position on the dented carpet spots where it always sat. His voice suggested that Harry had seen nothing at all.

"I saw nothing at all." Harry said after several moments of intense thinking.

"Oh… well that's a pity. Anyway what was it you came to see me about?" He asked as he slid a chair over to where it normally was, and gestured for Harry to sit down. He quickly dashed back round the other side whilst sinking down into his own chair and pushing the shoes with the four inch heels out of sight.

Dumbledore looked at Harry expectantly, as he gave his wand a quick flick and the disco ball above them disappeared. Harry met his gaze directly and gave him the answer, which hopefully would me met with lots of answers.

"Well I wanted to speak to you about Cho, Sir. If that's alright with you." He said as he tried to avoid sounding pushy. Harry saw something in Dumbledore's eyes when he heard this, he wasn't sure what, but it may have been close to dismay, or perhaps it was a level of thought so intense Harry had yet to comprehend the physics of it. Dismay wasn't an emotion he imagined Dumbledore to be familiar with, and so the

answer was probably the latter. Harry decided to plunge on.

"She's getting worse, much worse. I know that and I know you know it too." He stopped to gauge the headmasters reaction. He wasn't sure what he was hoping for but as he saw a flicker in Dumbledore's eyes his heart gave a jump. A flicker of hope was all that was needed. But then again maybe it was merely a flash of worry mixed with a shifty blink. You couldn't be sure these days, so he took a breath and plunged on.

"I just went to see her. It wasn't good sir. She's slipping further isn't she? She's slipping further away from where she is meant to be. I need to know how long we have sir. Is it just a matter of days or will she be too far gone to save in a few weeks. Or do we have longer? Months maybe." He asked desperately as the corners of his eyes began to sting in anger at the thought of Cho dying and not doing anything about it.

"We need to save her. I know it. She won't get better on her own. If she was going to do that then she would have done it by now. She can't come back by herself can she? At least not anymore. I don't know as much as you do sir, but her soul needs our help. It's just that she looks paler, and she is definitely colder than she was. If there is anything we can do… anything I can do, then we must. Theirs is something we can do isn't there? I can't believe there is nothing." Harry stopped for a moment as he considered if there was anything else to add. He looked at Dumbledore as he got his breath back.

Dumbledore looked at him gravely, and gave a sigh of defeat. He wouldn't lie to Harry. At least not unless his self respect was on the line.

"Yes Harry I am afraid that her soul is slipping further away from us. It is passing into the beyond world, and it may be too late to save her, should we not act in time. And that time is short, I fear to say." Dumbledore said frankly as he didn't take his eyes off Harry. You had to have respect for a boy his age who was dealing with problems like him. Having your life threatened was one thing. At the end of the day if your dead you probably won't care. If however its your loved ones on the line, then it's a much worse situation.

Harry who was growing impatient, cut in.

"But there is a way to help her isn't there? You said something about saving her before didn't you, why haven't we tried it yet? We can do it can't we?" he demanded as he thumped his fist down on the desk in an act demanding speed rather than stating anger. Dumbledore looked at Harry as if he was debating whether or not her should tell him something. Harry picked up on this. "Tell me." He said as he stared at Dumbledore, unblinkingly. He wasn't weak, and if there was no way to help then he would like to know, and if there was, then he could try and do it.

Dumbledore nodded and gave a small sign as he recognised Harry's strength. "Very well. I know that the truth will be the best option, and I know that even if it is bad, which it is, that you will be able to manage with it." Harry eyes widened as he jumped to an assumption over what had been said.

"You mean we can't help her?" He asked weakly.

"No Harry. That is not what I meant. It is possible for her to be returned to her body, should she get the right help. The only problem is that the help in question is very dangerous, and I would only care to use it as a last resort. There are a few other ways I have in mind, although I cant say they are likely to work. I would like to say they probably would but it is unfair to give you false hope."

"What are the ways that you can help her?" Harry demanded as he stood up for a second, as if ready to march off and get started this very second. After Dumbledore said nothing Harry sat back down.

"Well Harry I have three methods in mind. Two of them are simple potions. I say simple but they are far more advanced than most people can make or even know of. The reason I call them simple is because in comparison to the third method they are but child's play. I will come back to that in a minute. Now what the potions do is they are both an incentive as such, to draw any loose spirits towards it. By getting Cho to drink it her spirit will with any luck return and then it will seal itself inside the vessel."

Harry nodded and smiled a little. It all sounded simple enough. A quick bit of potion brewing… glug glug down the hatch and then wait a few minutes for lots of lovely souls to come along. Find the right one and shove it in Cho. Bung a cork in the top and hey presto. Couldn't be easier. Right? Dumbledore seemed to disagree as he displayed a rather glum look. Harry had to ask, although he knew he would be wrong.

"It's not that simple is it?"

"No!"

"However, if her soul is to far gone into the after world, then the potions will not overpower the natural force that is pulling her spirit away. Therefore what we need is to force it, and to do this we will need a very special kind of person. We will need an Exorcist." Harry gave a highly appropriate gasp in this very well placed pause. He didn't mention that he didn't know what an Exorcist was, but he gave a look which said "pardon me old chap but I'm a bit miffed as to just what your on about!" Dumbledore managed to pick up this like an expert, but then he was a teacher, and they got this look dozens of times a day.

"An Exorcist Harry, is someone who deals in an old kind of magic rarely used today. It is magic of the spirits and souls. Usually they only remove unpleasant ghosts these days, but there is a kind of magic they can use to draw spirits from anywhere but the netherworld itself. It is with an Exorcist that I hope we will be able to save the life of miss Chang. After all, she has somewhat become a beacon of hope to the students. If she can battle death so valiantly then it gives them the will to not hide in fear from Voldemort, but to live life as normal and train to the best of their ability." Dumbledore said as he looked a few feet above Harry, as though recalling something wonderful

"So why can't we get one of these now?" Harry asked as he ran it through his head. Again simple. Abracadabra, loads of souls come along… pretty similar to the potions, except super powered.

"Well…" Dumbledore began as he peered over the top of his half moon spectacles. "If I said that there isn't a single Exorcist in all of the United Kingdom would that mean anything to you?"

"Business isn't good?" Harry ventured. Dumbledore shook his head. "They don't make ghosts like they used to?" he tried again. Dumbledore shook his head.

"No Harry. It means that over the time people have forgotten about them or managed without them, and now there are only a few left in the entire world, none of which are very capable."

"So we can't get one of them to help?" Harry asked sulkily. What was the point in telling you about a way to rescue Cho, and then saying it wasn't possible? That was just the kind of meanness that had been perfected by scratch card you get in the post, which claim you have won a brand new card, and after spending twenty pounds on a phone bill you find yourself as the proud owner of a packet of seeds or some new sunglasses.

"No Harry… That's not entirely true." Dumbledore said with the faintest of smiles. "But as I said it is very dangerous. I think it's time to explain why its so dangerous, and why I would rather avoid it unless absolutely necessary."

"Is it dangerous to Cho then? To have an Exorcist try and return her soul? They wouldn't hurt her would they? They wouldn't make her break?" Harry asked as he shifted in his seat and sat excitedly with his elbows on the desk.

Harry knew what had to be done now, and that was a great help. Or at least it seemed like it.

"No Harry. The magic that an Exorcist performs, whilst being difficult is not at all dangerous actually. Unless you're an unwanted ghost of course. No, this is dangerous because in order to contact the Exorcist I have in mind, you will undoubtedly go through many highly dangerous situations." (the kind of danger that involves big men with pointy sticks and small rooms and hot pokers)

"Can't you do it. It would be safe for you wouldn't it?" Harry asked as he looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"No Harry, I'm afraid I can't. Although I will not bore you with detail at this moment. I shall simply tell you the facts. Cho is worsening, and we are working on the potions which I hope will help her recover and return to healthy status. If however they don't work, then I shall tell you more about it at the time. This time should be shortly, since the potions are almost nearing completion." Dumbledore said as he pulled over to himself a bit of paper and wrote something down, before quickly looking back up at Harry.

"I can say also that if we need to resort to the recruitment of an Exorcist, that we will not be able to act straight away. We will need to wait until a certain time, and I'm afraid it is cutting it very closely indeed. You see Harry, the Exorcist that I have in mind we will not be able to contact until December the twenty sixth. Cho however, I estimate will pass away into the netherworld at some point around January the first." he spoke solemnly. Harry stayed quite for a few moments. There was a lot of information to process, and to be truthful it wasn't what he had been hoping to hear.

"Sir. I understand that the potions may work. And I also understand that these days Exorcists aren't very reliable. The thing that I can't figure out though, is what is different about the Exorcist you have in mind, and why can't we speak to him before Boxing Day?" he asked as he racked his brains for a possibility. Dumbledore raised his hands together so the tips of his fingers were touching his chin. A small smile passed over his face, although it didn't seem at all happy.

"Harry, I think it is time I tell you about the Veil of Darkness."


	44. The Veil of Darkness

"Harry, I think it is time I tell you about the Veil of Darkness."

A few moments of silence past as they stared at each other. Eventually Harry spoke.

"Pardon?"

"The Veil of Darkness, Harry. I was going to tell you about it. About what it is." Dumbledore said slightly patronisingly. Harry ran the name through his head… for some reason it seemed slightly familiar with him… it wasn't his name Harry Veil of Darkness…. It wasn't his address… 4 Privet Drive Veil of Darkness Surrey. Then like the kind of exhausted occurrence that causes a slow grin at first followed by a stupid tone, Harry remembered.

"Wasn't the Veil of Darkness that thing at the Ministry?" he asked slyly, like a naughty school boy who finally found out what was in the girls toilets.

"Yes and No." Dumbledore said as he smiled at Harry's memory. "You see it's quite confusing and so you should listen carefully. The actually truth is there are two Veil of darkness' although they are quite different things. There is the one you know about that is in the ministry. More commonly known as the Arc of Spirits. There is also another, which is the correct Veil of Darkness. I shall explain the origins of the names if you like, since I expect you're getting somewhat Confused." Dumbledore said as he saw Harry's face contort slightly as he tried to comprehend it all. Two Veil of Darkness'? "I know I am and I'm one of the few people to really understand both of them."

"Now lets begin with what I believe to be the start." Dumbledore said as he rubbed his ear thoughtfully. "There are three worlds Harry. The first which you obviously know, is the one we are living in, earth. The second, which you learned of last year, is the Netherworld, which is where the spirits of the dead reside. Now this is known as the Arc of Spirits, amongst other names, but the reason why it is often referred to as the Veil of Darkness, is because of its shimmering black appearance." He explained as he gave a pause for Harry to show he was following. He nodded and Dumbledore continued.

"Also before the other portal to the real Veil of Darkness became public knowledge, that is to say the knowledge of the ministry, all they had was ancient scriptures mentioning another world and the portal between. The scriptures called it the Veil of Darkness, and naturally, it seemed to make perfect sense that this was The Arc of Spirits, when in fact it is not. Now onto the real Veil of Darkness. It's difficult for me to describe it to you Harry, or why it exists, but the few people who know about it and its history seem to believe that it is where magic came from, thousands of years ago. It is a world of both sense and madness. If you could imagine this other realm to have all the things we have, but at the same time have them in a different quantity and understanding, then perhaps you would start to imagine what it is like."

"Now the Veil of Darkness, unlike the Arc of Spirits, doesn't seem like it was ever intended to exist, and so the connection between our world and it is very weak. In fact it is only strong enough to open every so often. The time it stays open for and the amount of time before it next appears varies. However, after extensive research, a few years ago I managed to discover that it is controlled by the planetary shifts, and the gravitational pull from when they are all perfectly misaligned. You may wonder why I am the person who discovered this, and I at no point would like to claim it is because of my intelligence. It is merely because the Ministry and most of the people who find out about it dismiss it as unimportant, after all why should they care? It is only open for a few weeks every century. Although not all at once."

"I myself have had to pleasure of spending a few years in the Veil of Darkness, many years back now. Longer than it seems. Before I became a teacher hear at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said as he cast his mind back surprisingly well. Harry could practically picture himself in the situation, but then perhaps that is what Dumbledore had intended, and as any student knows. When he intends something it damn well happens!

"So this Veil of Darkness." Harry asked as Dumbledore seemed to have finished talking. "You said that it is a little like our world on the other side. Are there Muggles and Wizards?" At this Dumbledore seemed to snap out of his reverie and cast an almost angry look at his desk.

"Yes, there are Muggles and Wizards. However, they do not live like they do in our world?" he spat sourly.

"So they live together?" Harry asked as he tried to imagine it. It had always been a thought of his. What would happen if the muggle world found out about magic.

"Yes!" Dumbledore said, but not in a tone that suggested it was a good thing. They do live together, but not in a sense that we would hope for. You see, as far as I know, The Wizards and the Muggles are in conflict. They were last time I went and from what I learned, they had been for the last several hundred years, I expect little has changed in the time since."

"Oh" Harry said as he tried to imagine a world of angry Dursley's. If people were like that then it was very possible for then to be at war. "But Sir, couldn't the wizards… well… do some spells and make the muggles get along with them?" he asked hopefully. Dumbledore however replied with a frown and shook his head. "No Harry. They tried that. They tried many things, and forcing the muggles is what they seem to favour. However the fact of the matter is that the magical population had been diminished somewhat from its original majority, due to persecution in the early ages. Now they are vastly outnumbered and even with Magic they cannot over power them all. It is a constant struggle which no side wins, and even if they did, there are no prizes at the end."

"this is one of the reasons it is so dangerous in the other world. Any wizard who steps foot is either forced out of the main country and into a nation of islands far out at sea, or else they live in secrecy and tight groups for self defence." Dumbledore said as his eyes had narrowed and his vice had become bitter. Harry could tell that Dumbledore wasn't the keenest fan of this other realm.

"You said something about the Exorcist. They are from behind the veil?" Asked Harry as he tried to remember that he was there to talk about Cho.

"Yes Harry. The Exorcist I have in mind lives in other land. I met them when I last stayed there some years ago, and we became friends of sorts. There is no communication between us and them except them the portal opens, so I'm afraid what I tell you isn't' the latest news, and the Exorcist might not even be alive still, for death does seem to be rather unfortunately common I found."

"So we need to get them to help Cho. That shouldn't be to difficult. We just don't walk round shouting "hey everyone look I'm a wizard. Watch me turn you into a frog and shoot lightning form my finger tips!" It shouldn't be tough should it?" Harry said as he leaned back in the chair with his arms behind his head.

"No Harry. It's not to difficult. And that is why, should we have to, we will. We shall travel beyond the Veil of Darkness and into the other world."

"Sir. Does this other land inside the Veil of Dankness have a name?

"Yes Harry. It is called Pharaphax

He ran it over in his mind. At least it wasn't called something like the lovely safe land of puffy clouds and gentle breezes. With a name like that you knew it would be a hellish torrent of storms and sharp teeth being rammed into you in by an assortment of monsters, each one more grotesque than the last. No. Pharaphax sounded fair enough. You could trust a name like that because the x made it sound evil. It was the subtle art of misnaming. Maybe whoever came up with names had a warped sense of humour, but for whatever reasons people always assumed the Bunnyfluffer was a pleasant creature. Until they met one and felt its teeth sink several inches into their head and start to extract their brains.

They usually didn't get to dwell on their mistake for long.

Harry considered the possibilities of saving Cho. Any half decent person didn't have a choice, and Harry liked to think of himself as a caring person. He would risk going into the Veil of Darkness if it meant saving the life of Cho. Besides, girls liked having their lives saved, or so it seemed. Maybe afterwards she would smother him with kisses and give him gifts of gold, frankincense and mer. Or at least it was something along those lines. Harry wanted to ask exactly what this mission into Pharaphax would contain, should it ever take place but as he went to speak something happened that stopped him.

"What exac…" he began before Dumbledore suddenly spoke

"Yes I think that is enough information for tonight. I wouldn't want to swap you down with any unnecessary details at the time." Harry glared at Dumbledore for a minute. Normally the headmaster exuded manners enough to please the queen and earn him a royal breakfast with extra bacon. Interrupting was only used by Dumbledore as a means of ending a conversation, or so Harry had come to conclude.

"But…" Harry began again as he just wanted to ask one of the few questions. Once again a quick sentence started from Dumbledore, without showing any sign of annoyance.

"I'm sure your very tired so you an be going off to bed now Harry. I wouldn't want to keep you, with school early tomorrow morning it would just be irresponsible of me." Dumbledore said with a smile as his eyes stayed fixed on Harry.

"I…" Harry tried one last time. He knew he wasn't going to have a goodnights sleep with so many questions still fresh in his mind.

"VERY tired…" Dumbledore said loudly and clearly as he gave Harry a look which caused him to stand up from his seat. He knew he couldn't win.

"Goodnight Sir." Harry said as he turned his back and stepped out of the office, and onto the cool stairs. Harry hadn't noticed, but the office had been very warmly lit with the grand fireplace it held, and since he had gone in the night coldness had crept over the rest of the castle. He gave an involuntary shudder as a slight ruffle of wind seemed to travel past him. Goosebumps arose on his back and arms as he pulled his sleeves over his hands to keep them warm, and crossed his arms in an attempt to encourage the warmth to stay within him. It was a five minute walk back to the common room, or a three minute walk if you knew what you were doing. It wasn't long and so Harry set off down the cold steps and on his way with a simple sigh and a cloud of cold breath.

At the bottom of the stairs he paused a moment trying to calculate which of the two shortcuts he had in mind would be the most beneficial. The one way was slightly longer but didn't involve him going past that group of girls who always seemed to hover around outside the bathroom and throw shoes at you when you approach. Ashe glanced he suddenly felt something behind him. Something painful. He jumped with a small yelp as he spun round to find out what it was. He found his nose pressed up against the gargoyle. He took a few steps back for safety, and then looked up slowly to find himself staring into the grinning visage of the large statue. Realising what had happened he glowered up at the carving.

" Oh yeah real funny. If I had been stood just a few centimetres…" he scholded as he measured out a small amount between his thumb and fore finger to emphasise his point. "A FEW CENTIMETERS further back you would have turned got me in the nasties, and let me tell you this. Your lucky you didn't because if you did you would be getting a complaint off me you know!" He said as he wagged a finger at it. It remained motionless as it grinned stupidly. "I know you're listening to me!" He shouted as he stabbed a finger at its head, which did nothing ton alter the statues position. "You think its funny to hurt people do you? You're a member of the Hogwarts staff and you have a job to do." Just to get his point across he kicked it sharply in what he thought were its equivalent of its ungodlies. There were a few things that didn't change no matter what you were. Human, Vampire Goblin or Troll. All of them considered it a cheap shot, or at least they did when it was used against them.

There was silence for a few moments in which The Gargoyle's grin slowly faded off its face to be replaced with one of extreme pain. It slowly sunk down, like a man made of clay giving into gravity. It clutched at its private area as Harry watched it.

"That's what you get for messing about." Harry said as he took on a sympathetic tone. He was a male and knew how unfair he had been. If there had been a book of fairness (there was but it was the kind of unspoken book that is known from birth by every male) then it would never say "a jab in the bum = a kanker to the wan..."

"You don't have to be so rough. I was only having fun." The Gargoyle said as it finally managed to straighten itself up and wipe away the tears that had begun forming in its eyes. Harry sighed and took a seat by it, on the edge of an ornamental water fountain.

"As I said. You work for Hogwarts. And not only that but you guard Dumbledore's office. What could be a more respected job than that? You should be happy that you have such a good job. Form what I know a lot of Gargoyles are being forced to do manual labour these days for low pay aren't they?" He asked as he patted the Gargoyle on its knee gently. It winced slightly as Harry hand approached the lower half of its body, before relaxing, but keeping up its guard and eyeing his hand wearily.

"Yeah. I guess so. My brother got fired form his job. Used to guard a shop but nowadays magic is doing everything isn't it." He said as he rolled his eyes in anger.

"I know… Life can't be easy can it?" Harry asked as he gave it a rub on the back. He hadn't intended to learn all about Gargoyles but when Hermione was lecturing all about them for three hours whilst Harry slaved away over a potions essay, he couldn't help but pick up on a few facts.

"Now he works in a mine overseas… Doesn't get much money a day and he says it takes a whole hour of scrubbing to get the soot off. Our mum was dead upset when she found out. Told him to try out for Hogwarts like I did. With You-Know-Who about there would be a bit more work round this place you see. Only problem is he doesn't have a very good edumacation like me's."

Harry nodded. He didn't care to point out that by any students standards the Gargoyle was very thick. It looked to be in a delicate state as it was and Harry didn't want to upset it anymore. (Also there was the fact that it generally wasn't wise to insult something which could squash your head in its fist like a ripe tomato.)

"What's your name?" Harry asked as the Gargoyle sat down besides Harry, on the big concrete stand it usually perched on.

"I don't want to say." It said as it suddenly looked a trifle worried. You will tell people and they will laugh. Us Gargoyles get very upset when people laugh at us. We used to just be able to jump on them and then they never laughed after that, but the ministry says we aren't allowed to do that any more."

"I won't laugh. And I won't tell anyone else." Harry said soothingly. Truthfully he wouldn't want to tell anyone else. People generally enjoyed discussing the parts of his life where he almost died, although Harry had to say he hadn't enjoyed them much.

"It's Norman." He wailed as he hung his head in shame. "Go on laugh. I know you want to."

"Why would I laugh at that? Norman is a nice name." Harry lied.

"But it isn't' a proper name. Us Gargoyles are meant to be called things like Colossus the Crushed or Avalanche the Angry. Not Norman. Its stupid name me mum gave me. She said it would make me sound intelligent."

"Well it must have worked if you got employed at Hogwarts over everyone else." Harry said praising as he nodded his head vigorously. Stupid things generally followed movement better than words. They could see movement and unlike words, if you didn't like where it was going you could always hit it.

"Yeah. Perhaps. I never really thought of it like that." The Gargoyle said brightly as it picked at one its sausage sized teeth.

"I'm sure its very nice working for Dumbledore isn't it. You don't have to go out in the rain or anything."

"Yeah. I suppose it is nice like that. I don't like the rain. It's dangerous or us Gargoyles you know. If we go out in heavy rain we end up sinking in the mud. A lot of us go that way…" Normal said darkly.

"You mean die?" Harry asked as his brow furrowed.

"No. We don't die. It's just that when you disappear under the mud no one can ever find you and you get lost… Horrible way to go… and then there is always weathering…You need to wax regularly in the winter to make sure the cold doesn't cause your to crack up." He spoke, his eyes wide with fear at the sheer thought of it. Harry nodded understandably.

"And I expect the pay is good is it?"

"Pretty good. I hear about Gargoyles that get rich from fighting but I don't like the idea of that. Me mother always told me to use my head. I tried head butting this bully at school but it hurt loads so I decided to get an indoor job… the kind that doesn't involve squashing people and chuckling them into the next street."

"That sounds like you made a good decision then." Harry said as he wished his career choice could be as simple. You either hit people or you didn't.

"Yeah. Al things considered I think I'm pretty lucky. Me mum says she is lucky to have two boys like us. Me brother is a bit thin on brains but he still looks after her when I can't. I send her ten galleons every month I do." Norman beamed proudly.

"Well with all that going why would you be unhappy?" Harry asked as he stared at Norman who shifted under his gaze.

"I don't know. I guess I was just bored. You're not going to grass me upto Dumbledore are you? I need this job. It would break me mums heart if she found out I had been naughty.

Harry sighed to himself. Like Bunnyfluffers, Gargoyles were really the opposite of what you would expect.

"Don't worry Norman. I can see you're a good gargoyle. Probably the best I have met." Harry said as he chose not to disclose that he couldn't remember ever heaving met another Gargoyle before. "As long as you promise not to go jabbing anyone then I won't say anything. You do a good job and you should be proud. There is no need to poke or jab or attack anyone, unless it's a Death Eater." Harry said intelligently. Norman grinned at this remark.

"Oh yes. Your right I can hurt Death Eaters. Dumbledore said I should tear their god damn head off!" There was a stretch of silence that lasted for several seconds after this comment.

"Very nice."

Just then Harry caught the distant sound of Filch conversing with the disgustingly creepy Mrs. Norris several corridors away. Deciding that even though as a prefect he had every right to be strolling through the corridors after curfew, it may still appear a little suspicious to be caught in animated discussion with the Gargoyle outside of the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Being the sinister person Filch was, he would probably cook up some story about how Harry and Norman were plotting to overthrow Dumbledore and take the school and turn it into a night club.

"I have to go now." Harry said as he turned to Norman who had by now stopped sniffing and looked brighter and more cheerful than he had before. Norman, who being a Gargoyle, didn't have hearing to the same standard as Harry, listened for a moment longer before muttering to himself.

"I hate that cat. It always tries to do its business up against my stand. I would tear it's fir off if I was allowed… Then I could send it to me mum. She likes cats she does. Has it with mustard and mashed potatoes."

Harry laughed to himself. It would be no more than the cat deserved.

"No really, I need to go now." Harry said as he started turning to head off.

"Don't worry. I sort it out for you." Norman said with a salute. "You were nice to Norman so now you are a friend. Even if you are a fleshy person. I will crate a di… a diver…. Dive…" he stumbled as he tried to think of the word. "I will get in the way!" Gargoyles were good at that.

"Ok thanks." Harry said as he turned and dashed off as fast as he could.

As he rounded a corner he heard the two voices from where he had been.

"Have you seen anyone go this way?" Filch demanded as he faced Norman quizzically.

"I might have." Norman replied slyly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I am not supposed to be talking to people such as yourself.

"What do you mean my kind? Filch snapped as he prodded Norman in the chest, which went by unnoticed to the colossus bulk of the gargoyle.

"I mean muggles!"

"I'm" not a muggle Filch said as he drew back in disgust at the thought of being called such a lowly creature. A loud shriek was heard echo down the corridors as Mrs. Norris had been trodden on.

"Well you don't look like a wizard. Always slinking about all shifty like. You sure your not up to something, muggle?" Norman asked as he leaned closer and surveyed the caretaker closely.

"I'm not a muggle!" Filch fumed as he stamped up and down.

"If you is not no muggle, then why can't you just magic yourself to find the students, rather than all this chasing around business?" Norman grinned as he gave Filch an elbow in the ribs which caused the caretaker to bend over, coughing and gasping for breath.

Harry expected the conversation went on for longer but it was tough to be sure, because at this point he had left hearing range and was now gliding along the corridor quickly. He turned off through a secret passageway that managed to skip two floors without actually having to go up at all. It was completely dark but so familiar to Harry that he could pas through it without looking. Of course it was just a single winding path that one couldn't possibly get lost on, but Harry managed to walk along without bumping into the wall at all.

He passed through the other end of the corridor, and after several more moments of walking he was in the common room. Filch hadn't managed to catch up with Harry, which was good to know. Clearly Norman possessed that ability which came only so naturally to him. Large people had a habit of standing in between you and where you wanted to be, and often said things like

"Step over that line and ill snap you neck like a stick, you little crap!" a gulp from the receiver was usually followed before a cautious reply.

"I'm the official line inspector you see."

"You will have to inspect your face when you get home, because if you try and get past me you won't recognise the mashed up meat on your shoulders..!"

As Harry slumped back in his bed he groaned. Ron was still off practising Quidditch. That matches were running late for the others. Apparently the trainers weren't impressed with anyone and so the hours were going on for long. There were only a few weeks till the match and if Harry hadn't got the best broom around and talents unrivalled by anyone else in the school then he would have been nervous. He would be nervous though. He knew that.

Only a moron would walk uncaringly into the biggest non professional match of the decade without being a little scared. It would be shows around the world and would be in every wizard paper from the Prophet to the Gnomes Monthly. The nerves would come later, and when they did they would sink into his very core like nails in card.

Harry didn't feel much like talking to anyone else. He couldn't say why, but perhaps it was due to jealousy. Jealous that they were able to get n with life so carefee and easy, whilst he had nothing but dangers and threats. Whilst they talked about what they would do on the weekend Harry would think about how he would probably end up dying. To tell the truth there were so many different days of dying it was a miracle that he was still alive now.

Ron was one of the few people who could appreciate Harry's love and hatred of everything normal. Ron had always been the same as Harry, yet the most different as was possible. He always wanted to be like Harry, be in the situations, yet when he finally got a chance, and faced death, the whole thing seemed to loose a lot of novelty. It was around this point in life that all the illusions boiled away and you found yourself standing with a murderer pointing a wand at you, and sitting at home on a Friday night eating crumpets and reading the newspaper suddenly seemed like a damn good idea.

Harry sighed to himself. Ron wasn't hear though. Any neither was Hermione, or any of the other people that really appreciated there was more behind a name and the claims of what he had done. There was a person. Harry wasn't just someone who defeated the dark lord. He was someone who actually did things besides that, who had a real life. Also all the claims to his fame weren't nearly as simple as they sound. It wasn't a case of wave a wand and say a spell. Few people really ever stopped and thought that if something went wrong, and it was a damn likely thing, then he would be dead. Having your life threatened was a pretty heavy thing to get over. Harry hadn't managed yet.

Custard. Not once had anyone cared to have a conversation about custard with him. Harry wondered why. Perhaps he had a different definition of custard from everyone else. He wasn't some sort of sauce freak or anything. Harry appreciated that it wasn't the sort of things wars were fought over, (with the exception on the 1664 banshee rebellion) the thing was however, that custard never threatened to kill you. It made a nice change from just about everything else. But no…boyfriends or girlfriends… Harry would like to have been able to have a conversation about it without a probably death creeping into the picture. Other people carrying on as if the darker things of life didn't exist. As if Harry's life didn't exist. It was enough to make him go insane. Sometimes he decided he probably had.

Harry closed his eyes as he lay on the bed with his eyes closed. There was a breeze blowing and it ruffled the hangings of Harry's bed causing it to brush against his hand. It was irritating yet at the same time calming. The sheet of material flowed backward and forwards like the ocean waves, except in red. The breeze wasn't however, at all pleasant. It was a cold night and Was causing a chill in the room which made Harry pull his blankets up right to his chin. He would have got out and closed the window, except he was in his bed, and that would mean being very cold for a few short moments.

No one else was in the dormitory, although it was late they were busy with homework or talk or simple things. Harry tried not to think about the latter. ?It usually put him in a bad mood. In the end he decided against closing the windows, and just lay curled up under his sheets, waiting to drift into the sleep which would shut out simple matters like being cold. His mid started to wonder over what Dumbledore had said earlier, and also over what hadn't been said. There was an awful lot Dumbledore hadn't said and it was these things which concerned him. You needed to be a bit crafty in order to hear what people aren't saying, but Harry had managed, and he didn't like it.

The way Dumbledore spoke, and the silences he left didn't seem to suggest a bright future for Cho. The way the conversations were entirely based around the land of Pharaphax through the Veil of Darkness told Harry that the headmaster had little faith in either of the two potions. Also the fact that he was so vague on the dates in question. He said that the portal between the normal world and Pharaphax would only open on the day after Christmas, and that Cho would die sometimes around the New Year. Well Harry knew death wasn't a science, except to a few deranged professors with hunched backed assistants named Igor. It was however close enough to worry. What it all boiled down to was if Cho could last long enough.

Harry knew that he would try as hard as he could. He was determined, and when he was determined things usually went the way he intended. You only needed to consider the fact that he himself was still alive. He had been pretty determined on that specific fact. If there was some way Cho knew what was going on then that would probably make life easier. They could tell her to wait and say what they were going to try and do, and it would make her rest at ease. Of course her soul probably wasn't happily wafting off to the big bright light.

Harry's thoughts then shifted again. There were two Veils of Darkness. He had to admit to himself, when he had heard mention of the Veil of darkness, or what he had thought it was, he had felt a momentary spark of hope. A hope that he might get his godfather back. Sirius could be alive couldn't he? Wasn't there even a slim chance? If there had been then it that had swiftly been extinguished by the revelation that they were in fact going no where near the Arc of Spirits. Talk about whizzing on somebody's fire.

This Pharaphax place he might be visiting, it sounded interesting, but dangerous as well. He shrugged it off, he was used to danger. If death was probable then Harry knew he would end up there… sooner or later. It was just a question of how many body parts he would arrive in. He sighed and rolled over, falling into a light uncomfortable sleep.


	45. Like One Big Family

Harry sighed and rolled over, falling into a light uncomfortable sleep.

It was an unusual sleep, one filled with mixed images of a distant land where Sirius and Hermione got married while Cho was the vicar and Harry was trying to keep muggles at bay with the help of Voldemort. A ginger dog that was giving Hermione away somehow took on a voice and sat on his lap while Harry tried to eat a bacon sandwich. " Harry." It barked " Harry... HARRY!" Now it had its paws on his shoulders and was shaking him.

"Gerrawfff." He attempted a yell but it came out all muffled due to the corner of his duvet which he had been chewing on. Harry opened his eyes to find a big ginger Weasley shaking him and grinning.

"Easy Harry. Making growling noises and chewing the bedspread. If I didn't know better I would think you were a dog." Ron said with a laugh.

"You're one to talk." Harry mumbled as Ron ignored him.

" Come on Harry, it's time for breakfast!" Ron exclaimed excitedly as he leapt over to his own bed to pull on a pair of  holey odd socks " We'll be late, I hate cold soggy toast"

Harry hurled his pillow at Ron hitting him squarely in the head. Ron squawked and toppled over with a loud thud. A few moments of silence past in which Harry worried for a brief moment if he had accidentally caused some sort of serious damage to Ron. A groan however, ended this belief.

"Twerp." Muttered Harry, and then he rolled out of bed. He glanced at his clock as he rubbed his tired eyes after gave a quick glance out the window. It was still dark, with the only sign of the sun being a line of light on the edge of the horizon.

"It's not even six o'clock!" Harry complained as he threw a disgusted look at Ron who looked a little sheepish.

"Well I thought you might have had enough sleep." Ron said hopefully.

"Well I don't think I have had enough." Harry replied as he pulled out his clothes ready for the day. He was awake now and he didn't feel like going back to sleep and having to be unpleasantly woken up a second time in one day.

It was October the Thirtieth, and whilst most of the school was buzzing excitedly about Halloween and all sorts of scary tricks they would be attempting to pull on each other, one group of students had fallen into a hushed silence. There were seven students in the group and they went by the names of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Alexanda, Phillip and Serenity. The Hogwarts Quidditch team. They had all woken early and were down in the great hall, which besides themselves was completely quite.

Although it was a Monday and everyone had lessons, The Hogwarts Quidditch team did not. As it turned out they would be spending the whole day synchronising their performances and learning to work with each other. They had been told that it would start at seven in the morning out on the Quidditch pitch and that they should all have breakfast. As Harry had walked in with Ron they looked around. The only other people in the hall at that point had been Blaise, who looked as cold an arrogant as ever, and had mastered the ability of hiding tiredness or any other unwanted emotion, and Serenity, who looked rather pale.

There were a few items for breakfast on each table. Ron and Harry walked over to the ones on Gryffindor table and sat down.

"My I think we are lucky to have made it here in time." Said Harry sarcastically as his voice echoed round the empty hall. "I can see everyone is fighting over the last slice of toast." Ron blushed a bit as he looked down at the table where his hands had been automatically helping themselves.

"Better safe than sorry." He mumbled whilst pouring out some milk

Over the next five minutes the remaining members of the Quidditch team wafted into the hall. Most of them looking slightly glum. The reason behind this was probably because they weren't as good as they had hoped. Harry himself hadn't seen them play, but the fact that before the match itself they would have just one day to play as a team was more than slightly disconcerting. Hermione walked in looking cheery, unlike the others. She bounced over to the table where she sat down and ginned at each one of them in turn.

"Well?" Ron asked as he looked at her. She was distracting him form his breakfast.

"Well what?"

"Why are you staring like that… all happy and stuff!" he asked as he scowled at her. No body liked that jolly person who always tried to be optimistic. At the end of the day when you were on your death bed you didn't need someone like that saying "At least you won't need to wait in line at the post office anymore!"

"Oh." Hermione said as her smile faded, more out of obligation than anything. "I guess I'm just excited about tomorrow. We get to go to Beauxbatons. It's rather exciting, I assure you."

Ron glanced at Harry sceptically.

"I don't know about that. What has France got that we haven't?" he asked as he wagged a finger at Hermione. "Admittedly the Quidditch will be good, the French usually are, but the country itself… No offence to them, they can eat what they like but there is no way I'm eating Frogs or slugs. I have tried slugs and I don't like them." Harry sat silently, keeping out of things. He could see that Ron was very opinionated over the matter, and even if he was proven wrong he would stand by his beliefs out of sheer arrogant determination.

Hermione however, who having been to France a few times in her life, and knowing more than Ron did, had no choice but to correct him.

"That's snails Ron. Not Slugs. And you don't have to eat them. In fact I would be surprised if you did. They are a very expensive delicacy and I wouldn't expect a school to serve them up." She said knowledgeably. "Also Ron, it's the same with frogs, and in answer to the question you are going to ask, they are both cooked." Ron sat in silence for a moment. He hated when Hermione answered stuff he hadn't asked yet.

"It's still disgusting." He muttered adamantly.

Harry looked between Hermione and Ron who were bother glowering back at each other. He searched for something to change the course of the direction.

"Ooh everyone is here... I wonder how well today will go." He tired. To tell the truth it was partially a lie. Everyone from the Quidditch team was now present, but Harry didn't wonder at all how well the day would go. He tried to avoid wondering this when at all possible. He suspected it would go badly, but wondering would just result in this becoming a certainty.

"Yes. I think I have been doing well." Hermione said self consciously. "My left throw certainly isn't anything spectacular but I can throw reasonably well with my right arm."

"Really?" Harry asked as he looked up from a piece of toast he had been buttering with intense precision. Truth be told he was under the impression that Hermione was going to let down the team. It wasn't that she was bad. It was just that Harry had a lot of difficulty getting his head around the idea of her being good.

"Yeah she is pretty good." Ron said thickly through a mouthful of breakfast. "She managed to get quite a few shots past me… And I don't think I'm that bad." He said as fear started gnawing at him.

Hermione looked at everyone else in the room.

"I really think today will pull it altogether you will see…" She said firmly. "In fact I'm going to get everyone's spirits raised up a bit. How are we meant to practice as a team with everyone sulking round. Come on you should be happy. You don't have lessons!" Harry brightened up at this. He was sure there were several hundred students who would happily forfeit all of Monday's lessons to be playing Quidditch.

"And that makes you happy does it?" Ron asked as he looked at Hermione who seemed to have sunk a little out of her happy spell.

"Of course it doesn't Ronald. I just try not to think about it"

Harry wondered to himself how Hermione intended to get their spirits up. There was one way certainly, that would have interested Harry, Ron, Axexanda and Phillip, though he knew this wasn't what Hermione had in mind. He didn't need to dwell on the matter to long as Hermione got up from her seat and turned to face everyone.

"She isn't is she?"

"She is!"

"On dear…"

"Why is everyone sitting around like that?" Hermione said loudly as she spoke to everyone in the hall… all seven of them. "Why don't you all get your breakfast and come and sit over here and we can all eat our food teamtastically!"

Several peoples heads jerked up at the sound of such a sudden noise, and Serenity actually jumped from her seat. Everyone exchanged glances amongst each other, as though silently deciding whether or not this was a good idea.

"Come on… I don't bite." Hermione said caringly. This didn't do anything to make up their minds, except Serenity, who wiped away a bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead. She then got up and walked over to The Gryffindor bench with a smile.

Harry moved over his Blue Storm which had been resting on the table beside him, as he made room for Serenity, who still hadn't gained the confidence to sit next to Hermione.

"You don't need to move your broom Harry." She said as she sat down and put a bowl of cereal next to the broom. Harry glared at her suspiciously. It was always strange to be addressed by someone who knew his name but didn't really know him.

"Er thanks…Serenity." Harry said as he squinted at her and hazarded a lucky guess.

Everyone else seemed to follow afterwards and soon they were all sitting around the Gryffindor table, except Blaise. She was the last to sit down and chose a seat on the far end, and even left an extra space empty between herself and everyone else, just in case there was any doubt over the fact she didn't want to be there.

"The minute some Slytherins walk in I'm going to leave." She said duly as she looked away from everyone. No one paid her any attention and instead they turned to  Hermione who smiled round at all of them.

"Honestly Harry." She said in a motherly tone as she spotted his Blue Storm lyig on the table. "Weren't you ever taught any manners. No broomsticks on the dinner table." Harry hastily picked it up and laid it on his lap. He didn't want to get in another argument with Hermione. He liked his teeth as they were.

"No. I don't mind." Serenity sad quietly as she quickly picked up her cereal to stop it being knocked on the floor. "I wouldn't want to impose or cause anyone any trouble." She added.

Once Harry was sure Hermione wasn't going to hit him he looked away from his broom and smiled at her. In a worse case scenario he could jump on his broom and escape.

"Now I was thinking that since we will be spending the day together, not to mention numerous other occasions. Therefore I think it would be nice if we could all get to know a bit about each other. If you just say your name and something personal about you that lets us know who you really are as an individual." Hermione finished speaking and a silence fell upon the great hall, which was even more pressing due to the large space and the fact that they were all in such close proximity they could hear each other breathing. Harry cast Hermione a dark glance, whilst Blaise did nothing short of glaring dirtily.

"Ok then. I will go first!" said Hermione as her smile became a little strained. "My name is Hermione Granger and I like any sort of academical pursuit, and in my free time I enjoy reading reference books." At this she sat down and looked at everyone. Ron hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, put on a smile and started clapping. He had to say that it had seemed like the right thing to do, but as Hermione's head quickly snapped towards him, she gave him a stare so precise in its meaning he stopped immediately. It wasn't that kind of speech.

Again a silence fell upon the group, as Everyone stared at each other. Harry, along with Ron were more adept at predicting Hermione, and they both began to slowly sink down into their seats. If they did it slowly she wouldn't notice them. Harry and Ron drew in very slow ragged breaths. They didn't want top make any unnecessary noises that would draw unwanted attention, and Hermione's attention was the most extreme form of this they could think of at the moment. There clothes made very quite rubbing sounds as it crumpled around them.

Harry cast Ron a scared glance which was mirrored right back. Then it happened. They knew in some sense that it was inevitable, although it didn't stop them trying to avoid it. They could practically here the whirring of cogs in her brain and the click click click as the pistons ran at full throttle. Then a hiss of steam erupted and everything slowed down. They was a dull thud somewhere within the depths of the machine, and a small round coupon dropped through a few slots and ran along some small passageways. Eventually it bounced down onto the last ran where it came rolling out of a whole on the front. The coin shaped object spun round in the dish shaped container for a minute, as centrifugal force battled gravity and finally lost.

The coin ran to the bottom where it span for a moment, and then with one final tremendously slow turn, it fell on its side. It stayed still for a moment displaying to the world the results of the machine. The small disk has some writing on it. In big bold capital letters it read "H-A-R-R-Y"

"Harry, why don't you go next?" Hermione said with a smile.

He gave a sigh and sat back up in his seat. Ron sank down further and gave a small inaudible sigh of relief. However it then dawned on him that there was a fifty percent chance that the talking was going to come his way next.

"I'm Harry Potter and I like Quidditch and Defence Against the Dark Arts." He said before being confronted with a question of whether he should bow. In the end he settled on a small courtesy.

"Ron"

"Damn! I'm Ron Weasley and I like food." He said lamely. It continued round the circle as everyone gave an awkward reply. It was obvious from the looks no one wanted to be there.

"I'm Blaise Zabini. I like nothing you like , and I definitely don't like you."

 "I'm Phillip Bane. I like social stuff and in my spare time I like to dress in women's clothing." There was a silence that followed this. As Everyone's head swivelled to look. He looked at everyone suspiciously before realising what he had said. His eyes widened in shock. Hermione gave him a small pat on the shoulder as though pitying him. After all it was a disease in its own sense. She half expected to feel a strap under her fingertips.

"I don't think you should have said that." She said in a quite voice as she shoved him back in the seat and urged them on.

"I'm Alexanda Powers. I enjoy all sports and also I enjoy wearing men's clothing." There was small laugh from a few members of the group, which caused Phillip to blush even further.

"I'm Serenity Fidget and I like lots of things. I like sunny afternoons in the spring or sitting in doors on a rainy day with my friends." This should have been where the self descriptions ended, but for one reason it didn't.

"I'm Alastor Moody and I'm a recovering alcoholic." Said a gruff voice that had appeared next to Harry. Everyone looked At Moody as his magical eye swivelled over them all appraisingly. The brief silence was broken by a tremendous laugh.

"Hat hat hat hat hat hat hat hat hat!" When he finally managed to stop laughing he looked at everyone with both eyes. "It was a joke!" he exclaimed roughly.

Hermione didn't seem to find it funny, although Harry gave a small snigger. Clearly not many of the people were form muggle families, and wouldn't appreciate the joke.

"What are you doing here?" Blaise asked as she raised her head from the table where she had been slumped in boredom. Moody turned and took a step towards her, which caused his leg to clunk loudly on the cold floor. The small question of how he had arrived so silently was asked by several, although not out loud.

"I'm a teacher. Who the hell are you?" he snapped in a manner that really did suggest he was some sort of alcoholic.

After Several moments in which Hermione gave Alastor numerous stern glances she managed to get the truth out of him. He was going to be leading them down to Quidditch when they were ready. Apparently it was in case any of them got lost. Although Harry knew better. Guarding for the Order. Everyone had finished their breakfast, except for Ron who's breakfast progress was in a perpetual state of non completion. Once Ron had been convinced to leave the table they all got off and made their way outside to Quidditch. It was going to be a long day.

It was a mild day, as it had been the last few days. The wind was blowing gently around, and could mainly be detected from the swaying of the trees around the circumference of the castle. The sun was out, and whilst the sky was relatively clear, it didn't seem to shine very brightly. It illuminated but it didn't warm. Harry was a little cold standing on the great slopes in the open, but as he had learned, once up in the air darting around he would warm up.

It was a nice weather for Quidditch, ideal in fact. Obviously rain was a bad thing, and being to cold could be a big problem. Besides getting num hands and not being able to catch the snitch properly there were other dangers. The coldness could cause your broom to expand slightly and the magic could get a bit iffy, causing you to suddenly drop several feet for no reason. Sun however could be equally bad. Not only could the sun get in your eyes, you could also work up a temperature and if your hands got to sweaty then you could fall off a broom. It was all simple Quidditch safety facts that every player learnt.

Harry hoped the weather lasted into next week, because whilst he had played in about the worst weather nature could muster, he wasn't to confident with the other players. Hermione had never played in very strong winds, as far as he knew. And whilst she might be able to calculate the correct angle and trajectory to throw it at, she hadn't got the touch. That ability that would allow you to play like there was nothing else in the world. Of course this was because to Hermione there was an awful lot of stuff in the rest of the world. It came in books.

All of the Quidditch professionals would be present today, or so they heard. They would be performing a few special moves as demonstrations, or making observations. Whatever they did it was bound to help, because at the end of the day they were clay to be moulded, and they had only just been taken out of the packet. Moody hobbled along next to Harry.

"It's just up ahead." He said to everyone, despite the very obvious form of the Quidditch pitch which any person with eyes could see.

Serenity seemed to be hovering along near by Harry, and he waited for a moment for her to fall back. Moody turned her way and gave a quick animalistic growl which caused her to suddenly walk away from him.

"Don't you go trying to fly off to far." He instructed to Harry in an undertone. "Or else there will be trouble to pay."

"I don't really think Voldemort would try anything like that." Harry responded sceptically. He had been training several time a week over the month, and each of them had been more dangerous than the current. He was normally with just one Order member and Victor, and if that Order member was Tonks then you also had to watch out for the stray jinxes she sent at you whilst she tried to charm some mud or something. Also it had been dark.

"Whoever said it would be them causing the trouble!" Moody said with a menacing grin. Harry often had to remind himself that Alastor wasn't in fact an insane homicidal maniac. Harry groaned as he drew closer. He suspected that today would be better, since there were more people around, but the fact was Victor had tried to talk about Hermione, which had been very awkward and nasty for Harry. Well if he was so desperate he could do it today, and by the looks of it he might.

Once everyone was standing ready with their brooms at their side the lesson began. First of all they were lectured on the importance of flying as a team, and had the negatives of poor team work explained to them. This was probably meant to make them feel better. Although it did the exact opposite. Hermione hadn't wanted to know that a poorly coordinated throw to another team member could break your fingers, and Serenity definitely didn't want to hear that failing as a beater could result in Terminal consequences.

Harry was the only person feeling fairly sure of himself. He didn't need to watch out for much. The snitch was small and golden and it couldn't really hurt you. That was basically as far as things went for him, except when the rest of the team did badly. Still… he had managed in the past, and even with a rogue bluger he had managed to win, and so Serenity's lurching didn't make him feel to scared. Scared suggested femininity. Harry was brave. He didn't get scared by a little something like that. It just made his knees shake a little bit.

After playing for a few minutes peoples opinions changed. The chasers seemed to manage to play well together, although Phillip and Serenity both kept trying to knock the same bluger away, and one of them was left on its own chasing Ron round the pitch. Victor didn't have much to say to Harry, other than telling him to look out for other players, whilst always making sure to look around. This was annoying to no end, as he used incredibly vague senses like trust your senses to tell you where they are. Feel, don't look. Harry managed to feel alright, when he slammed into Alexanda's back and caused him to fall off his broom.

Hermione managed well for the first hour. She flew around a lot and managed to catch all the shots thrown her way, except for one. Phillip had missed a bluger and was charging towards Hermione, who happened to look towards it whilst she ducked. It proved this was a mistake as she turned back to the other two chasers, only to get a Quaffle to the face. They had to stop for two minutes whilst Hermione had her bloody nose sorted out, before continuing, only slightly more weary every time someone made a throw in her direction, as though the ball was actually a bomb.

They all stopped for a lunch break, which was mainly due to the fact that several dozen students seemed to have swarmed outside to watch the practices, and the trainers seemed to believe that this would be distracting.

"You can't train with all these people around!" One of them had said.

"But we are expected to play with a massive crowd for the real thing?" Ron had asked

"That's different."

"In what way?"

"Well for one thing there won't be kids chucking sticks at you." Had been the reply as they had to duck to avoid a narrow miss form one of the Slytherins.

"Quite good throw that… Chaser potential I would say…" Victor began.

Soon enough lunch break was over and they were being instructed, or shouted at, to mount their brooms. It depended on individuals opinion, but they were certainly being instructed firmly. Some of the members had decided that if for no other reason, they would train to the best of their ability just to stop the shouting. Others had given in and started crying, which had shocked and scared the Quidditch professionals. They were used to men who looked at the floor glumly and muttered an apology. Not a small timid girl who started crying and made a declaration of misery.

As the hours ticked on it became increasingly tiring. Before lunch had been fun, and they would have been happy to continue for the rest of the day, yet the more time past the harder it seemed to continue, as if the effort required was skyrocketing and their muscles exhausted to practically nothing. The darkness that came in with the evening reflected their spirits, which may have at one point been high. Now they were all glumly slumped on their brooms, resigned to defeat due to exhaustion and annoyance.

There were only so many ways to throwing a Quaffle. It was thrown, then another person caught it. What wasn't to like? That was a mystery to the three chasers who tried to pass for twenty minutes, each time failing to do it elegantly enough or fast enough. They didn't know why, for as much complaining and instructing the trainers did, they had yet to come and give an example of how it should be done.

Harry was tired of catching the Snitch. He had been at it all day, and frankly he didn't think he needed the practice. Today was meant to help them play as a team, and Harry was fairly certain that when push came to shove and the match started, their would be many other things on the players mind other than Where Harry was and how well he was catching the Snitch. His eyes were tired, having darted round from side to side all day they now had a dull ache, that suggested they were being sucked out of their sockets, or pushed in. It was an alien feeling to Harry. The only person who could have enlightened him was Hermione who had spent numerous hours pouring through books by candle light, at a painful cost.

Still. At least they knew where they stood. Although they were exhausted and bruised from the odd bluger here and there, they knew where they stood. They may not be the best team in the world. In fact that was pretty much a fact, but even though they sucked and they were disheartened and grubby, they knew it, and that counted for something. Or at least it seemed to count for something when you were tired. After a goodnights sleep it would seem to count for squat. After a goodnights sleep it would be Halloween, and everyone would look to them with such high expectations.

"You know about jibberving?" Victor asked Harry late in the evening after he flew over, having just caught the snitch again. Harry looked worried. He hadn't ever done jibberving… He didn't even know how to spell it.

"No…I don't think I do." Harry said truthfully as he frowned slightly. He didn't like not knowing stuff. Especially when it was the sort of stuff that Victor asked about. Harry always felt he had to do well in front of Victor Krum, due to being seekers or the triwizard tournament or what, he didn't know. But it was a real pain in the ass to admit it.

"Vell I expect it is a truffle to late. Don't vorry I will show you ven you return from France. Ze worst that will happen is you vill die a little, but jibberving is used very little zese days."

Harry trenched into the great hall whilst trying not to think about jibberving to much. There were no other students in the great hall. Dinner had finished some time ago, as it was now around nine o clock. The only people around was a house elf who was cleaning the tables, and had a habit of disappearing as soon as you looked at her, and two teachers which were sitting discussing matters of a dull nature. They left promptly when they found out students would be around.

Let's all sit around together." Hermione said with more enthusiasm than anyone should dare after such a physically brutal day. They were all to bruised argue. Even Blaise didn't give an insult. Just sunk down onto the wooden table top with an angry mutter.

"I…don't know about… about anyone else… but I am completely… thingy… that word…. slipped my mind…tired!" Phillip said as he had to stifle several yawns.

"I'm going to be bruised like a peach tomorrow." Sighed Ron. "I have very sensitive skin you know." He said in a way which surprised people.

Harry was going to wonder where the food was. They had been told that dinner would be served to them when they were sat down. Harry looked round sceptically. No food seemed to be appearing. It wouldn't surprise him if someone had lied. Stealing away the food was the sort of thing that fate tended to do to exhausted hungry people. Harry also didn't want to go to war with the house elves as Ron kicked down the door and charged in there. And he would do that if he was denied. There was no doubt in Harry's mind.

He had to move his elbow however as the food suddenly began to appear in front of the group of them. It did it in a slow lazy manner, as if anything involving more enthusiasm would make the Quidditch team envious. Blaise quickly sat up and turned her head as she wiped of some potato from her forehead, and then turned back to everyone in a suspiciously nonchalant manner. Harry watched her carefully to see what she would do with her potatoey hand, but had to look away as she caught him staring, and gave him a look back which left no doubt over what she was thinking.

"What are you looking at pig boy?"

"So." Hermione began as everyone else began to shovel food onto their forks. "How did everyone think practice went?" A silence followed as she looked to Ron and Harry for their opinions. They carefully happened to be looking away when she did this. "I thought it went well." She said finally to herself rather than to anyone in particular. "I think we all pulled together and are playing like a team." Additional silence followed as Harry concentrated on a particularly interesting carrot in his mouth. It was very orange… and it was sot of cylindrical, although at one end it came to a point… It was rather carroty, and a very good distraction.

"That was some neat beating from you Alexanda." Hermione said praising. People liked it when you complimented then, according to "How to make friends and be the pinnacle of social interaction."

"I'm Phillip." Said the boy sharply.

"Oh. Well it was good playing…" Hermione added hopefully

"A Bluger broke my arm."

"Oh." She said darkly. She thought for a moment. "I broke my arm once." This didn't seem like enough. "It hurt." She added.

The rest of the meal passed in silence, as most people were to worn out to talk or two worried about tomorrow when they would set off for France. Ron had actually fallen asleep, although it seemed that his arm was still transporting food in an efficient manner form one location to another, with the final stop being his mouth.

"I think we should all sleep well tonight. I don't know if I'm right but it seems some of you are a little worried about tomorrow." Hermione said receptively.

"Well I think it's because we are rubbish." Phillip said bitterly. Harry had to agree to an extent. They weren't rubbish but they weren't what he had hoped for.

"I must admit I thought that we would be better prepared." Serenity said, who had up until this point remained quite during any of the conversation which had arisen. Admittedly Hermione was the only person really talking, but that wasn't the point. She seemed to consider for several moments before a faint grin passed across her face. Harry didn't like it when that happened. It meant she had thought of something!

"Well you know what. It's an old saying but it's true." Oh dear. Things were definitely going to take a turn for the nasty. If it was an old saying then it wasn't going to be reassuring. Everyone knew old things were horrible. Old fruit for example, which has gone furry where it shouldn't have, got rubbery where it shouldn't be, and had limbs where there should most definitely not be. Old people as well, were generally not that pleasant. On one side they did always keep everything nice and clean, and they did give you fifty pence every time they visit, so that you can go to the cinema, but on the other hand they did always smell funny and they did go to bed at four o' clock.

"The thing is that it doesn't matter how well we do. We will have tried our hardest and that is what counts. It isn't the winning that counts. It's the playing and the having fun." Hermione said with a happy thought in her mind. No one else had a happy thought. They were all rather annoyed by it.

"At the end of the day, it is just a game." She said as she finished off her speech which would undoubtedly earn her a spell in the back should she try it at a stadium full of Quidditch fans.

Harry lay in bed later that night thinking over what had been said. It wasn't just a game. It was a science.

He tried to go to bed, although it felt strange and wrong. Although he had eaten late, he was going to bed early. In fact he had only left the dining room fifteen minutes ago. A quick wash and he was now in bed. They had been told to go to sleep early since they needed to be up early the next morning. Harry and the other had been given a potion to drink. They said it would help their muscles heal so they would be in better health tomorrow.

Harry was sceptical over drinking it, but after Ron remained alive, Harry decided to drink it. He also guessed that if there had been poison in it Moody which have done a spectacular dive in front of it at the last moment, knocking it out of Harry's hands. Everyone knew things went like that. Or at least they seemed to. Harry tried to think about it but couldn't because after a few moments his mind would start wondering in the direction of sleep. From a day of exercise and full of food Harry gave a yawn, scratched his nose, and managed to fall asleep.


	46. The Morning

From a day of exercise and full of food Harry gave a yawn, scratched his nose, and managed to fall asleep.

It was a cold morning. Light rain had been falling when Hagrid had woken an hour ago, but since then it had gotten worse. He didn't like the heavy rain, there was that bit at the corner of his hut that always seemed to leak. He had put a bucket sized mug under the leek but it needed emptying every few hours, so it was no good overnight. He was standing outside making the preparations for Dumbledore. Everything was going ok, and it should be ready in time. If only he could get it a bit further. It was bloody heavy.

Flitwick was meant to be helping him, But Hagrid hadn't seen a thing of the teacher. He worried for a few minutes that he might have stood on him. He dismissed this thought however, as it made him worry and question if he would be allowed to stay on teaching. Schools generally didn't employ people who had squashed existing teachers. Hagrid was wearing a thick hide jacket. His moleskin one would be drenched, and take several days to dry. Besides, he had already slipped on the mud three times trying to lug this thing up the hill and he could now be confused for some sort of mud man.

It had been years since it was last used. Hagrid doubted if it would still work. Magic had a habit of wearing off, and as a rare user of magic, he had his doubts. Dumbledore however had taken a look just last week, and told his that it was still in fully working order. He had however redone a few of the spells. You couldn't be to careful with children around. It had been dusty like no bodies business. And Hagrid had spent several hours tediously dusting and polishing to get it looking in top condition. When you had international viewers you had to look your best. It was a matter of pride. He had made sure to shine it until his face shone back at him with a big beard and a grin.

Harry awoke early. Earlier than he had wanted to but about the same time he had expected. He knew that they had to get up early. It was meant to be a long journey or something. What did surprise him however was that It wasn't Ron that awoke him. It was Hermione. She stood looking down at him, clad in a warm looking crimson dressing ground.

"Hermione what are you…" Harry began to say before she bent down and clasped a hand over his mouth to stop him being so noisy.

"Shh." You don't want to wake anyone." She said as she looked around at the other beds in the room. One person however had woken at the sound of Harry's voice.

Seamus rolled over in his bed as he pulled his duvet up a little higher. He had left his curtains open. He liked the air to circulate around his bed. He always thought things seemed stuffy otherwise. This was one of those occasion's when it seemed to pay off. Seamus found his vision coming into focus, and he saw the sideways view of Hermione in a dressing gown leaning over Harry.

"Wow." He said as realization struck his brain. He realised that he had just spoken and cursed to himself. He didn't need to be embarrassed like this. Especially so early. They turned to look at him as Hermione jumped away from where she was standing

"I knew you wanted to get an early night Harry but I didn't mean you meant like… THAT!" he said in a loud whisper. This was almost as good as that time they found a pink frilly sock which the boys crowded round in awe. It was only after an hour of excited speculation as to its origins did they learn Dobby had accidentally dropped it whilst cleaning.

"What?" Harry asked as he looked round at Seamus. There were to many people awake at this time of morning in his opinion. He was one of those who he felt should still be asleep.

"So… is this a new thing between you two or has it been going on for a while." Seamus asked as he propped himself up on one shoulder. Some things were worth knowing.

"No. This is the first time it has happened." Harry said stupidly. Hermione didn't usually wake him up. Harry had an alarm if he ever remembered to set it. Someone else usually woke up anyone if lessons were going to begin soon.

"Wow." Said Seamus, proud that he had caught them in the act. Hermione just stood in stunned silence. She could see what was going to happen, and yet in a way it was funny. Seamus and Harry didn't know what the other one meant, and so she decided to just let them continue for a minute.

"So what was it like?" Seamus asked as he pressed on. Admittedly he hadn't got Hermione down as that sort of girl. Thinking about it. Those long lonely nights with books could probably get a girl yearning for action. Maybe she never did have late night study sessions at all! He thought as his mind kept jumping forwards onto another stepping stone. The only problem was that when you were going along stepping stones to try and get to the other side of the river, it was only a matter of time before you found out that the stepping stone you were standing on was actually a crocodile, and when that happened you were in for a meal of pain, or at the very least a quick dash and a sore bum.

"Well it was annoying." Said Harry truthfully. He wanted to wake up to birds singing on a spring day with the smell of fresh cut grass. He didn't want to wake up on a rainy day in a room that smelt like a shoe, with someone poking him in the face. Maybe they could poke him in the face with some chocolate éclairs…He could eat it and then go back to sleep.

"It was annoying?" asked Seamus surprised. He had it on the highest authority that it was rather a lot of fun. It didn't hurt did it?!

"Well yeah. I would much rather be asleep." Harry said grumpily.

"It was that bad?"

Hermione had to put a hand over her mouth he hide the grin she had. Of course she couldn't allow it to carry on much longer. She had a reputation to keep up. She couldn't allow people to possibly think it was true. Still… a few more moments wouldn't hurt.

"I think Harry just doesn't like having things shoved in his face." She said as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. He glared angrily

"Yeah…things!" Seamus looked backwards and forwards between them. There was no doubt about it. Although it seemed unbelievable he supposed all the clues were there. They had been friends and they certainly were in their night clothes.

"Wow. You two are certainly open about it." He said approvingly. It had always been his opinion that people should be more open about intimate matters. By shrouding it in secrecy and treating it as taboo it just made things boring. "So is this meant to be a secret between you two or can I tell people?" he asked hopefully.

"Well you can if you like. Although there isn't that much to tell. Hermione came and woke me up." He said as he cast her an angry glare. It annoyed him that she was looking away from him. He wasn't entirely sure she could pick up the anger in his voice.

Seamus opened and closed his mouth several times in sheer disbelief. This was better than her could have hoped. This was positively naughty!

"You mean…You mean you were asleep when she did it?" he asked wide eyed as he stammered at the sheer thought."

"How else is there?" Harry asked as he raised his eyebrow. He had a suspicion somewhere in his mind that something was wrong. Seamus seemed awfully interested in the fact Hermione had woken him up. Maybe he was just a little excited to wake up and find a girl in the room.

Neville had once bought Ginny up to help him look for his little pet which had gotten out. It took quite a while to grasp it and put it back in its cage apparently.

"I know what you mean Harry. I know what you mean. Since we are being honest and everything I have often dreamt about being woken up like that. It would be a great start to the day wouldn't it." Seamus asked with a sigh of satisfaction at the thought in his head.

"Well I doesn't seem like a great day but if you really want then perhaps Hermione could come and do it to you some time." Harry suggested. He couldn't pretend to understand what Seamus would like about it but if he wanted then it was only polite to offer.

Seamus snapped out of his daydream  He couldn't believe his ears and for several moments that seemed to him an eternity, he just sat in thought. Finally he grew aware that an answer was required of him.

"You mean, she would… she would." He spluttered in wonderment. Hermione had to intervene at this moment.

"I just came to give Harry his clothes." Hermione said honestly." This time both boys looked at her confusedly.

"You mean he left them round…in the… that you did… in the…" He said as he tried to grasp to what was being said, and failing somewhat.

After several minutes of explaining in which Seamus suffered severe disappointment and Harry blushed shades of red he never knew existed, things had settled down. Hermione explained that last night She had been summoned by professor McGonagall and given three sets of robes for everyone. Harry wanted to ask what was wrong with his won robes. There was nothing wrong with the material. Only a few holes. He didn't have to ask however as Hermione passed him a bundle of neatly folded clothes. He climbed out of bed and let the robe fold down in front of him as he held it up for a better look. Seamus had gone back to sleep with boredom and Hermione had excused herself to get ready.

It was unlike his normal robe in a few areas. In fact it was debatable as to whether it was a robe or a gown. Yes, it possessed all the robe necessities. Material… sleeves. It was all there. But unlike the traditional school robe, there was also a lot of other stuff. Each edge was hemmed with a crimson colour, And on the front was a Hogwarts cress looking much more fancy than the dull washed out ones that most students displayed. It was carefully fitted and hung in a different way from the usual robes, so that the students appeared tidier than normal. Also the material itself was different from normal, it was a thicker, and was polyester lined.

"What's this thing for?" Harry demanded as he stared at it uncertainly. Whilst it did look very nice it seemed like an insult to his normal clothes, as if saying that he was normally scruffy. Hermione sighed.

"It's what we are going to say our school uniform is like. That way they think that we are neater than we are. Hopefully you and Ron can manage not to spill something sticky down the front." She explained. Harry rolled his eyes.

"How was I meant to know that that thing wasn't supposed to be poked?"

It was a minute later that Ron was woken up and had everything explained to him. Like Harry he didn't seem to keen on the new robes.

"But what am I supposed to spill my food on then? The table?" He asked in outrage.

"Well I don't think you are meant to spill food at all. Our robes are meant to be kept very clean according to Hermione. She moaned for about five minutes on it so I think we should probably be careful." Said Harry as he pulled on some new shoes and did up his tie.

"But where is the bit I wipe my mouth with."  Ron asked as he leaned round to look Harry in the eye. He seemed to be taking this very badly. Ron had very little in the way of material possessions and so he had a great attachment to his clothes.

You're meant to use a napkin or something." Harry said slightly unsurely. He couldn't remember ever seeing them in the great hall. Perhaps they were an optional extra you had to request. Ron fiddling as he pulled on his new trousers.

"Stupid things. What the heck is this dangly bit?"

"That's a belt."

After Harry had managed to help Ron with his belt he returned to his own self. He need to do his hair, that would take a few minutes.

"I swear a bit of string would do the job just as well." Ron muttered to himself as he turned to his tie. "How am I meant to do this up?"

Harry looked up from fumbling for his hair brush.

"Can't you do it the same way you always did your tie?" he asked as he looked down at his. He had managed fine, and he knew for a fact Ron's tie always looked relatively tie like. It had a bit that went round the neck and two bits that hung down.

"I never used to do my tie up though." Ron complained as he knotted his finger in it somehow.

"What did you normally do then?"

"Well normally my mother would do it for me at the start of the year, and whenever I wanted to take it off I would loosen it a bit and whenever I put it on I tightened it up again. I liked that way. This tie is horrible. My old tie never tried to attack my fingers."

Harry managed to do up the tie for Ron, whilst feeling uncomfortably motherly. Harry looked round the dormitory. No one else had woken up, which was a surprise considering how much noise Ron was making.

"And as for these shoes… They have a funny smell. I will be damned if these are normal shoes. Harry. Come smell my shoes." He said as he waved them in Harry's face. "What is that smell?" He demanded angrily. Harry gave a sigh

"That's polish."

Ron threw his shoes on the ground  and stamped his feet into them angrily. It was always the stubborn ones who happened to be poor. Perhaps they couldn't afford to be accepting of new ways, or in Ron's case new clothes. The tags in the clothes describing what they were made of and by who, were blank of anything else. This caused Ron to mutter angrily.

"Stupid clothes. Look Harry. There aren't even any names in this! Not one! I like to know who my clothes used to belong to you. Bet you can't get comfortable in this junk. Having to watch out for food and stuff. What you want is quality clothing. You can relax in a jumped that used to belong to Rebecca.." He said proudly.

Harry was fairly accustomed to new clothes, whilst Ron generally had clothes that were several owners old. Some clothes in particular were passed down from one Weasley to the other as a sort of family heirloom. Other clothes that were newly acquired came from the shop in the middle of the street. It wasn't built with the rest of the shops. It just appeared one morning, full of old owned clothing. It was stuck in between two other shops because it couldn't afford four walls, or at least that was the general belief.

It was quite popular. Lots of people these days wanted a pair of boots worn by Jerry or a dress owned by Bertha. He made them feel more comfortable. You had to watch out for t-shirts though. Some of them had so many owners that the material started to go see through. With lingerie this actually increased the value. Once your clothes were outgrown you could sell them back to the shop for half the price, and so it was a cheap way of doing things. Many of Ron's fond memories lived in that shop with their vast rails of justly cheap clothing.

Harry was finally ready, and he turned to Ron who was just finishing.

"Oh you're looking sharp." Harry said with a laugh. Ron stood up angrily and looked down at himself.

"I know. These clothes have loads of pointy edges."

"That was meant as a compliment." Harry said assuring as he trod carefully. He didn't want to insult Ron at a time like this. After all if Ron was lucky he could keep the robe and wear it at his wedding when he was older. It would probably be smarter than anything he could afford to hire out from the previously owned clothing shop.

"It didn't seem like a compliment. I fell stupid and I look stupid. These clothes are just stupid and that's the end of it" Ron said as he ran his hands through his hair. Harry was envious of Ron's ability to have hair that could be tidied that easily. It was probably because it was to lazy to ever get messy in the first place.

"Stop fussing and come on. And don't scuff your feet." Harry added. "You're probably not meant to, at least not in front of the French Students.

"Oh and I suppose I'm not even allowed to blow my nose on the inside of my robe either am I?"

Harry and Ron met up with Hermione who was waiting in the common room, looking equally smart although slightly different. There was something about the robe she wore, that whilst being the same colour, was different. It was probably due to extra frills or something. Harry didn't dare say this thought out loud. Girls got picky about stuff. According to Remus. If you ever saw a girls frills you weren't meant to tell anyone. Especially not the girl. This saved Harry many slaps round the face.

"Are you ready to go down stairs?" she asked them as they all walked out of the common room.

"Yeah. I'm starving." Ron said as he licked his lips in anticipation. Hermione sighed. It wasn't going to be easy saying it, but it had to be done. Best he find out sooner than later, she thought.

"Ron, we aren't having breakfast yet. The reason we need to get up now is because it is a long journey and it will take all-day. We won't be having food for another few hours yet." Ron gave a choking sound.

"I knew that." He said adamantly, and then started sniffing the rest of the way down to the entrance hall.

When they arrived they found that Blaise and Alexanda were already waiting. This mean that they just needed Phillip and Serenity and they would be one their way. Of course teachers were needed as well, but it was a guarantee that they would be here before the others or else they would be late, and teachers were never late.

Harry looked round and saw that it was raining outside still. He could see down the grass that Hagrid's cabin had a window lit, and thought to himself excitedly that maybe Hagrid was coming along.

"Oh. I wonder if Hagrid is coming along." Harry said to Hermione who was looking round in mild interest. No doubt remembering numerous useless facts about paintings that hung on the walls.

"He isn't. He is to big." Said Blaise without looking up form her spot against the wall.

Harry didn't think he should respond. He was to nervous to tell the truth. As he stood looking round he realised that they were a Quidditch team. Perhaps it was the fact they all had their brooms in hand, or it was the fact Dumbledore and McGonagall could be seen waling towards them , but it made the whole thing seemed much more important than it usually did. It wasn't just a game anymore. It wasn't even just a science. It was a matter of importance and the pride of the school rested upon it. Maybe even the pride of the country, although that was going a bit to far.

Hermione seemed to be looking uncomfortable, as did Ron, although Ron's state was caused by an empty stomach rather than anything else.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked her quietly, so no one else could hear. You didn't want them to know nervousness was on the rounds, because it was as contagious as hatred for Snape, and as damaging to Quidditch as a hurricane to a pack of cards. Hermione snapped out of her state.

"Yes Harry. I think I'm okay. Although  am Nervous. I expect you are, but I have never played in a match before…" She spoke softly. She then hesitated for a minute before becoming hysterical. "Oh Harry what happens if I got my calculations wrong with the throwing and…" She began to sob before Harry cut her off.

"It's ok Hermione. You have never got a calculation wring before, and I will be as surprised as anything if you start now. The match isn't yet. You have plenty of time before that. So just relax… And try not to think about it." He said as he offered her his own personal technique. She smiled at him warmly.

"Thanks Harry. I suppose your right." She admitted. "We do still have a while before the match yet, and after all it is just a ga-"

"Don't say it!" Harry said as he held finger to her lips. They were stopped from any further discussion, or at least strongly persuaded away form it as Dumbledore arrived and cleared his throat.

"Welcome everyone. Or at least everyone who is here. I assume that Mr. Bane and miss Fidget will  be with us shortly." As if on cue there was the sound of pounding feet and Phillip and Serenity arrived, out of breath.

"Sorry we are late.." Serenity began as she walked over and stood next to Ron.

"That's quite alright." Dumbledore said happily. "It would be wrong and silly of me to expect you all to be on time when I have you wake up so early in the day.

"Now I think the first thing I should do is explain your new Robes, which you seem to be wearing with remarkable expertise. These robes, are as some of you may have guessed, what we are claiming to be our regular school robes. By pretending this to be the case it makes us look more presentable, and I assure you presentation is important. That means no one is allowed to get into any messy situations." He said as his eyes flashed to Ron who gave a gulp. "I trust you will maintain this illusion the whole time that you are in the company of the Beauxbatons Students and staff." There was a murmur of agreement as everyone gave a yes.

"Good." Now onto the next topic. If you have any questions or queries then please ask professor McGonagall, as she will be more than happy to answer them. Be it what the weather will be like or should your broom refuse to fly, you should ask her." Dumbledore said as he gestured to professor McGonagall looking as stern and explicably clean as ever. "Now. I expect some of you are rather eager to know why it is that a single Quidditch match takes you a whole week away from Hogwarts."

Some of the students looked left and right. It didn't seem any of them had wandered this, except Hermione. They certainly did now.

"This is because we feel it is important to build up international relations during this dark time, as well as maintaining important social events such as this. By showing that the world can go on it encourages those who fear Voldemort to come out of their hole and face things as they are. Now away from such a depressing subject, and back to the question I have yet to answer entirely."

Everyone held their breath as Dumbledore talked. It wasn't that it was necessary, but it felt like anything less would be frowned upon. "The match itself will be taking place on November the fifth. This leaves you with several free days before, as I'm sure you can see. Over these days you will have a mixture of things. You will be sampling school life in France for some of it, and at other points you will be learning about important historical and cultural facts, so for those of you taking History of magic, this is a prime opportunity for learning."

No one seemed to be taking History of magic, or if they were they weren't happy about it. The only person who showed any sign of interest was Hermione, who positively squealed with delight. It was disgusting really.

"Also there will be an opportunity to practice Quidditch with the French players, and sample their change in style, so the match shouldn't be lost or won due to unexpected events. Of course I think we can all safely say that they won't show us a very good sample before the match. This will trick us, or so they believe."

"It goes without saying that we will not show them all the wonderful things I'm sure you have learned. It's simple logic really isn't it." Dumbledore said with a laugh. Professor McGonagall gave the smallest of laughs as well, although it was out of obligation more than humour. Before Dumbledore could continue with the rest of what he had to say, there was the thudding from the stairs again, and someone's voice could be heard.

"Come on Tonks. We are going to be late again!

"Oh stop worrying. We will only miss the boring junk Dumbledore talks about."

"I don't imagine he would appreciate it if we were not on time. WE are teachers. Were meant to set an example."

There was a loud thud that stopped the talking of Tonks and Remus. Everyone was looking up at the stairs expectantly, waiting for the two teachers to come into sight. Voices carried very well down the stone corridors.

"Oh darn. I tripped over the suitcase!"

"What?! That's the third time today.

"I know but my shoelace came untied." Tonks complained as she crouched down and picked up the contents which had spilled out.

"Did you have to bring so much stuff?" Remus asked as he looked in dismay at her hefty luggage. It was only a week they were going for.

He managed fine with a simple Suitcase which he was carrying in one hand, where as Tonks was carrying several large suitcases. She had a hiking backpack on her back, with some string trying a suitcase to either side which swung against her legs as she ran. She had a suitcase under her left arm, whilst having a small bag under her right. Every woman needed a small bag in dire times. The Suitcase she had tripped on she had now grasped under her chin and was running along as best she could, with her mouth open to help hold it.

"I ot ank in I oor" She said Whilst Remus looked at her. He took the suitcase she had under her chin, and carried it for her.

"Pardon?"

"I said, I got cramp in my jaw" Tonks said happily. It was beyond anyone how she did it, but even when she was so heavily loaded down, she had a bouncy quality to her walk.

"Is it bad?" He asked concernedly as he looked at her pulling funny faces, trying to get her muscles to go back to normal.

"Not as bad as your fashion!" She said in a manner that suggested she was expecting a round of laughter and a drum beat.

"So why did you have to bring so much stuff?" Remus asked again as they neared the stairs.

"Well I couldn't leave the fun stuff behind. Have you got any idea how many supplies I will need to last for a week of practical joking on the French kids? This is unseen stuff to them. They won't know what hit them!" She said triumphantly as she went to wave a hand. The only thing that stopped her was a large suitcase.

"You won't hit them will you?" Remus asked, looking thoroughly alarmed.

"No of course I won't!" Tonks said indignantly. She would never hit a child. Maybe make his hair catch on fire or his skin ooze custard, but that was humorous.

"I don't think it's a very good idea. Its not very teacher like to be pulling pranks" Remus said caringly. He knew one day she would get carried away. He just hoped it wasn't a human that was the victim when she suffered.

"Oh stop being silly. It's perfectly teachery."

"And whilst we are on the topic. Blue hair isn't the best either." Remus said as he looked at her hair which was in a short spiky blue form.

"I thought you liked my hair when it was blue." She said and she sulked dejectedly.

"I do Tonks. It's just that teachers generally don't have blue hair."

"McGonagall had blue hair last month when she ate that cake." Tonks volunteered as she brightened at the memory of her own handiwork.

They came to the stairs and started to walk down. Once Remus spotted ythat everyone was looking at them, he spoke out of the side of his mouth to Tonks who was humming to herself merrily.

"I think they might have heard some of what we were saying."

"Wha?" She said as she realised Remus had spoke. Before he could continue however she became distracted by a painting of a dog which was staring at her. Her mind said Oooooooooooooh a doggy!

"I was saying I think they might have heard some of what we were saying. Like that bit about Dumbledore being boring." He spoke through gritted teeth as he looked at everyone who was staring at the two of them walking down the stairs.

"Wha?"

"Don't worry. We didn't hear a thing." Dumbledore said with a smile. Remus' grin disappeared. "You haven't missed much. Just some boring bits."

"Bum." Said Remus as he looked at Tonks who was cautiously walking down the last few steps. She wasn't watching him. "I don't think you're boring." He whispered as he leant close.

"Who said I was?" Dumbledore said as he feigned innocence.

"I…." Remus began, but then decided against it. It probably was best not go into detail over what he didn't hear. There were bits that made even him blush.

"I DID IT!" Tonks exclaimed as she jumped off the bottom step onto the ground.

"Well done." Said Harry. Who felt it would be rude to not offer congratulations.

"With all my luggage and everything. Considering how clumsy I am I was sure I was going to trip and drop everything and probably break some bones." She said as if this was a common occurrence. She took a step forwards towards Remus and stood on her shoe lace, which in an instant became tort under the pulling of her leg. In one quick movement she fell over and several cases of luggage flew everywhere.

"Oh fiddlesticks." She said as she set about gathering her stuff back up. Dumbledore made a small cough and continued with what he was saying.

"Our transportation shall arrive shortly. I was planning that we would just walk down to it. But since it is raining so heavily I thought I would save us getting all wet and have Hagrid move it for us. I think that is all really for the moment. There will be plenty of time for you to ask questions during the journey. I'm afraid our transportation is a little out of date, and whilst looking nice, it is somewhat slow."

There was a small grunt heard form somewhere outside. Dumbledore turned to everyone and grinned.

"It would seem that is our transportation now." Harry considered what sort of transportation they had that grunted. They only thing he could think that really worked was a slave drawn chariot. It was certainly slow. However after a few seconds of waiting it became apparent it wasn't slaves, unless Hagrid was one of them. He was leaning forward as he pulled a thick rope behind him. He disappeared past the door as the rope carried on being pulled. Then, as slowly and as Powerfully as possible, a golden wall crept across the wall, darkening the hall.

Everyone stared in wonderment for a moment until it passed, and light returned. Then it happened once more, with darkness creeping as another gold wall passed. Harry took Dumbledore's cue, and stepped forwards towards the entrance, increasing his vision of the outside world, and of what their transport really was. Framed against the cloudy sky, and stretching up for one hundred feet was the enormous figure. It's mighty wings were spread high, so high that they passed clean over the roof of the entrance hall and the great hall. It was a shining golden Pegasus, a god of the sky.


	47. The Pegasus

Hey guys. Hopefully over the next week and a bit I will be updating lots… due to the fact I have a lot of free time… I'm trying to budge up the amount permenantly to 2 chapters a week…

But for the next two weeks you can expect one chapter every other day.

Thanks for all the reviews… keep them coming… they are always appreciated.

 It was a shining golden Pegasus, a god of the sky.

A stunned silence went round the crowd as everyone looked up at the magnificent form of the Pegasus. A winged horse. It was vastly overwhelming in size Harry thought, as he stared at it. If it were to be bought alive it could probably charge straight through the school, Harry thought as he took a few steps closer and felt one of the four tree trunk sized golden legs.

"Cor! I bet you could squash a cat or two with that bad boy!" Tonks said in wide eyed wonderment.

Despite its enormous size it was crafted down to the tiniest details. The single golden plate that seemed to make up the enormous creature was carved and shaped exactly as a real Peagusus, and so after staring at it for a few moments Harry had to remind himself that it wasn't going to suddenly run round and want to be few carrots and hay. It was shaped realistically, with the legs getting wider where the muscles would have been, and sticking out where enormous tendons and sinews would have worked the muscles and mechanics under the skin. Each inch of the Peagusus was covered with a pattern remarkably similar to a Peagusus' fur, and under the morning light it shone at strange angles and reflected in all directions.

It was strangely cold under Harry's touch. This was probably due to its enormous hulk, like the oceans, it took several hours to warm up, and so it wouldn't actually be warm until the late evening, and it wouldn't get cold until early morning. Hagrid had taken a seat down on the muddy ground, he couldn't  exactly get more muddy. His face was clean as it had been washed with sweat which poured down from his hair line. Harry wondered how the giant metal figure had been dragged from wherever it had come from, for as Harry bent low we could see it wasn't on any kind of wheels. In fact, if it was they  would undoubtedly just sink into the mud, should the weight of the golden monster bare any relevance to the size.

"Oooh isn't its pretty!" Serenity exclaimed as she waked over and hugged it. It was easy to forget that you were actually hugging a big sheet of cold metal, until you found yourself shivering. She quickly let go. By this point everyone had gathered round under the figure, or around, admiring from every angle.

"Wow look at the eyes." Ron exclaimed as he looked at it from the front. Harry ran over to where Ron was standing and looked up. Indeed, for eyes there were massive red glass windows. Harry called them windows because he had a strong suspicion that there was something behind them besides more gold.

"Are they made of ruby?" Ron asked hopefully. "Because if after the tournament is over and you want to get rid of this then I think I could probably take it off your hands." Dumbledore who was standing in the shadow under the body of the Peagusus gave a laugh.

"I'm sure you could Ron. However after the tournament is over this will be returned to its storage, to be used in the future. We use it about every twenty years. For special occasions and such. And no, the eyes aren't ruby they are merely a coloured glass. Why, if we could afford ruby then you would think we could afford new Divinations text books wouldn't you." Said the headmaster as everyone gave a laugh. Anyone who had taken divination knew how old some of the school text books were. Indeed Harry had once had one that belonged to professor McGonagall when she was a student, which was undoubtedly a million years ago.

"Well that's an awful lot of gold though." Harry said as he leant closer for inspection. It most definitely looked like it, and judging by the fact this thing was intended to fly Harry guessed it wouldn't just be plated. Something gold plated would chip or wear away in the winds sooner or later. Dumbledore considered this with a small smile.

"Compliments of my good friend Nicolas." He said cheerfully as he thought about it. Harry was surprised to hear this.

"I thought that he… You know.. passed away." Harry asked. "How is he?"

"Late"

"Oh."

Once everyone had looked at it from al different angles, or until they had taken in the sight enough to satisfy their curious minds, they gathered under the body where Dumbledore and professor McGonagall were standing. Tonks and Remus were standing slightly away from the group, as a large amount of luggage stopped them getting closer.

"Now. It is coming up five thirty, so lets not dawdle shall we?" McGonagall asked as she looked at everyone and made sure they had their brooms. "Your stuff is inside. You will find that shortly. Is anyone travel sick?" she asked severely.

"What kind of travel is it?" Alexanda asked hesitantly.

"Flying. The kind that goes up and down." She said without any sign of humour.

To most of the group flying was a completely natural thing. As natural as waking up in the morning or as natural as eating cakes for breakfast was to Dudley. O Hermione however, it was still quite new, and she didn't seem to poses any natural talent which allowed her to be on the team, but rather an acute brain capable of calculating how to throw, where to be in order to catch, and where everyone else would be at every moment during the match, considering broom speed, wind resistance and wealthily interference. She gave a small mumble but nothing worth stopping over.

"Good. Well in that case I advise you move aside if you like the shape you're in." she said as Dumbeldore pulled out a small device from his top pocket and gave it some careful examination like an old person looking for the volume button on the control. They would end up pressing the wrong one and deafening everyone, before turning it down to silence and excusing the lack of noise as them needing of a new hearing aid.

Dumbledore pressed the button that he wanted, and from the neck a pair of stairs came down. Te stairs ran along the length of the stomach, and when up they were completely concealed from any form of inspection from ground level. Everyone took a few steps back before the base of the golden steps came to rest at some point near the back legs.

Once it had stopped moving, which it did so soundlessly, everyone walked nearer the back so they could look to see what it contained. All they could see from where they were stood was a small dark hole at the top of the steps, leading presumably to the head, and the control room. Hagrid seemed to be supervising the situation, as though at any moment the Peagusus might stampede out of control and squash everyone. Clearly he was forgetting that this wasn't one of his lessons.

The steps leading up to the Pegasus were as golden as the rest of it, but there was a red carpet fitted to each step, which seemed like it was demanded really, on a form as magnificent as this. Dumbledore stepped onto red carpet, with professor McGonagall following. Everyone else anxiously crowded after, with Harry managing to get to the front. He had been worried about his muddy shoes ruining the carpet, but as he looked where he had been standing, and where Hermione was now, it seemed that it was clean. It must be a magical carpet, he decided.

As Harry got higher the ground below him got smaller, and in fact it seemed even higher than it had done when he was standing on the ground looking up. It was slightly scary considering there was no hand rail. If they had been shoving each other, or if it was a particularly windy day then it probably would have been quite dangerous. He neared the top, and Harry felt a bit like an alien, walking up into an unknown flying object. All it needed was some smoke and to happen at night time and Rita Skeeter would be on the seen, quill in hand,  chaptering the entire event for the hole world to here.

Harry stepped up into the darkness, and was surprised to find that it hadn't got ligter like he had assumed. He came to a stand still behind McGonagall, with all the students gather behind him, and with Remus and Tonks at the back. There was anxious silence from everyone except for a few dozen loud thumps, and the distant voice of Tonks.

"Oooooooow. That was quite painful!" Everyone decided to ignore this, because it would probably happen once or twice more before they took off. Instead they focused on Dumbledore who was squinting at the control.

"Which one of these was it?" He asked to himself as he ran his finger over each one.

"Was it that one?" McGonagall suggested as she pointed to a symbol of the sun on a circular button. Dumbledore considered for several moments as he racked his memory…

"No… I think that was for the heating… I know it was somewhere around here… Oh this is it." He said as he pointed to a crude picture of a candle stick. He pressed the button, and waited. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, but then there was a dull flickering sound from somewhere within the depths of the hull, and then a light came on in front of them, illuminating the inside. The rest of the lights gradually burst into life over the next few seconds, until the whole thing was fully lighted inside.

Everyone crowded in and looked round with lots of "ooooh's and "that looks nice!". To tel the truth it was something along the lines of what Harry had expected, and it was only due to this expectation that he hadn't been amazed, for it was an impressive sight. In front of him ran five golden steps leading up into the head of the Pegasus, where the control room was. Harry could see two black chairs, presumably leather, seated each in front of one of the glass windows that was an eye. There were a few controls in front of them, much like a muggle aeroplane, only far more simplified.

Behind them was a brass rail, which looked positively dark compared to the large quantities of gold everywhere. On either side of them was  a red carpet, which stretched back into the large body of the Pegasus. Harry turned round, and walked round past the rail, into the area before him. It was a large hollow golden body, with each surface being bare. There were several comfortable looking black chairs, again leather, which were similar to the pilot chairs, except more laid back. In the middle of the room were two round tables, which were currently pushed together.

There was a bookcase on one wall, which upon inspection turned out to contain many books on basic spells, and foreign languages. "So You're Going To Spain!" said on book in bold letters. "How To Show Off To Overseas Visitors. Another read. Harry quickly concluded there would be very little worth reading. " Ron Serenity Blaise and Phillip all jumped down into one of the seats, which to their pleasant surprise turned out to rotate. This caused no end of entertainment later, and as it turned out, if you were going to be feeling ill it wouldn't be from the travelling, but form excessive spinning.

"This is nice." Harry said, as he felt it was rude not to say something. It was a bit like being invited to someone's home and telling them yours was better, or having someone show you their cat, only for you to tell them it has fleas and smells of eggs. It was rude and you didn't do it.

"Yes." I think so." Dumbledore said as he looked round at everyone. "It is nice. The chairs in particular. I wanted to get one of those for my study but it was a real challenge getting them through the school."  He said with a sigh.

"It's very golden." Harry added as the lights reflected of the walls and gave the impression that they were inside the centre of the sun. A very cold sun admittedly but it looked like it.

"Do you like it?" Dumbledore said in mild surprise, as though he hadn't been expected. "It's a little to sharp on my eyes, I find after several hours its nice to be in the lain world outside. Also I prefer to study by candlelight, I find the information sticks better." He explained. Professor McGonagall had gone upto the front and had started trying to configure something. It involved lots of button presses and the occasional "Darn."

Harry decided to waft further back to explore the rest. Because he could see three doors leading off. Tonks finally managed to struggle to the stop of the stairs, with assistance from Remus who was levitating most of her suitcases. Once they were up the steps began to rise and seal themselves so that no one could leave, and the journey could begin. Harry went over to a door on the left, and found that it opened into a very low long room.

Inside were several large beds taking up a lot of space, so that whoever laid in it wouldn't even be able to sit up. The ceiling itself could only have been about four foot high, it certainly wasn't enough for Harry to stand up in. He hunched over and walked further in, looking round in the strange rook. Once he had walked past three beds, and examined the shape of the room more carefully, he realised that they must be in the wing of the Pegasus.

"Wow this is weird." Said Alexanda who had appeared behind Harry. "How is anyone meant to sleep in here?" he walked over to the first bed and managed to squeeze into it so that his nose was only a few inches away from the ceiling. "This is ridiculous. If I was Snape my nose wouldn't fit! And this bed is to hard." He said as he tried to slide back out of bed, and succeeded in whacking his head. Harry looked round.

"Well I suppose that space must be tight." He said, as on the inside it felt a lot smaller than it seemed. "The walls must be very thick I suppose." He added as he walked over to the wall and gave it a hard tap with his knuckles. There was a dull ringing.

"Yep. That's thick stuff alright."

Alexanda didn't seem to be paying attention as he moved over to another bed, where the shape of the wing had given a few extra inches head space. He climbed onto it and fidgeted for a moment.

"This beds to soft." He complained as Ron walked in.

"Oh. This rooms just the same as the other wing." Ron said slightly disappointedly. "Hey Harry come on out a minute. We're about to take off and I thought it might be fun to watch." Harry walked past the beds, head still hunched. Spending any amount of time upright, or at least as upright as possible, would cause serious back problems.

Alexanda had tried a different bed by this time…

"Ooh this bed's just ri-" He said as Harry closed the door.

As Harry steppe back into the body he realised something was very different. Where the red carpet had been there was now nothing, or it appeared to be nothing. It looked as if they could see the ground. Dumbledore was looking round at everyone. Some of them were sitting round and had started playing cards.

"I thought I would turn the floor window on so you can see the journey. I don't expect it is that great for you since you have flown around so much, but to an old man like me I quite enjoy it." He said as he looked down at the grass below which was blowing in the wind.

"Sir." Harry said politely. "I was wondering aren't those two rooms awfully shallow?" Dumbeldore looked at him, and then at the door.

"Oh yes. The sleeping wings." He said with a small laugh at the bad pun. Well you won't have much use for them yet, unless of course some of you would like to go back to bed, which you are free to do so." He said as he pulled out the remote again. "I'm sure we can sort out the ceiling if we just turn this bit here."

"OWWW!" went a scream that came from the left bedroom.

Dumbeldore quickly turned it the other way. And with a smile acted as if nothing had happened. The ceiling rose a few feet.

"Space enhancing charm." He explained.

Harry went and took a seat next to Hermione, who was looking at the ground and playing cards with Serenity. They were playing poker. Hermione looked down at her cards trickily for a moment, before placing a nine down.

"Hit me!" she said. Serenity's eyes widened

"On no, I couldn't possibly." Harry sat and watched them play for a moment, whilst Ron went and spoke to Dumbeldore

"Sir." Where is the bathroom?" He asked as he shifted awkwardly. Harry glanced round at the only other visible door down at the far end of the body.

"Where do you think it is Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked with a grin."

After a few minutes everything was ready, and everyone was sat down. They had been told it wasn't the best idea to be standing whilst they take off. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were at the controls. Whilst Everyone else, including Tonks and Remus where sat around the two tables. Dumbledore reached forward, everything was ready. All he had to do was press the button and it would begin. So he did. With a massive jolt that seemed to move the earth itself they started to move forwards.

From outside it would be a positively terrifying site. A giant golden Pegasus, taking the first step there was, each foot sinking into the ground like the thick cataclysmic piece of banana in the universe of custard. Each Golden leg, moved mechanically at first, as if awoken form an age long sleep, and all it knows is what its told, and trying to describe walking to someone who had never taken a step in their life is like describing the wind to a fish.

After a few steps it began to speed up a little. Its head lowered, whilst still looking forward, and it pushed harder with its feet which turned up wheelbarrows full of dirt with every push form its hoof. Dumbledore would like to say he was telling it what to do. But he wasn't. He wasn't really sure how to do that. There had never been instructions with it. It did things it shouldn't do sometimes. Like no one told it to stop on the edge of that forest and eat an apple tree, it just did it. They tried to pretend that it didn't have a brain. They certainly hadn't given it one.

Perhaps its thoughts were caused by a sheer amount of magic being used in its construction, or maybe because to many people expected it to have a brain, the creation decided it didn't want to disappoint. Dumbledore in particular liked the theory that the mass behind it caused a dent in the fabric of space, in which spare thinking power ran into. It started to gallop, or at least it moved faster. Real horses weren't so unsettled in the whole affair.

Everyone inside was clinging on for life, and it was on just about everyone's mind that they should send a thank you card to the creators of seatbelts, and invest their life savings in plenty more. As the Pegasus galloped and picked up speed its body rocked violently, up and down causing everyone but the two pilots to bounce into the air. Remus certainly wasn't enjoying himself, as he was holding onto the edge of his chair, white knuckled and green faced. Tonks however, in an all to familiar manner was bouncing up and down with an enormous smile plastered on her face.

"Faster Albus, faster!"

The Pegasus cantered round the side of the building and charged down a length of open grass towards the edge of the great forest. It was a pity there weren't any fruit trees. It hadn't eaten for a while and it didn't like to fly on an empty stomach. Its great strides had become a gallop, as it reached the speed it needed, and in a distant remembrance its wings started to flap, up and down. By now its running had become less bouncy, much to nearly everyone's relief. It seemed as if the Pegasus was a fast learner, because it's running was quickly becoming like the much smaller real life version of its self.

It beat its wings furiously as great clouds of air were battered down towards the ground. They say a swan can break your arm with a flap of its wing. The Pegasus could break the arms of everyone in a small village with a single blow, if it felt inclined to do so. With a last gigantic sweep the air below the Pegasus increased, and it became airborne. Everyone was relieve as soon as its feet had left the ground, because it meant the ride would be much smoother. It still rocked up and down rather more than was comfortable, but it wasn't enough to throw you out of a seat, and once it had gained some height it could start gliding and then everyone could let out the breath they had been holding.

It soared upwards with every beat of its wings, the forest below them  streaking past. Harry worried for a moment if they would pass over the clearing by Grawp was. Even if Dumbledore knew about him it didn't mean that other people should. Having a giant kept in the woods could cause trouble for the headmaster. Thankfully that turned out to be on the other side of the forest.

They passed nearby Hogsmeade, although it was some way to their left. Once they had passed the further reaches of the village, they went over a field, and then some more fields, then some mountains, all the time climbing higher. Harry felt his ears pop at one point, as they flew high, high, up into the clouds. It truly was a spectacular site, being so high up and looking down at the landcape. Mountains speckled everything like ant hills in a garden. Fields passed by underneath like a green patchwork quilt.

They flying had become smooth at this time, and you could only just feel the movement of the flap of the wings, Harry was interested as to how someone could sleep in a wing whilst it was flapping, but Dumbledore seemed convinced it was entirely possible. It turned out later that they had used a gluing charm, along with an anti movement detection ward. This meant that you wouldn't leave the floor, and that the movement could be felt. It was quite clever in Harry's eyes, although if you wanted to be fussy it would have probably made more sense to have the beds in the legs, since they didn't move whilst it was flying.

After a few hours the sun rose, and everything shifted from its dark asleep state, to its wide awake busy state, with occasional cars going past like the tiniest of ants, barely visible as anything more than the smallest of dots. The cloud below then concealed the sight for a large part, and everyone went back to what they were doing. Playing cards, reading books, talking, or in Blaise's case, sitting angrily in silence.

It would be hard to say what she didn't like about today. Blaise had just woken up in a bad mood. Admittedly this was a common enough thing. It happened just about every other day. It didn't take much to get Blaise angry, although at the same time it would be wrong to say she was always angry, she merely noticed the bad things in life above the positive, and happened to find most things most people did very annoying. She had woken up to rain. She didn't like rain. It made things muddy and filthy. She hated filth.

It was also annoying being the only Slytherin on the team. She thought to herself. It meant there was a lot of pressure on you to do better than everyone else, because whilst most of the school was hoping they won, the Slytherin's were also hoping Blaise would outshine the other players, Harry Potter in particular. How she was meant to do this was never classified. She could hardly go and catch the Snitch. Also being the only Slytherin meant she had no one to talk to. Yes there were six other people if you wanted to be pedantic, but as far as she was supposed to be concerned they didn't count for anything.

She had heard of other Slytherins who had made friends with other houses. They generally got jinxed in the night. It was bad enough having to sit next to Harry in Transfigurations. She had been taunted to no end for that, and some of the stupid girls in her dormitory had even suggested she enjoyed it. They suggested an awful lot. Most of which repulsed her. Filthy minds. She hated Filth. Having to do Quidditch with him though. She was thankful he wasn't a chaser. He would go and throw the ball stupidly and make her look stupid and all the French children would laugh.

Upon reflection she discovered she hated French children. Just another thing to add to the list.

It was annoying that she had no one to talk to. Some of the others were playing cards, and Blaise wondered if there is any way she could join in without them assuming she wanted to be friends. People had a bad habit of assuming things like that. There probably wasn't. The books on the shelf were boring. As soon as she had stepped onto this stupid big horse she had realised that the books offered a possible escape from the boredom that arose from aloneness. She had picked up a book about… Africa… it seemed. It wasn't at all interesting. She just stared blankly at the pages pretending not to be bored.

Blaise concluded that she probably should have bought something to entertain herself. But what was there? She didn't own any cards. She would have to invest in some when she next got a chance. Hopefully there would be some sort of gift shop they would visit. She didn't want a flight back anything like this, because it was dragging on forever… It seemed like years had passed when in reality it had only been…two hours. Its amazing how long it felt. Apparently the whole thing was going to take the best part of fourteen hours. Which was quite frankly ridiculous.

She concluded the sad yet inevitable fact. She would have to try and talk to someone. Sleeping brushed her mind. She could do with a few hours sleep admittedly, although she generally tried to manage without it. In her eyes sleep was for the week. She didn't dare sleep in public. You couldn't trust people. Especially these people. It was a well known fact Harry Potter was a pervert. All the Slytherin girls said this, amongst other things. You never knew what he might do.

Also Blaise had a morbid fear of sleep talking. She cursed whoever it was that was to blame for such matters. Thoughts should be private, and if she wouldn't say them when she was awake she sure as hell shouldn't say them when she was asleep.

Blaise looked round. Remus and that idiot teacher were talking. That nervous girl and Mudblood were playing card. Phillip, Alexanda and Weasley were in some sort of private discussion, which would undoubtedly end as soon as she tried to contribute. That left only one very sad option. She could try and talk to Harry.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. She thought as she tried to look on the bright side. She didn't expect anyone would hear about it. She certainly wouldn't tell anyone, and if someone else did they would quickly regret it. She could do amazing things with a packet of fizzy sweats and a rolled up newspaper.

Blaise pulled herself up form the chair she had been sitting in, which she had pushed over to the far side of the room. She walked over to him and glowered angrily. It was a moment before Harry looked up, but when he had he regretted it.

"Yes?" he asked hopefully. She might not hit him this time…

"We are going to play chess" she said

"Okay. That sounds fun. Have you got pieces?"

"No!"

"Oh… I haven't…"

"Make some then." She hissed as he looked at her confusedly. How could he make pieces? Or perhaps the question was why shouldn't she. He wanted to ask her this, but she had a sort of glare that made you think twice before saying anything.

He mumbled angrily as he got up from his chair and pushed it over to where Blaise had been sitting. The other table wasn't being used either so he got that. He sat down in front of the table, and Blaise sat down opposite him. Staring angrily.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Well what?" asked Harry slightly taken back by how angry she always seemed at him

"Why aren't you making pieces like I told you?" It was a question Harry indeed had to think about. It wasn't like he always did what she said but he did want to play chess and if they were playing hopefully she wouldn't insult him.

He pulled out his wand for a moment and stared at the space in front of him. Before he wouldn't have thought twice about using the Crelatio spell to make something like chess pieces, but since he had been taught about the cost of magic, he needed to consider this. He didn't want to pass out or anything. Especially not in front of current company. Everyone knew Blaise Zabini was a murderer. All the boys in his dormitory said so, amongst other things. You never knew what she might do.

Harry concentrated his mind and sharpened his thoughts. He waved his wand in a series of complex patterns, and before him appeared a perfect chess board, all the pieces except the pawns, and sixteen unidentifiable blobs. They would have to do. It used less energy to make a simple blob rather than something with a very precise shape and warmth and textures and dryness and rigidity and all the other properties.

"What are they supposed to be?" She snapped as she looked down at them, but never the less stared arranging the pieces, showing she knew what they were. After all they were two different colours, eight of each. It was fairly obvious.

"They're the prawns." Harry said defensively. They weren't art admittedly but still…

"They are rubbish." She stated matter of factly. Harry sulked.

"Make better ones yourself then." And with that he arranged his pieces and made the first move.

The rest of the journey passed like this. Harry had to admit Blaise was a good player. Although she was a bad looser and an even worse winner.

"I don't thi-" he said.

"I didn't ask you to talk, so shut up and play." She instructed, and he did.

The ground underneath changed into crowded buildings, then  more countryside, then long roads with lots of cars, and town and villages, they all moved underneath as the flew onwards. The sun went through the air and the day went onwards. Eventually with a few flap of its wings, The Pegasus moved forwards and the ground far, far below was gone, as they flew over the great blue sea, and into the land of France.


	48. Over the Sea

The Pegasus moved forwards and the ground far, far below was gone, as they flew over the great blue sea, and into the land of France.

As the great waves crashed below them and the blue world moved in its harmonious pattern, everyone looked down in excitement. There was a boat carrying muggles, heading from England to Calais. Then there was another boat, then several smaller boats, and before they would have thought, the tip of France appeared, jutting out into the sea with a port on its edge, like the hat of the country.

They were still at quite a height, and couldn't see that the country actually looked a lot like England, with the only difference being the fact that street signs were different, and that they drove on the opposite side of the road (and did so in a very bad manner, generally focusing a lot of anger at the car in front, the car behind who was honking at them, and the pedestrian who was trying to cross the road without dying).

Dumbledore got up from the controls and walked over to everyone who was standing staring at the floor rather excitedly. If it hadn't revealed the sight below they would all have looked rather stupid, or else extremely sorry for themselves. The headmaster had had the sense to install an auto pilot. You needed it really because otherwise it could be a real bugger to go to the toilet without crashing.

"Yes everyone. I can tell your all excited." Dumbledore said as he waved his arms in a calming manner. "But before we land I should probably go over a few rules, also there is actually about an hour left before we get there."

"So where exactly is Beauxbatons?" Hermione asked in a tone which suggested she wanted to know for more than just curiosity. Dumbledore gave a quick fleeting look towards McGonagall who was busily sitting in the second pilot seat.

"Well you know how it is miss Granger. Wizarding Schools don't like to put an exact location on the map. They like to move around a bit if you appreciate what I mean." No one understood what he meant, which was exactly as Dumbledore had intended it. He decided to plunge on before any more questions got asked, that shouldn't be asked

"Now as I have been told you have already been lectured on all the basic rules of how to behave. But  will never the less revise it so that you have no excuse to let the school down. Don't insult them, don't be rude of dismissive to them, Treat The Beauxbatons students with respect and compliment their school, teaching methods or any other things you are shown. At the same time always leave open the belief that our things are in actual fact better, although you mustn't say so for that would seem arrogant. Please do try to be nice because this is all about foreign relations after all." He said warmly.

"Sir? Are we going to be sleeping here or at their school?" Ron asked anxiously. Harry knew where he wanted to sleep. Ron was very sceptical over the French things it seemed.

"Well Mr Weasley. We have the facilities to sleep here, but if they offer us accommodation then it is only the polite thing to accept." Ron made a grumbling sound.

"It's just that bill said that French people don't have proper pillows, but they have these funny sausage shaped ones…" he sulked.

"I'm sure the pillows will be satisfactory." Dumbledore said in a way that meant it was a fact.

"Now, an obvious problem to some of you is that they speak French whilst most of you know little to none. However it has been arranged and the students will not try to talk to you, except in English, or unless you have someone who is both fluent in both English and French and can convert what is being said for you."

"Why can they speak two languages and we only know one?" Phillip asked as he raised his hand for a moment in order to gain attention rather than permission to speak.

"By we I assume you mean you. Professor McGonagall can speak several languages for example. But the reason is because they are well educated. Some of the students know fluent English from a very young age." He explained.

"Under no circumstances do I want you to bring your brooms off this transport before the match later in the week, and when you do I want you not to let them out of your site. It isn't that you should distrust them. I expect they are very well behaved. It is merely a case of there being no point in taking unnecessary risks."  Dumbledore said in a tone which left no doubt in any ones mind over what he was getting at.

They knew about broom jinxing. Every serious Quidditch fan did. There were the strictest rules against jinxing in Quidditch, and there were barriers that stopped just around every kind. However there was no rule about someone sabotaging your broom before the match so that it cold only turn left. This could be very dangerous. Especially if you were unfortunate enough to find yourself flying parallel to a brick wall.

"Now I belive that is all I can really say for now. Or at least all the stuff that isn't obvious. Use your common sense if you get stuck." He said as he went to walk away. Harry quickly followed after him.

 "Sir." He said as quietly as he could manage. "He didn't want to be over heard. Dumbledore never the less, heard him and turned round with a look of mild curiousity.

"Yes Harry?"

"Well sir. I was just wondering. What exactly is the point behind this whole Quidditch tournament?" Dumbledore looked at Harry with furrowed eyebrows for a moment.

"Well it is to win. That and improve international relations.

"Is that the real reason?" Harry asked slightly coldly, over the fact that he felt something was being concealed form him. Something he had a right to know.

"Yes Harry. That is the real reason." Dumbledore said as he took Harry by the shoulder and guided him further away from the students who were all knelt on the floor, trying to spot the Eiffel tower. "Amongst other things." Harry gave a small grin which Dumbledore reflected. Harry knew the headmaster well enough to know that if he went through the trouble of organising something like this, that there must be something in it for him.

"Well Harry. The truth is we want to show that the world is running as normal, as I said. Also International relationships. However I never specified what kind of relations." He said with a sparkle in his eye. Harry had a worried moment that Dumbledore was seeking some foreign love, but this fear was quickly put to rest as he continued. "Now Harry since the return of Voldemort it is more important than ever. The reasons behind this are so that we can try and inform other countries of the threats we are under, since as you may have noticed Voldemort doesn't like to stray to far yet. His power isn't yet enough to try anything on a global scale, because as soon as he leaves the united kingdom then he has foreign ministries joining in against him."

"But don't the other countries know about him? Doesn't the whole world?" Harry asked in surprise as he raised his voice louder than he should do. Hermione looked up from the floor and saw him talking, before looking back at the carpet.

"No Harry. They don't. France does yes, they know Voldemort is back, but what you read in the newspaper isn't always true, as I think we know only to well. They don't appreciate how powerful he is becoming, whilst Durmstrang and Mirrari thing that it is just story. Some of them don't even believe in you. They think you died, or never lived ,or are insane or a great deal more things which you are not."

"The point of this tournament was to ask our true intentions." Dumbledore continued in a hurried whisper. He didn't want anyone to hear, and he had a lot to say. "Now as you know Madam Maxine is a friend of mine and a reasonable friend of mine, and whilst we are at her school we shall be fulfilling the second objective."

"What's the second objective?" Harry butted in.

"I'm about to tell you. Now it was decided amongst the order, or rather it was decided by me and backed up by Minerva and Remus, that we should expand the order. Whilst we may stop one of attacks Harry. I feel there is far more going on than we know about. Not everything Voldemort does makes it into the papers or into our ears, and so we must know more."

"We are preparing for the worst Harry, for there is no point preparing for the best. Whilst we hope Voldemort doesn't gain power I'm afraid he probably will, and we have decided to take the next step and prepare for when he moves on, when he crosses the seas and furthers his wrath."

"So we are going to get madam Maxine to join the Order?" Harry asked surprised. It was a bit of a journey to get all the way from France every time they had a meeting.

"She is already a member." Dumbledore said simply.

"Then why haven't I ever seen her at any of the meetings?"

"She is working for us in the intelligence branch."

Harry had to stop… He didn't even know there was an intelligence branch to the order.

"I didn't know there was one of those sir. Is it big?"

"Not big enough." Dumbledore responded as he looked over his shoulder, as if the walls were growing ears or a spy would hop out at any moment. "Where did you think Arabella and Mundungus worked Harry? Where did you think I learn the things I do that I present to the active division of the Order."

"I don't know. I just assumed you were very clever." Harry said as he had to admit he had never given it serious thought.

"I'm clever Harry. Not magic…much." He added.

"So if Madam Maxine is in the order then what are we getting?" Harry asked Dumbledore suspiciously.

"More people Harry. We need more and the only think stopping us is a matter of trust. However Madam Maxine says she has several people she believes suitable, and I plan on speaking to them through the course of the week… subtly of course. That is partially where Remus and Tonks come into it. If all goes well we will perform the initialization test and give them the Coombsy. This requires witnesses from the Order." Dumbledore said as he stared at Harry unblinkingly.

"But what about me and McGonagall? We are both members of the Order." Harry asked.

"I said that was part of their job. The other part of their job is to guard you Harry. They will be with you every second of every hour of every day. The will stretch the very meaning of supervising to a whole new extreme. You're not in Hogwarts Harry and your in great danger, even now." Dumbledore said as he suddenly stopped and looked around. Harry looked around to, as though expecting to be attacked suddenly.

"You needn't worry to much. Beauxbatons is quit safe. Not as safe as Hogwarts admittedly, but I have spoken to madam Maxine and between us we have got the security running as high as there is. Not even an insect could get within one mile of the school without being accounted for." Harry blushed slightly at the thought of everyone going through so much effort.

"You needn't have worried. I'm not that important." He said quietly. Dumbledore spun on him.

"You are more important than you can come to understand Harry. If Voldemort managed to get his hands on you it would be of the most dire consequences you can imagine. The amount of trouble we have gone through for you is nothing compared to the amount you deserve!" he said wide eyed and pale faced.

"Don't worry. I won't wonder off." Harry said reassuringly. He didn't like to be under such close scrutiny. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"I know you won't Harry because you enjoy living." Dumbledore whispered in a tone that cut ice. Harry gulped.

"So what makes it so dangerous?" He asked finally. As he stumbled for something to keep the conversation going, rather than ending on such a morbid note.

"Well Harry. Put it this way. Everyone in the world knows you're in France and They know there is an area the size of a Quidditch pitch you will be in. I think that makes this pretty dangerous. Don't you?"

"Yes." Harry said as he himself was starting to feel faint. Dumbledore knew when Harry was at Hogwarts, but that was ok because Hogwarts was a safe haven. It wasn't ok for the dark lord to know anymore. Not when It was out in an open field with no one to protect him.

"We have every member of the active division of the Order placed around the stadium for the match Harry. Along with twenty trained Aurors. Ten of the ministry finest information spies will also be in the are for the whole week, so do watch what you say wont you."

"Why would the ministry get that many people helping me?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Because Harry, where stopping Voldemort they have very little to hold onto, and out of all the chaos he has begun they have gathered one fact, he wants you Harry. He needs you for his plans. They intend to do all they can on this fact, for they have nothing else to do."

"So will I know these information spies?" Harry asked as one question kept arising after the other,. He had expected a simple answer to why the whole tournament, and instead he was getting onto something quite different.

"I should certainly hope not." Dumbledore said as he shook his head. "No. These will be the finest there are. Better than the elite. They are the sort of people that you will think are French, they not only can speak English, but they can sound like a French person and they can sound like a French person trying to sound English."

"So these spies. They will be following me around will they?" Harry asked hopefully. He hoped the answer was no, although expecting and hoping were different things.

"undoubtedly. One of them at least. Whilst the ministry wants to protect you I think they will also be trying to have an open ear to what you know, for they suspect correctly, in that you know more than you should know."

"But what are they like?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked once again to make sure they weren't being listened to.

"They could follow in the streets for an hour and you wouldn't know a thing. They could take the socks off your feet without you knowing. They could eat the filling out your sandwich, pick pockets you didn't even know you had,  and they could be in your shower when you wash, and you wouldn't know a thing! They are good Harry, so don't breath a word about anything to anyone if it isn't something a normal school boy should know."

Harry didn't like the idea of someone taking a shower with him. It was scary. He decided to change the subject.

"So what are we doing whilst we are at Durmstrang and Mirari then?" Harry asked. If those two countries hardly knew Voldemort was back then they wouldn't be very likely to get supporters.

"Well Harry. For those two we are going to try and convince the public that Voldemort is back, and get things stirred up a little. With the media involved in this it could easily work to our favour."

"so that's it then. Is there anything else I need to know?" Harry asked, as things seemed to have come to a stop.

"Well I cant think of anything else at the moment. But if I can I shall be sure to tell you." Dumbledore said firmly. He turned to walk away, but one more thing came to Harry's mind, with all the talk about the Order.

"Sir. I remember I needed to tell you something. I have lost the galleon from the Order. The one that says when the meetings are."

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a few moments, although he seemed to actually be staring some distance past him.

"Well there isn't much we can do about it now I'm afraid. Don't worry though. We will get it all sorted out when we get back to Hogwarts. There isn't much we can do at the moment about it I'm afraid.

"What if someone find's it sit?" Harry asked worriedly. He could imagine what would happen if Draco accidentally stumbled into an Order meeting.

"I can't remember if I told you, but the galleons were built with a safety feature which is whenever someone else touches it, besides the assigned owner, then it will disappear after a few hours unless it is returned. I expect it is long gone, so I will have a new one made…" Dumbeldore lied.

He walked off back to the head of the Pegasus, leaving Harry to think about all that had been said. He never realised he was causing so much trouble… the whole Order Active Division was going to be looking out for him, a well as thirty ministry members. He came and stood besides Ron who was adamant on the fact that the Eiffel Tower was a large tree.

"you said it was big!" Ron complained.

"Yeah. I didn't say it was a tree though."

"What's the difference. They are practically the same?"

"One's made of metal."

"Oh."

Several moments passed.

"Is that it?" Ron asked as he pointed at a boat. Hermione sighed.

Gradually they got further and further along, going inland more and more. Thy didn't see the Eiffel tower in the end. Harry guessed that due to its shape and their height it could have easily been missed. Of course they might not even have flown over it at all. A lot of them seemed confused over the fact that there was more to France than that. Well… more to it than that and frogs and snails. As Ron had so clearly pointed out. They moved away from the large towns and over the busy city of Paris which was speckled with tiny lights.

"Wow." Serenity said in awe. It was very amazing. It was like an intricate Christmas tree, only less green. The light were so small and so many that if you squinted slightly it actually all merged into one big glowing city.

"It is full of very historical facts and monuments you know." Hermione said knowingly as she stood next to Serenity. Gradually, Paris to faded, and they continued onto the open stretch of land, further and further until McGonagall stepped down from the piloting area, and announced that Beautbaxons was in sight.

Everyone stared at the floor expecting to see it, although the view from the front of the ship was probably better than one looking straight down at the floor, Some people tried to put their chin to the floor and get a better view due to the angle, but since this was a magical floor it didn't work.

"I advise you put you take a seat." Professor McGonagall instructed them as the Pegasus started to become more unstable, as the flapping of its wings increased in preparation for landing.

She then quickly ran back t the head and took her seat. Everyone exchanged looks as to what they should do, and then decided they could still see quite well whilst sitting down, besides they had waited fourteen hours. A few more minutes wasn't going to kill them, except perhaps in Harry's case, where a few more minutes can make an inexcusable difference.  With only a few more minutes Harry wouldn't enjoy life's simple pleasures such as eating and breathing.

As they sat in the seat, suddenly to their surprise, the floor returned to its usual red state.

"Don't want you leaning forward in your seats now." Dumbledore said as his voice rang backwards through the body. Everyone instead focused on holding onto their seats, with the one obvious exception, as the Pegasus took a dive, and begun to fall to earth, and out into the open plains of Beauxbatons

Madam Maxine stood with the students body looking up at the sky. They had been waiting for the last half an hour. Dumbledore was late and it was probably deliberate. She knew what he was trying to do. No doubt he would plan on being late so that the feast was ruined and it would lessen their school. He was always one for competition, and judging by the transport he was as for it as ever. Still.

The kitchen staff were clever, they could do clever things. They knew how to keep food warm without making it turn rubbery. Admittedly the technique they employed was called hindsight, and they hadn't actually finished the meal yet, but she knew Dumbledore would be late, and so had planned it not to be ready for another five minutes. Everything would be ready as she had planned, it nearly always was.

She hadn't told the students that of course. She had make them wait at what was apparently the correct arrival time. There was nothing better than to lessen a school in another's eyes than to make everyone stand out in the blustery wind for half an hour whilst they think there is a feast inside getting cold. You could always slip a dung bomb in the Hogwarts robes and have everyone think they stink. That worked a treat to. Madam Maxine reached cautiously into her pocket as her hand closed round a small round object. She came prepared just in case.

She could hear the students fidgeting awkwardly as they spied the flying object in the distance. To them it looked like a snitch, it was that size, but there were only so many places you could get so much gold, and it was a good ten years since the last time it had been used. She was expecting it to be in some senses.

"Will you stop fidgeting!" she instructed as a particularly annoying boy caught her sight somewhere near the front. He hastily disappeared into the wall that was students, standing as still as stone. When a ten foot plump women threatened you, you learned pretty fast.

 She looked across the gardens before us. It wasn't like there were lots of flowers or anything. That would be stupid. The flowers went on the other side of the school, and around the edge of the walls. Not here. She had learned the hard way that you could get a school of five hundred students to stand by a flower bed and not have them either squashed or widdled on. Someone always thought it was funny. Anyway, the flowers weren't here, and neither were the ornamental ponds or the trees. It was just lots of flat grass. Very flat. It took a long time to get it like that, and looking at that golden Pegasus she knew it would be a heavy buggar.

"Darn." She said to herself. "That is going to much up my lawn."

It had grown in size now, and a silent chorus of whispers had broken amongst the students as to what exactly it was.

"I think it's some sort of golden bird!" Volunteered a boy from the back, who really couldn't see well.

"Is it a plain?" added another. A girl with very thick glasses adjusted them on her nose and squinted up.

"No! it's aooooooOOOOOOOw" she exclaimed as her teacher gave her a slap round the back of the head.

"Will you stop your bloody chatting, and start looking intimidating!" instructed Mr. Kent as he recalled his instructions.

Dumbledore adjusted the controls. He seemed to be flying it quite well, although he couldn't get it to do what he wanted. Admittedly he did want it to flap its wings faster and slow down and move towards the ground, but the thing was he hadn't told it this yet. There was something vaguely disheartening about something that does its job to well. Almost like its to eager. Its eagerness that killed the cat. Not curiosity. Curiosity merely annoys people. It's the eager buggar who took your job that needed a sorting to.

 Madam Maxine looked around. So far so good. She had made sure that all the students had been checked for objects to throw. Some of them had been a bit sour after the defeat in the triwizard tournament. Especially when they found out that Harry potter was one of the people on board. It really would have been a laugh if after all the trouble of protecting him from death eaters, he went and died from a rock to the head. It wouldn't have been a very cautious worried laugh, because if that could happen, then it was a scary world to think what could happen to you.

She had considered sewing up the pockets on the robes, but the first year students tended to get so grubby, she thought it best their hand weren't on display. She looked down at her own enormous hands. They were immaculately clean. Good. It was her job as headmistress of the school, to give everyone a hearty handshake. Not to hearty though, because when she did that their hands made cracking sounds and they made gurgling sounds and there was a little trickling sound as they widdled themselves.

Her dress was black. It concealed her bulk, she thought. No one else agreed, except on a dark day such as this, when you could think that her outer boundaries were merely an overly enthusiastic extent of the sky that had heard about being solid, and decided to give it a go. The students were all wearing their robes, which she had made sure didn't have rude stickers on the back or mud on the knees or the snotty bit on the cuff in the case of the boy with the continuously runny nose.

The Pegasus drew closer and by now there wasn't really much debate over what it was. Everyone could see it was a great winged horse. They decided to make the appropriate sound for such a momentous moment as this.

"Pff.. We have better stuff than that!"

The Pegasus was close to the ground. It was a pity it hadn't had much practice at landing, because it wasn't entirely certain of how to manage it. Dumbledore didn't know either, although this didn't really effect anything. It lowered to the ground as the last meters disappeared below the colossal giant. Its feet gently scraped against the ground, or as gently as two solid metal hoofs the size of a large tree trunk can. In actual fact it turfed up the ground in enormous piled the size of wheel barrows and bath tubs. Damn him. She cursed to herself. Just as she had predicted. They didn't know how long it took to get that flat surface…

The Pegasus galloped along proudly, drawing closer and closer to the students. It wouldn't be wrong to say it did proudly. It just wouldn't be what you did, because that suggested you agreed that it could think. It began to slow as it let its wngs flap at either side. Madam Maxine fumbled for her wand. She held it at the ready. If that great giant didn't stop in a minute there was going to be trouble, and it wasn't going to be for her. Thankfully it did, and with one great creak from it, it came to a stop, towering above them all in an unavoidably spectacular form.

The students would have to try hard not to be impressed. She could see several impressionable girls staring in wonder. Knowing their type was like, as she referred to them, they would probably be even more dazzled when Harry Potter stepped off. Fame could stretch a long way and shield someone's eyes from the fact that behind the looks and name he was just a caring boy. And who would want to be friends…or more… with that?

Harry looked round the interior of it all. A few books had fallen off the shelf in the land, but other than that everyone was in their seat… just about. Remus was more in a seat than Harry had thought humanly possible. Whilst Tonks was duly bouncing up and down still with a mildly vacant expression on her face. In some weird way she probably thought if she really believed in it, then the fun horsy would start up again. Dumbledore strolled down the steps, along with professor McGonagall, who looked a little flustered, with some of her hair falling out of its normal tidy place.

"We have landed." She said, although it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that fact.

The golden Pegasus outside had settled into its non moving state, where any sign of humanity was hidden away, behind thick layers of metal. Beauxbatons Students were trying to creep forwards to touch it. They didn't have any particular interest, except that they knew they shouldn't.

"I want you all to be writing in class." Madam Maxine said, as she watched them carefully from five feet above everyone else.

"Yeah and?" said one of the younger ones who wasn't as sharp as some of the older students.

"Well, if you do what your thinking of doing them I guarantee, you won't be able to write." She said with a glint in her eye.

She had always found her height useful. As well as being able to see well form anywhere in a crowd, she also had the unique ability to go unseen. All she had to do was dress in brown and she would be mistaken for a tree, or in a more sandy colour and she was simply confused for part of the wall. She had found it very useful indeed. It was like being invisible except it gave a much larger personal satisfaction. Also you could scare the crap out of hedgehogs late at night when they found out it wasn't a mountain they were trying to walk around.

"Ok now what I want everyone to do, is leave you luggage and things here, I can take care of that later." Dumbledore began as he explained to everyone what he wanted them to do.

"Ok now what I want everyone to do, is act like…" Olympe began as she told everyone what to do.

"Straighten your robes out." He said as he looked at Phillip who know had a wonky tie, and at Serenity whose robe was considerably more off her than on. He looked at them once they had made adjustments. They all looked quite neat, or at least as neat as they could be. He went to run round and open the steps leading downwards, but upon noticing McGonagall he stopped.

"Ey gad woman! What's wrong with your hair?" he exclaimed as he wiped his glasses and saw the same sight as before. "Tidy yourself up or we will be the laughing stock of the world." Professor McGonagall blushed deeply before turning her back, walking into the pilot area, pulling a curtain across, and emerging a few seconds later looking exactly the same as she always did.

"Good. Now that that is all ready then. I think it is time for us to leave, and begin the Beauxbatons experience." Dumbledore said as he extracted the control form his pocket, pressed the appropriate button, and the stairs began to lower.


	49. Arrival

I think it is time for us to leave, and begin the Beauxbatons experience." Dumbledore said as he extracted the control form his pocket, pressed the appropriate button, and the stairs began to lower.

Harry carefully made his way over to the steps. For some reason they had been told to walk down in height order, and so he found himself second from back, with Ron behind him. Tonks and Remus wouldn't be following yet, because when you are trying to appear impressive having Tonks falling all over the scene with exploding suitcases doesn't do well. He could hear lots of talking from the students, although he couldn't understand it. Dumbledore was at the front of the group, and as he reached the bottom of the steps, and turned round the side of them there were a few stray claps.

They ceased quickly when it became apparent that Madam Maxine wasn't going to join in.

AS Harry reached the bottom of the steps he turned a corner and he could now see the majority of the student body, except for a section blocked form his view by a golden leg. Upon sight of him there was a lot more hushed whispering, that all blurred together into a continuous hum of gossip. If someone didn't say something loud enough for him to hear it was probably because he wouldn't appreciate it. He was ok with people talking behind back. That sort of thing was inevitable. It was when you heard someone saying "Blargh blargh blargh Harry blargh blargh." Then you got suspicious. Especially when they refused to tell you what they had been talking about, and burst into fits of giggles as soon as you turned your back.

Harry wasn't sure if he was meant to be smiling or not, and so in the end he decided he didn't want to look like the sullen one if everyone else was smiling, and so he showed a few teeth. A girl at the front of the crowd fainted. They continued walking, until the Golden Pegasus was behind them, and they could see several hundred students, probably a few hundred less than Hogwarts, all lined up with their teachers at the back of the crowd. They stopped once they were close enough for the Beauxbatons students to spit on them. Hopefully they wouldn't.

Madam Maxine bustled forwards, as she quickly made her way to the front. Te students parted quickly. They didn't really have a choice to do it slowly, and as she pressed forwards it looked like a normal person wading through a wait deep sea. The main difference was that once you had walked through it the students didn't flood to where you had just been, and there was a painful whimper form a few people.

"Ello' Dumbleydore." She said as she extended a hand to shake. Dumbledore without hesitation stepped forwards from the line of students and shook her hand.

It was a rather delicate science to Olympe, shaking hands, and it was a rather polite form of torture to others. Thankfully she managed fine on this occasion. And Dumbledore's hand returned with the same amount of fingers as before.

"Hello, my good friend Madam Maxine." Said Dumbledore smiling. "Your school is looking as charming as ever. I'm afraid we might have left a few muddy patches form the landing. I hope you will forgive me." He said earnestly as he looked back at the ground the Pegasus had run on, which now looked more like an off road biking track.

"Don't worry, I am most certain we vill be able to sort it out with the simplest of ease." She lied. Hours. It had taken hours!

"Your students are looking thoroughly well behaved and intelligent." Dumbledore complimented as not a single student dared look out of place.

"As are yures." She replied. "I see yure students ave new uniforms as well. I expect that every student has one. Am I right I'm my assumption?"

"Absolutely." Dumbledore replied. They stood for a minute summing each other up. The polite talk was over. Onto the war.

"It's a little nippy this evening. Shall we go inside. I hope our lateness hasn't caused to much of a problem for dinner. I'm afraid there was a terribly strong northern wind."

"Don't worry my dear Dumbleydore. I am most certain it will still be edible."

Upon instructions from their teachers all the Beauxbatons students turned one hundred and eighty degrees and marched back in through the main door. As soon as the walking began they all became rather noisy. This was relieving to Ron.

"Phew." He said as he wiped his forehead. "I thought they were like robots or something. Not decent noisy people. You can't trust the quiet ones. They get all huffy when you try and slurp your soup. Not that they have soup. Unless of course it's frog soup." He said as though he had achieved a victory over them. "With a slug side salad." He added malevolently.

The Hogwarts students were walking behind everyone else. The last thing they wanted to do was go at the front and end up following a student who was actually going to the toilet. From the outside the castle looked impressive. It looked somewhat like Hogwarts, except perhaps more modern. There was certainly more glass in the windows, although it wasn't necessary as they had milder weather. Also the brick it was constructed out of still had a desperate cling to what it was intended to be. Unlike the ancient stone of Hogwarts which had long since blackened from impurities in the air and carbon dioxide being absorbed into the bricks. These whilst being dark, had in places, lighter spots where there was only a thin dirty layer over the top.

Spires stretched high into the air, in much the same way as Hogwarts, except that in a way implacable to any attribute, rather than having a gothic intimidating feel to it, it was merely welcomly large, pretty even. The roof tops seemed to be lined with patterned stone, rather than functional lead sheet like Hogwarts. It wasn't the same size as Hogwarts either. Harry had never bothered to question, but the considerable number of permanently vacant classrooms told Harry that hundreds of years ago the population of the school must have been more than it was now. Through a shrinking student count the school had become unnecessarily large.

Beauxbatons however, never had this problem. It seemed it was constructed perhaps, one thousand years ago, and the student numbers looked to about the right for the size. In fact although Harry and the others couldn't see it, the school wasn't as deep either, and so all together it was only about a third of the size. None the less it was still very large. A school had to be when you had several hundred students doing magic. As Harry walked along the grass he noticed that it was better kept than Hogwarts, although a large part of this could be due to extra sun, and a lack of near continuous rain.

It was cut shorter however, and should anyone have been inclined they could have easily played a game of golf, or Boules, which some of the teachers did in fact do during the summer months. It also had a springy quality to, which regular gardeners simply could not obtain. The last of the students filtered in, leaving the Hogwarts staff and students walking in at the back. Harry managed to notice that around the perimeter of the castle was a herbaceous border, sporting many bright colours form such plants as Geraniums, Chrysanthemums, and Heilala . Hermione seemed to think it was very pretty. Harry seemed to wonder what was wrong with grass.

Harry passed through the great entrance doors, which he didn't think were that great, and into the actual school itself. There was a large rug, several meters across, depicting the school house emblem in minute detail. It was most definitely a magical rug, because it would get muddy very fast, as aunt Petunia would have been more than happy to point out. There were stairs leading up from either side of the room, that curved round, met in the middle, before going up a few more stairs and into what was presumably the rest of the school. In front of them however, between the stairs was a set of wooden French doors which had been folded open to one side, and as Harry could see, inside was the great hall. If that is what they called it.

He followed Dumbledore and McGonagall with everyone else trailing behind him, except Ron who was walking along besides Harry, almost anxiously wanting to criticize everything. Harry could just see from where he was standing, a suitcase flying through the air by the steps to the Pegasus, and he guessed that Remus and Tonks were on their way down, now that they had judged they could get off safely without making themselves idiots in front of the entire magical child population of France. Harry turned his attention back to the great hall, where students were all sitting along three long tables. Harry assumed that these must be the house tables, except that for some reason none of the students seemed entirely certain of where they should sit, as indeed they would stand round, spot their friend waving to them on the opposite side of the room, and walk over there.

"Where do you think we should sit?" Hermione whispered in his ear as she looked around. There was a gap next to some rather thuggish looking boys. She didn't have to worry about this for long however, as a moment later Dumbledore turned his head slightly, and signalled for them to keep on following him, as they made their way to the end of the hall, to the teachers table, which was next to the raised podium upon which Madam Maxine was standing. There wasn't really much need to raise her any higher than she naturally was, except for comical purposes, and as she stood on the rickety wooden platform, it gave a disgruntled creak every time she breathed.

Dumbledore came to a standstill as he looked up at her, and wait for her instructions as to where they would sit. From the tip of Dumbledore hat to Madam Maxine's chin there were several feet. Harry looked round at the Halloween decorations. They were impressive in a sense, except without being biased they weren't as good as Hogwarts. Rather than achieving anything scary, it looked as if whoever had decorated the door was only vaguely aware of what scary was meant to be, having perhaps read it from a text book or stared death in the face and question why he had such a morbid look upon his face. Surely a smile would be much more fitting.

There were cut out cardboard ghosts, although they didn't look anything like real ghosts. They actually looked like big puffy clouds or footballs with a bedsheet on top. They also had smiling faces, and quite frankly if a real ghost saw one of these, then it would probably be considered insulting. There were lots of pumpkins, all over the room on every flat surface, but again, whoever had cut the faces in them had only a weak grasp of facial expressions, and for some reason had tried to make an angry ghost and ended up giving it dimples and outwards sloping eyebrows.

A few cobwebs lined the corners, and these were the only remotely scary thing around. However the lack of attention they seemed to draw suggested that they weren't actually part of the decorations, but merely where a busy spider had set to work in an out of reach corner.

"My it certainly is… petrifying this year." Said Dumbledore in a manner of similar to jack explaining Christmas to someone who stares blankly for a few seconds before misunderstanding entirely.

"Yes. I think we ave outdone ourselves." She responded as she smiled round at all the festive decorations before giving a small shudder of fear at the sight of a particularly horrific ghost who had stolen someone ice cream! The whole podium shook threateningly. The doors at the end of the hall closed, as Tonks and Remus walked in, leaving their luggage hidden. Remus had put it into his magical cloak. As the doors shut everyone fell into silence, and stared expectantly at their plates, as if sheer determination and mind power was going to cause food to appear.

Madam Maxine smiled at all the students who looked back at her, and didn't smile. She then cleared her throat, which sounded like a localized earthquake, and then began to speak to them all in French. Ron looked slightly aggravated by the fact he could understand it.

"I bet she is insulting us." He hissed into Harry's ear. In reply to this he received an elbow to the ribs from Hermione telling him to shut up. Dumbledore continued smiling, and Harry considered it was quite possible that Dumbledore understood it all very well.

The speech went on for about five minutes, although what could be said was of a mystery to Harry, as he just tried to imagine in his own mind what should be said, and tried to make up the speech from words that sounded English. It wasn't working particularly well. The only point he gave up was when he heard his name being called out.

"Harry Potter." Olympe said as she waved one of her enormous hands down towards him, practically knocking Ron round the head. Harry stared stupidly before he felt someone poke him in the back, and cause him to step forward out of the line they were in.

As he did so there was an enormous round of cheers from the school, especially the female half. It seemed that he wasn't the only one to notice this, as several dozen boys gave him angry glances, and quietened their clapping as far as was politely possible.

The same person that seemed to have pushed Harry forwards pulled him back, and Harry heard Ron's voice. This time Ron stepped forwards giving a nastily thin grin whilst saying through his teeth.

"Oh God Harry, what should I do? Should I wave?" he asked as he began extending his hand gingerly. He was good at doing things gingerly. Harry didn't respond. He couldn't help but notice that the cheer was less enthusiastic, as if not many people cared. Hopefully Ron wouldn't notice, or else he would be sulking tonight…Unless Harry could get him drunk on food. It was worth a try.

Once everyone had stood forwards and received a wave Harry expected that they would perhaps be introduced to the opposition, but this wasn't the case. Once Madam Maxine then spoke for a few more minutes there was a round of applause, and a cheer as several window sized ports opened on the far side of the wall, and in flew hundreds of plates of food, each leaving behind them a trail of blue that stayed in the air for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I expect you would be liking to receive your seats now." Olympe said as she looked down at Dumbledore, and stepped down from where he had been standing.

"Yeah I'm starving." Ron said enthusiastically. Despite all the fuss Harry thought if Ron had missed lunch then he would probably eat frogs and slugs, although he would never be offered the latter. A few of the people laughed, including Dumbledore and Madam Maxine.

"Yes. I'm sure the little hog child would like some food." She said just as jolly as ever. Ron's excitement suddenly disappeared to be replaced with a look of shock and disgust.

"It was a joke." She said once she realised that he had taken some offence to it. And to illustrate her point she gave Ron a hearty pat round the back. He smiled as if in forgiveness, although it was actually so she wouldn't attack him with those great big thug hands.

"You will be sitting here." She said as she pointed to a section of reserved seats that had up until now gone unnoticed. "I shall assume this causes no problems?" she asked as she looked at the. They all smiled and shook their head , before hurrying to sit down. They were all thankful that they weren't being forced to sit on their own, surrounded by the other students, the only argument now was who would be forced to take the two seats next to the French kids. In the end Harry was forced into one of the seats, whilst the second was passed onto Serenity, who lacked the objection to try and politely suggest someone else with a better grasp of French would be more suited.

"Would you like to sit at the teachers table or with your students?" Olympe asked as she looked at Albus and indicated an empty seat next to an absolutely massive one that was presumably her own. Dumbledore gave a mischievous grin before looking back to his students.

"As much as I would love to catch up with you I am sure there will be plenty of time to do that." He said with emphasis on the implication. For the Order she would make time. "But I think I shall sit next to my students. After all I do need to make sure you haven't tried to poison them." Olympe gave a roar of laughter.

"Oh Dumbleydore. You know me to well."

Harry looked down at his food, and was surprised or disappointed to see it looked rather like their normal food. He wasn't entirely sure of wht he wanted. Ron was rather relieved however.

"I tell you this is proper nosh." He said as he splattered Blaise with Gravy, who had learned to late that sitting opposite Ron during meal time wasn't the cleanest of places.

"From what I heard I was expecting Slugs and Toads." He told everyone, once again. "But I also heard about how its all like fairy food." He continued

"Fairy food?" Hermione asked sceptically. "you don't mean actual food that faries eat do you because its rather poisonous to hum-" she tried to explain.

"No. I knew it wouldn't be like that. But I thought it would be sort of little food. You know… some small vegetable serenaded in a sweet garlic sauce."

"Marinated." She corrected.

"Yeah.. what you said. But I don't like that stuff. I'm not a girl. I don't want girly food. Give me a big slab of meat any day."

The first half of the meal passed pleasantly enough. He didn't say anything, which was good. He had to be extra careful if there were information spies around. It hadn't been said by Dumbledore, but it would seem they could also eat the food off your fork. He knew he was meant to be say anything he shouldn't perhaps know, but he wondered if he was allowed to know that he was Harry Potter. The second half of the meal however, didn't pass so well. For Harry at least. Ron and Phillip were both chuffed, because they had found out that once they had finished eating, their plate refilled itself.

For Harry however, and Serenity, the French students had decided to try and talk to them. Especially since the one speaking to Serenity couldn't seem to speak English, it made life very awkward for her.

I'm sorry. I can't quite understand you." She said hopefully. The French boy happened to be particularly thick, and he didn't quite understand he wouldn't be understood any better if he simply increased his volume.

"So. You are being Harry Potter?" the French boy asked who had a reasonably good grip of English, and seemed to have a whole plate full of runner beans. Perhaps he was one of the ones Dumbledore had spoken about. That could translate what was being said.

"Yeah. I was last time I checked" he said whilst putting some more food in his mouth. It did taste slightly different from how the Hogwarts version did. It tasted like it had an accent. "What is your name." he added as he found it was rude not to ask. The boy ran it over in his mind for a second before smiling.

"I am being Hsfghl" he said as he took a mouthful more runner beans. It really was a very large plate.

"Pardon." Harry asked as he tried to understand so many consonants being said together without the kind assistance of vowels. The boy looked confused for a moment, then pulled out a phrase book which told him how to say common phrases in different languages.

"My Persons is labelled as Hstfgl." He tried hopefully.

Harry shook his head.

"Call me Hstfgl."

No.

"The name's Bond, Hstfgl Bond."

No.

"Hstfgl is not you." He carried on It was a very strange pronunciation and no matter how many times he said it Harry couldn't seem to pick anything out of it.

"Hstfgl is my name and my business is my own." He was still smiling that irritatingly positive look. He could say it all year and that name would still be stupid. Perhaps his parents had their teeth glued together when they chose the name.

"I'm going to call you Runner Beans." Harry said finally. Hstfgl smiled blankly for a moment before nodding feverishly.

"I am Runner Beans?" He asked ecstatically. It was going to be an exciting new world with a name like Runner Beans.

Harry sighed to himself. He wasn't really religious. He had no reason to be really. There wasn't much proof for him to spend, and given his life he had always thought that should a god exist, he was long overdue some luck. Although if he looked at it another way the god of life, or lady luck, certainly favoured him, he was still breathing after all. And in the grand scheme of life Harry put that on one of the best things he did. He would hate not to. Runner Beans looked at him with wide eyes and Harry knew for an unpleasant moment that perhaps this was divine revenge. There wasn't much point waiting for an absolution so he turned to the French boy. Why couldn't he have sat next to Dumbledore?"

Remus and Tonks had managed to sneak in and take seats, although the problem was that after Remus sat down, there was no longer any more space on the end of that table, and as Tonks looked round, she realised the only vacant seat was next to Olympe. She sat down next to the headmistress and smiled round all the teachers whilst bouncing up and down on the chair.

"Ooh this is bouncy." She said as the staff of Beauxbatons exchanged mildly frightened glances. Tonks settled down after a minute, and turned to look at Olympe.

"My you're a big woman!" she commented. "Your almost as big as Hagrid and he is massive hairy monster. Your chin's a bit hairy but…"

"The position of Seeker is what you play?" Runner beans asked keenly as Harry started on his desert.

"Yeah." Harry muttered. Ron was eating some apple pie and custard, which again he was eating very messily, with bits flying in all directions. A large dollop of custard hit Blaise on her eyebrow and ran down painfully slowly, as she stared back at him with murderous hatred.

"That's it!" she said as she wiped it off her sleeve in disgust. "You have been spitting food over me all meal. What's wrong with you, you disgusting pig boy? It's absolutely disgusting so if you do it one more time I will come over there and teach you just how much pain can be caused by fizzy sweets and that copy of Quidditch magazine in your pocket!" Ron stared blankly for a moment, before he slowly dipped his spoon into the custard, and took out a small amount on his spoon, which was shaking. And slowly began to chew it, exceedingly slowly, the whole time keeping his lips firmly pursed and his eyes on Blaise.

"Are you a Quidditch player?" Harry asked back. He knew he shouldn't encourage Runner Beans to talk but he felt a little sorry for Serenity, and thought perhaps the other boy would stop talking if he realised there was a different conversation to listen to. Runner beans flipped through his phrases booklet for several long moments, before stopping and running his fingers down one of the pages. He looked up triumphantly.

"I do not with to divulge any information relating to Quidditch/ "insert topic subject here."

Once dinner was over, which was rather longer than it felt, the Students all fell into silence. Many of them may have been wondering where the Hogwarts students would be sleeping, but they did not voice this curiosity, for they knew that When Madam Maxine was standing up, you weren't meant to. She started blarbing onto all of them for a few moments before the students all suddenly stood up, and started filing out of the doors at the end, in excited talk. Harry was about to stand up to but Ron pushed him on the shoulder, and Harry remained seated. Once the hall was empty of students, and several of the teachers had left, Madam Maxine had walked over to them.

"My dear Dumbleydore. Where will you be sleeping tonight?" She asked.

Harry looked round for some moments, to see everyone else's face. He expected Hermione wanted to see the dormitories so she could examine the important historical construction of something no one cared about, whilst Ron would much rather have avoided the dormitories, and the sausage pillows he had talked about earlier.

"Well as you know we do have beds in our transport." Dumbledore said adjusting his spectacles. Olympe considered this for a moment before saying very purposefully.

"Well if you sure I can't twist your leg… It is nice and _safe_. That is all." No one picked up on this, besides Hermione, Harry and Albus.

"Well if you put it like that then I suppose it would be rude to turn down your hospitality." He said merrily.

Ron cursed to himself under his breath, as they were led out of the hall, and up the stairs that led into the main area of the school. Hermione couldn't help but point out several items that were apparently famous paintings in the wizarding world. Rather than having mildly interesting wizards and witches running along the paintings, there were an awful lot of paintings merely containing flowers. To the untrained eye they looked pretty unmagical, but if you stood very still you could just see them swaying in the wind.

The castle continued to remind Harry of Hogwarts only a bit more… feminine. It seemed like it had been decorated like a woman to say the last. With flowers in the gardens and flowers in the paintings. What was wrong with a picture of a grumpy old wizard who told you to buggar off every time you passed? It was the grumpy old wizard who made Hogwarts, Hogwarts. The castle seemed very quite, as if perhaps the students had been told to all go back to their dormitories and hold their breath. The only person who knew that this was actually the case was Albus, but you couldn't say that in such a blatant manner. Subtlety was required.

"My it certainly is quite and peaceful." Dumbledore complimented. "Its so quite you would think that no one was breathing, which of course they are aren't they."

Olympe cast Dumbledore a dark glance. Damn him. He was always one step ahead. She thought that it would work, but he always had an uncanny ability to know exactly what she had done. It wasn't Legilimancy, she was highly trained in that, as was just about every Order member, even the information division. No this was a far more sneaky kind of magic that Dumbledore was employing. It was a magic as old as time itself. This was the subtle art of warfare.

"Oh Dumbleydore. You say the most funny of things." She said with a strained smile, although without any sign of actually laughing.

Eventually they passed a few corridors, they came to a brightly polished wooden door, with a large cast iron handle. It looked like a rather old handle, that had made several desperate attempts to go rusty, but you could tell at some points it had been encouraged otherwise, and so it stood against the door, looking mildly speckled.

"This is our guest dormitory, where you shall be receiving yure sleep." She told them as she gave the door a small push which caused it to swing open. Inside it reminded Harry of the Pegasus, in the sense that it had a lot of shiny surfaces. There was a small area with five sofas around a television. The floor was a bare wood, except it shone so much you could probably watch the upside down reflection of the TV in it.

"I thought those picture boxes didn't work in school." Ron said suspiciously as he gave it a poke. "Doesn't it run on that eceltrizity?" Harry looked around slightly surprised. He had to admit he hadn't been expecting Ron to be as perceptive to matters as that. Olympe gave a small laugh.

"Oh my the hog child is a clever little boy. Clever hog. Does hoggy want a sausage?" she asked as she pulled Ron's cheeks in a grandmotherly manner. Ron shook his head to get her hand off as he glared angrily at the floor. Trying not to cry. "I am joking." She said heartily. It crossed Harry's mind, that perhaps like the idea of scary, the French had yet to appreciate what exactly was humorous, as no one else laughed at all.

"If you must know it is a small spell we at Beauxbatons are rather liking. It is possible to block magic out of certain areas. This means that yure silly muggle devices work whilst if you try a spell around the Television, I think you will find it most ineffective." Olympe explained to Hermione who nodded very approvingly. There was a silence that followed this as Ron continued to sulk, whilst everyone else continued to look round.

"My this is impressive." Said Serenity as she walked further into the room, into what appeared to be a large open space with tables round the edge. It was suited for anything that required a large open space, such as exercise or game or twister. Homework or other desk requiring tasks could also be done round the outside.

"It goes without declaration that all the other dormitories in the school are exactly the same as yures." Olympe said boldly. Dumbledore looked at her sceptically for a moment with his eyebrows raised. He had reason to believe very different.

"But of course." He replied.

Everyone walked round a bit interestingly. It was certainly more luxurious than the Gryffindor common room, although Harry supposed if Hogwarts had a visitors wing, which it most probably did, then it would certainly be something like this.

"The sleeping quarters can be located at the end of the room." She instructed. "If there is anything else that would make yure stay of further pleasantness, please say." And with that she left.

Once she was out of earshot Dumbledore looked at everyone and asked.

"So what do you think of it?" Everyone stopped what they were doing, which consisted of fiddling with something, and considered.

"It's quite nice." Said Hermione

"It's rubbish." Added Tonks. Hermione glared.

"Well you can't deny it has some very interesting history."

"Rubbish."

"It is one of the first schools in the whole world to ever b-"

"Rubbish"

Harry looked back and forth between the argument, and decided someone needed to step in.

"Well it's not as good as Hogwarts he said" as he tried to go for something between the two.

"That's exactly what I was thinking Harry." Said Dumbledore, as if he was trying to commit the phrase to mind for later. After Half an hour in which Everyone decided where they would be sleeping, and in which all those from Wizarding families played round with the TV, Dumbledore instructed they go to bed. Everyone grudgingly slumped off towards one of the sleeping rooms that they would be staying in, and they looked around. Harry had to put up with ten minutes of ranting about his pillow being stupid shaped, as it had turned out they were indeed cylindrical.

In his annoyance Harry made Ron a pillow out of thin air as he used the Crelatio charm. Making something large like that could leave him tired, but since he was planning on going to bed it didn't matter much.

"Goodnight Harry." Ron said as he smiled in satisfaction. They thought they could beat him. They just wait. By the end of the week there wouldn't be a pillow in sight.


	50. Reflection

They thought they could beat him. They just wait. By the end of the week there wouldn't be a pillow in sight.

They awoke early the next morning to the sound of Dumbledore humming to himself. It was only seven o clock, but after such a day of sitting around yesterday, and a relatively early night, Harry wasn't tired. Sun was flowing into the castle in a mildly warm way, that suggested although it would be a blustery day, it would still be warm, and even left open the possibility open for walking outside without a jumper on. He quickly dressed, and walked out of his sleeping area, into the main area with the large open space and the chairs that they had been in last night. Harry was surprised to find most other people awake.

Tonks was sitting right in front of the tv, watching a childrens cartoon and laughing hysterically.

"I wish they had these when I was a girl." She said to anyone who passed.

"They did." Harry replied.

"Well I didn't… and I wish I did." It was ten minutes later when Alexanda and Remus awoke and wondered into the main area looking mildly tired, that they were all ready.

"Good. Now that we are all ready we can go and have some breakfast. I don't know what time we are expected but quarter past seven seems a reasonable time to me. What do you think Remus?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sounds fun." Said Tonks in reply.

"What do you think Remus?" asked Dumbledore again, with particular emphasis on Remus.

"Yes Albus, I think now is a rather acceptable time for us to make ourselves present. I wouldn't have thought they would be expecting us for another fifteen or so minutes though.

"Precisely!"

As they all walked down the corridor that none of them remember, but Dumbledore seemed to know rather well, he talked to them about the days events.

"I am not entirely certain about what they have planned for today. But I would think at some point during the day there will be plenty of showing off. So if they try and show you hours of things which don't entertain your thoughts, just nod, smile a little bit, and pretend to be interested." They walked into the great hall to find it about half full. The students didn't look entirely happy about being there either. It didn't take an hour and a half to have breakfast, and most students just liked to sleep in and pop in during the last ten minutes for a piece of toast.

The French students had all been talking to themselves about stuff which Harry couldn't understand, but as soon as they entered the hall the volume dropped. He couldn't tell whether this was because they had been instructed not to be overly noisy, or if it was due to the fact there was a strong dislike of the Hogwarts students that required intense concentration. Olympe, along with a few other professors was sitting at the end of the hall, but she stood up upon their arrival.

"We had not been expecting yure company for an additional half an hour." Olympe said with slightly gritted teeth. Damn that man! He had done it again. Truth be told she had expected him to turn up at half past seven, fifteen minutes before what was to be normally expected, that was he could catch them off guard. She had figured this out, only to fall victim to Dumbledore's genius, which had given him the insight to turn up fifteen minutes earlier than that that.

As they were all seated Madam Maxine told them about their plans for the day.

"Today you will be receiving the treated to a ture of the school, as well as several excitining locations and tourist attractions throughout our wonderful country. We did have it planned for tomorrow but seeing as the weather is good we have had it moved forward to today." Everyone made excited sounds, except Harry who has feeling a little apprehension. He didn't want to leave the safety o the school. Once you were mingling with the public then it was quite possible that he could be attacked, although he tried to convince himself this wouldn't happen, or else he would be like Mad eye Moody.

"Did someone say my name?" came a gruff voice from the other end of the hall. Many of the students who were in the hall looked up and gave a small horrified gasp. Serenity included. Even though she knew the figure well he still gave her the chills.

"Oh he scares me." She said to Phillip.

"He doesn't scare me." Blaise said defiantly. Harry however was slightly disconcerted by the fact no one had said his name, but he had been thinking it. Unless he spoke his thoughts aloud, but he had never done that before.

"Fine. No one say hello to old muggings me. Hike all the way over here and I don't even get greeted. Sea air does hell for me leg. It's the salt. Makes it stiff and everything. But I don't expect you care about that do you. Since you don't care I'm here you wouldn't care about my aching leg." Moody sulked.

"Why are you here?" asked Hermione after several long moments in which everyone had been mentally egging on someone else to ask that question.

"Someone has to look after you. Can't expect Nymphadora and Remus to do a decent job. Can't have the seven of you walking round the city in broad day light. You could be jinxed by Quidditch fans, or death Eaters. Or worse…" He said as he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "Quidditch loving maniac cannibalistic Death Eaters."

"Hat hat hat hat hat hat hat/" Harry said, before he hastily stopped himself. He didn't know why he did it, what had caused him to laugh, but maybe it was because he had been expecting it so much. Moody however made no movement of laughter, and with a few large strides he had appeared right in front of Harry,, leaning so far forwards that his gnarled nose was scraping Harry's regular one.

"You think it's funny boy? It's not. They're real! I ever told you about the story of how I lost my leg? No! why? Because its so horrific it would cause your brain to puss and leek out of your ears. I just give you a word of warning. Don't laugh as the Quidditch loving maniac cannibalistic Death Eaters. They be Demons!"

Dumbledore gave a small cough as he looked decidedly away from the situation.

"As Professor Moody said, he will be accompanying Professor Lupin and Tonks, as well as one of the Beauxbatons staff whilst you go round the country today. It is very dangerous and I'm sure one or two members of the public could try and hex you." He lied. Harry was the only one perhaps, who appreciated the truth behind it. The French people might be maniacs in cars but once they get out the danger is gone. The real reason Moody had come over was to help protect Harry.

"Ooh is this…man?" Olympe asked as she hesitated slightly on the last word. She had been tempted to say many other thing. Monster and Filth Ridden Thug had been just two. Dumbledore merely smiled and explained as if it was the simplest matter in all the world

"This is Alastor Moody, he works for the Ministry of Magic in England, and also is a teacher at Hogwarts. He has come to offer some additional protection in case… Quidditch loving maniac cannibalistic Death Eaters attack the students." He finished with a small frown. Olympe didn't say anything more, but merely gave him a dirty look, as if to say he was offensive to the eyes. He was mildly.

An hour later, after they had finished breakfast, and the students had finished breakfast and gone off to lessons, The Hogwarts team and protectors met outside on the main entrance area. Olympe wasn't going to be accompanying them anywhere. She said she had to stay at school and draw some papers up. Dumbledore seemed to have to do something similar apparently. Harry suspected that perhaps they were going to be having an order discussion, and maybe whoever the new people they were planning on recruiting would have the initialization test. Eating the Coombsy. It was scary at the time but nothing had gone wrong, so there was no reason to expect a fatality from any new recruits.

Hermione stepped down from the entrance hall, and out into the autumn breeze. Despite common belief she actually enjoyed being outdoors. Maybe it was because she spent long hours up in the common room studying, people assumed she had acute agoraphobia. However, Hermione's long indoor studying sessions just created the like and furthered it. She couldn't do it so much at school, but during the summer she used to like sitting out in the sun under the oak tree with the tree house her father had built when she was younger.

She didn't really sit in the sun, if she was going to be technical. It was the shade. It wasn't that she didn't like the sun. It was just that it reflected off the pages and hurt her eyes. The shade was cooler as well, and Hermione managed to get hot easily enough, even in an English summer. At Hogwarts however she enjoyed after finishing her homework and revising the things on her list, going out onto the Hogwarts grounds and just walking round. There was something pleasant about the air. Be it the fresh morning air that could sooth her, or the exciting night air that calmed her thoughts and stresses built up during the day. She definitely enjoyed it.

She couldn't really pin point what she liked about walking round outside. Perhaps it was a chance to be alone. Even though no one really talked to her during studying, it always felt as if fact and figures were keeping her company. She could practically see the goblins she was reading about, if she really wanted to. Being outside and just walking… Not walking anywhere, because that would give a purpose, and with purposes come stress. No. If she just walked around, it gave her the opportunity to think, or not think. It was nice to have the option of not thinking.

Of course she did think, but it wasn't about school subjects. Without the pressures of those she was free to think about whatever she wanted. Be it plans for the summer or family she could see over Christmas, it was nice. She often thought of these times as Hermione times. It was a time when she could be herself. Not that she wasn't normally. She certainly did enjoy studying and doing all the other things she did, but having a chance to stand and reflect allowed her to get a feel for her real self, without being confused by peoples perception of her.

What do you think of swimming?

No one had asked her that in ages. Not since she had started Hogwarts really. No one stopped to ask. Not much point really. But if they ever did ask her, she would tell them she rather enjoyed it, and it was actually one of the sad things she missed during the school year, along with family of course. It was little facts like these that people never asked about, that if you weren't careful, you could forget about yourself. It was a pity to see people who lost touch with their real selves. Blaise Zabini was clearly one of these people. Hermione knew she was more perceptive than most people. But it seemed fairly clear. No girl enjoyed being angry for nothing. There must be a reason.

Hermione had wondered this only once before. Nowadays she didn't get much of a chance. She was always busy with traditional Hermione moments, as she called them. Which consisted of doing Homework, revising, helping Ron and Harry with homework, and probably risking her life a couple of times a term for them. Nowadays she was lucky if she got more than once a month to really take the time. She had time at the weekend, but she really needed a time when it was quiet. You couldn't concentrate with Quidditch players whizzing round, or kids joking and calling you a loner for not having friends to hang round with.

She liked different times at different seasons. In the summer she enjoying waking early and wondering in the morning, savouring in the life and walking the streets at home where the only sound was the distant buzz of an inconsiderate neighbour cutting his grass at six thirty. During the Spring and the Autumn, when the weather was mild and she wasn't to hot or to cold, she liked an afternoon walk it was relaxing just after lessons. She liked winter though.

Winter had to be Hermione's favourite time. She could stroll across the snow frosted grounds of Hogwarts, warmly wrapped up, separated from the cold, as if merely looking at it from the other side of a window. She would walk out late at night, with the snow crunching under her feet and the stars shining brilliantly from above, each one speckling the sky in an artwork of beauty she had learned to appreciate over the years. This was the real Hermione. There was more to it than just books, even if people didn't know. That was who she was.

She couldn't have much of a walk now. Normally she would take one or two hours, where as here she had only a few short minutes. It was worth it though, to clear your mind of such eventful days as yesterday, and get into touch, because in a distant land away from home its easy to forget who you are and what was important. Hermione liked days like this. Just relaxed and without pressure. Hopefully when she was older life would be something like that.

"It's nice isn't it." Said Harry from beside her. "Nice weather." Hermione smiled and looked to her side.

"Is it just the weather?" she asked as she stared out at the smooth ground of Beauxbatons. It was perfectly flat grass that stretched for several hundred meters. Trees lined the perimeter.

"Are you fishing for a compliment?" Harry asked with a sly grin. Hermione gave a chuckle.

"No. I was just wondering is it just the weather that is nice or are there other things. I think the view is nice. What do you like Harry? What do _you_ like?"

Harry thought for a moment. No one as far as he had ever considered had really asked that. If they had he probably would have responded Quidditch. It was one of the obvious pleasures in life. However the way Hermione said it made things seem different. It was like she was asking because she actually wanted to know, rather than to be courteous. She knew he enjoyed Quidditch, but Harry had to think for several minute about what he actually liked. He needed to reflect. It wasn't something he generally did. Most of the time he spent on his own he was busy thinking about school things, or maybe he was feeling sorry for himself, as he often did these days. He never sat and asked his inner self what he liked.

"I don't know Hermione. I have never thought of that." He replied truthfully. He didn't know where to begin, and for some reason he was feeling a bit awkward, even though Hermione wasn't looking at him or bombarding him with questions. It was the same kind of awkwardness that came from asking someone if you could use their loo.

"It's a shame not to know isn't it?" Hermione asked as she smiled. It figured Harry wouldn't know. Not many people did. Or at least not many people their age did. Adults generally knew better than they did, but Hermione supposed they had much longer to figure it out. Truth be told she was still figuring out all the answers, but she knew some.

"I suppose so." Harry said as he turned to Hermione, and she turned to him. There was the briefest of glimpses which caused them to laugh. "Why are you laughing?" He asked her slightly annoyed. It wasn't his fault he didn't know.

"I wasn't laughing at you. I just started laughing because you did. Why were you laughing?" she asked with a smile.

"I was laughing because you're the first person to ever ask me that I think. Or at least I think you are. I'm assuming you wouldn't take Quidditch as an answer." He asked, although he knew perfectly well what the answer would be.

"No. That isn't a proper answer. You cant choose something like that. It needs to be something simpler. Something as simple as possible, like waking up in the morning to birds singing outside and the sun pouring in through your window." She said dreamily. "And I was just making polite conversation."

"Hermione. This is England. The sun doesn't poor anywhere near here, let alone through my window. Secondly! Why would I want to be woken up by a load of birds? I will wake up when I'm good and ready." He said with a laugh as he imagined chucking a pair of socks at any bird stupid enough to try and wake him up.

"Well maybe that isn't what you like Harry. I think I would like that though, and I know everyone likes something. Ron likes relaxing and being with his friends. He might not know that but you can see it's true. I know you have likes to but I can't tell them as easily. I think you will have to tell me for yourself."

They stood in silence for a moment. Harry in thinking. Hermione in thinking of a different matter. She was partially wondering where the teacher they were waiting for was, but as she glanced behind her she saw that everyone else was still waiting inside. Ron was gossiping with Phillip and Alexanda. The large part of her brain was wondering what Harry would think of. This was a sort of get to know your friend lesson. She thought. She liked lessons.

Harry racked his brains as he thought. There were few times in his life when he could remember being genuinely happy. He knew there had been times, but there was not many when he had actually stopped and thought "This is nice. I should do it again." Playing chess was sort of nice, although not in the self satisfying sense. He looked again at Hermione, who was still standing besides him staring straight forward. She seemed to know everything. Why couldn't his mind be as clear as hers? He turned to face forwards and for a moment it eluded him, but then an answer came to mind.

"I like this." He said after consideration.

"Yes. I suppose it is quite nice isn't it." Hermione said as she realised it was a little bit like her walks, except with a friend. "What part of this?"

"Well. I suppose I like standing here. As I said the weather is nice. But its more than that. Its relaxing isn't it. It sort of allows you to forget about problems like the match we are going to loose in a few days." Harry said with a smile.

"Which will lead us to be publicly shamed." Hermione added happily. It almost seemed funny at the moment.

"I suppose that its just nice. Being able to relax, without so many worries all the time. Its nice to be here and be able to be myself without being who everyone thinks I am. It's nice to be able to relax with my friends."

"Don't you do that a lot?" Hermione asked absentmindedly. The wind was picking up a little. It wasn't unpleasant. It was quite the opposite, it was blowing against her face, and she brushed a stray strand of hair away.

"No… I don't think I do get to." Harry said with a tone of being slightly disappointed. "Not like this at least. I do in a sense I suppose. I might sit around and play a game of chess against Ron but it is hardly relaxing is it. I still have to use my brain, and then there are people around. I would just like to be able to do what I want. If you can understand that." He asked as he suddenly worried around what he had said. He didn't want Hermione thinking he wanted to kill anyone or anything.

"That's perfectly understandable." She said truthfully. "And I do see what you mean. You can't really be yourself with other people around."

"You can't." Harry agreed. Another moment of silence followed, although it wasn't really uncomfortable. He could tell what Hermione was thinking. She was thinking roughly the same thing as him. About being yourself. "It's just everyone has expectations of you, you know. Everyone thinks, "Oh he's Harry potter! Let all stand round and watch him blow up evil wizards and save the world." I don't like that. Its like I have to pretend to be a hero when I'm not." He said angrily, although not much so. It was to relaxing for that.

Hermione sighed. She could understand Harry annoyance. With him being her best friend for five years you knew what he was talking about. It happened all the time. The students here did the same thing. Harry walks in and they hear his name and expect something fantastic. What a surprise they would get if he was a little bald fat man.

"I know what you mean Harry and I pity you, I do. I would hate to be in your shoes where people have such high expectations. But you're wrong when you say you're not a hero."

"I'm not. I don't try to go around and rescue fair maidens." He protested as he took a step away form her.

Hermione shook her head.

"I know you don't Harry, but that isn't what a hero is. You might not want to go round saving people, and I know you don't go out of your way to to it, but when someone needs help and your around, you do. You don't have to Harry, but you do. Instead of walking away you stand and fight them, or help in whatever other way it is. Just because you don't charge in like a shining night doesn't mean your not a hero. A hero can look like anyone and be anything. It only needs to be someone who does something brave at the right time for the benefit of another. You do That Harry." She said proudly. She wasn't proud to say Harry Potter was her friend. That was insulting to use his name like that. She was however proud to have a friend like him, who just so happened to be Harry Potter.

"Perhaps." He said reluctantly. He didn't like it when Hermione was right. He didn't love helping people or risking his life. It was just that someone had to do it and he always seemed to be there. He would much rather Voldemort just go home and let Harry get back on with his dinner.

"But it's still not me. What people think I am. I'm something else"

"Who are you Harry? If other people don't know then what about me. Can you tell me?" she asked hopefully. She knew that everyone liked to be a little different form who they were. No one acts the same around their friends as they did their parents. She did however, never imagine that perhaps Harry's mask was quite so high.

"I don't know Hermione." He said in resignation. "I wish I did but I don't think I know yet. Is that wrong?" Hermione thought to herself. She hadn't really expected Harry to know. In some ways she felt herself and Ron knew better than he did.

"No Harry. I think it's perfectly normal. I'm not entirely sure of who I am properly. I know some things but there are other times when I just wonder what do I really want. You will find out over time. I'm sure. You will get there. Until then just try and focus on what you like."

"What I like…" Harry repeated thoughtfully. "You make it sound easy."

"It's not." Hermione said hastily. "But if you give it time it will come to you. At a time like this you learn things. I find all you need is some time alone to think, without anyone around to tell you to be who they want you to be."

Harry thought to himself that perhaps he should take Hermione's advice. Maybe he could do with a bit of self discovery.

"Are you being yourself now?" Hermione asked after a moment. This caught Harry by surprise, and he hesitate before thinking some more. He was just standing here relaxing. He couldn't think of anything he didn't really like.

"I don't know. Perhaps I am. I feel relaxed, and I don't feel uncomfortable. It might be me, but it's tough to tell. What do you think?"

"I can't tell you that Harry. Only you know. But from what you tell me I think you are."

"Thank you Hermione." Harry said after a moment. He could hear some noise from the entrance hall, and he knew that the teacher had probably arrived They would have to go in a minute.

"Why are you thanking me?" Hermione asked in surprise. She hadn't done anything that she could think of.

"For helping me think about things. I don't know… I just feel better about myself now." Harry said truthfully.

"Well that's good then." She said as she looked away.

"Also I realised two more things I like. I like relaxing. I don't want to be busy all my life. I want to have time to relax and be myself as you put it. The other thing is that I like this. The conversation we had. He should do it again sometime."

"Ooooh don't you think Cho would get jealous?" Hermione asked with a laugh. Harry stared at her blankly and then realised what she was getting at.

"No. I didn't mean it like that." He explained with wide eyes. Hermione laughed out loudly.

"I know you didn't Harry. I was just teasing you. But really, girls get possessive at times, or at least some of them do." She sad as she tried to imagine herself being all clingy like she knew Cho to be. It wasn't going to be the case.

"Well you know what Hermione." Harry said boldly as he stuck out his chest and put up his chin. "I don't think Cho is going to object to much at the moment."

He felt guilty for talking like that later. It was sort of like he had been making a joke out of her being nearly dead, and he didn't enjoy it. It was a horrible thing to happen to anyone, and he didn't want Cho to be like that. He wanted her to be healthy like she was before.

"Well ok then Harry." We should Hermione said firmly as she strongly agreed. She wasn't sure at first, the thought of someone else being around when she took a walk, but after having a conversation like that with Harry, she realised maybe he was capable of more than just the simple thoughts that Ron seemed to exude such as when the next meal was or how much Luna Lovegood would kiss him today. It was a little repulsive really.

Hermione thought briefly to herself she would have to try a conversation like that with Ron sometime. He might surprise her, although she couldn't imagine that being the case...

"So Ron, what do you like?" she would ask.

"Burgers are pretty nice." He would reply after a moment of consideration.

"You two get here now!" Moody barked from the top of the stairs. He stuck his head out and looked round either side, as though judging where the nearest Death Eater ambush could be. "Come quick! I don't think you should die." He added without a trace of humour in his voice. Harry and Hermione ran back indoors, out of the pleasant autumn breeze. They spotted the new teacher who stared at Harry with great interest, before looking away.

"This is Professor Humphrey Page" Remus explained as he made an unnecessary gesture to the only unknown member of the party. He was dressed all in Crimson, and hat a crimson hat tilted wonkily across his head. He looked entirely to shifty to be a teacher, and his cloak seemed to have far to many pockets to be for pens and detention slips. Still… If Moody had deemed him trustworthy then Harry had no reason to fear. Harry often wondered why they bothered with Coombsy's when they could simply get Moody to give them a quick once over and ask them a few questions.

He didn't look like the sort of man to say much, which was fine for Harry. Maybe his silence was simply due to a lack of understanding of English, although this wasn't probable considering Dumbledore had said that they anyone who tried to speak to them would know English. Also it wouldn't help much to have a tour guide who cant utter a single word you understand. Harry looked at Hermione, to see what manners were required, and in the end he decided on

"Hello." Harry looked at Professor Page waiting for a reply, but none came. All he did was give a small, almost inaudible grunt of recognition.

He appeared to be inspecting the door way, as though finding something to criticize about it, although it was his own school and this probably was not the case.

"We will first have a guided tour of the school. We will then see sights in an efficient, and organised manner. We will spend an allocated amount of time on each and we wont do anything that hasn't been planned. Don't try to persuade me to do something that you want to do, because it won't happen. That will be all." He said in a low voice. Harry was surprised to hear him speak, but not because his voice was unexpected, but merely because he spoke a lot whilst saying even more. Some people talked an awful lot without actually saying anything, whilst others did the opposite.

He had an accent but Harry couldn't think where he had heard it. It wasn't as English one but it most certainly wasn't French. Harry realised from his good grasp of the English language that he probably was in fact, not at all French.

"You have very good English." Hermione complimented him. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Yes." There was a silence that followed this as everyone waited for him to continue, only it gradually became apparent that he wasn't going to. He was the sort of person that only replied to what was asked, and never assumed anything.

"Why is that?" Hermione asked hopefully. He gave a small sigh and spun round from the doorway on his shoes. They were black leather, pulled up to his shins and looking very shiny. Most people expected them to squeak, but they didn't.

"I am not of French Origins." Was his reply. It gave them all the answers they had asked for and yet far less than they had hoped.

"Where are you from, why did you come here? How long have you worked here for?" Hermione asked all at once, so that they could have a conversation that didn't end swap speaker every other second.

"I am not form here. I am from Overseas." He said darkly, and vaguely. "I came here for work, which I obtained at the start of the school year." Everyone stared at his back, as he paced a little into the school. He knew what people were like. People liked asking questions. He sighed. The best way to get people to not ask questions was to make sure you didn't give them an opening.

"The tour will begin now." He said as he looked down at his watch where the second hand ticked over the hour. It was a blank watch with a black face and similar leather strap. It had no markers for the hour, and only an hour hand. It was all he needed. It also had a single crimson ring ran around the edge.

"Everyone filed after him as he waked up the stair quietly and systematically, as if he had the simplest of movements planned out from the day. He was the kind of person that not only knew what he would eat before going to the restraint, but also bought along the exact correct change to save time later.

"Seems like a nice trustworthy bloke." Moody commented as he hobbled past Harry.


	51. The Dark Life

"Seems like a nice trustworthy bloke." Moody commented as he hobbled past Harry.

Voldemort was sitting in his study, with papers in front of him. If someone had told him a while ago that papers were necessary for being a dark lord he would have laughed at them, but as he had learned form being one, they were absolutely necessary in order to make sure things were done as he said. There was a lot of activity going on down in the dungeons, or in the whole place to be truthful. Big plans… big plans

Expansion. That was the key. Lucius and the others had gone out and fetched some new recruits.

"ARRRRRGH MY BUM!" came a distant scream. It seemed the initialization was under way. Nothing like the threat of pain to get a mans loyalty. It was an interesting trick, what you could do with some fizzy sweets and a newspaper. Some of them would die no doubt. Some of them always did. Voldemort didn't view this as a waste however, he simply believed that they hadn't been eager enough to live. Having a strong desire to live was always valued, because many of them appreciated that refusing Voldemort was a fatal decision.

He could hear whispering outside his door. It happened often enough. For some reason besides Bellatrix, none of them particularly enjoyed talking to them. They had a bad habit of shaking and sweating. He sat back in his desk and stared straight at the door. There was nothing better than seemingly completely unoccupied, because when that happens the Death Eaters start to wonder what you were doing, and when they wonder that they start to conclude that perhaps you had been listening to them argue behind the door.

"You talk to him."

"Why should I? Why can't you?"

"He is already angry at me for letting his toast get cold this morning."

"So. I always get nervous and start sweating and we might get angry if I sweat to much and make his office smell."

He drew out his wand from the draw. He kept it in his draw so that he could slowly take it out if he needed to put a little bit more fear into someone's heart. No one was in his office this time however, and he had a genuine use for it. He pointed it at the door at the end of the long room, and aimed very carefully, as he closed one eye.

"bang." He said as would a child whilst pretending to shoot their English teacher with a sub atomic pencil. A ball of fiery light shot form the wand and a second later crashed into the wall. There was a tremendous splintering sound as the door was torn off the hinges. It was blasted into the wall, and as the splinters and clouds of smoke thinned, Voldemort could see some arms and legs protruding from either side.

"Looks like its you who gets to deliver the message." He said as he stared at the face that appeared uncertainly round the remaining door frame. The man had a massive grin on his face. It was the kind of grin that showed the teeth were firmly pushed together in order to prevent them from chattering together in fear. The rest of his body slinked round the door, and very slowly began to move forwards. The man was unblinking, and Voldemort didn't particularly recognise him. That meant he was new. There were a lot of new faces today. It took an awfully large amount of talent to become an old face. It wasn't a matter of trial and improvement. You couldn't learn from your mistakes, or rather, you could but you didn't get chance to try again.

The man was walking slowly, with his shoes treading quietly on the lush red carpet that ran the length of the office. The only sound that could be heard was his breath, which was coming continuously in long jagged gasps. It was to someone like this that the air seemed to feel incredibly hot, and lacking in enough oxygen. If the poor man didn't stop breathing like that he would probably pass out. Still. The initialisation squad always had fun with a victim who couldn't fight back.

It seemed…Oh dear. Yes! This one was a wobbler. He tried to keep his hands firmly fixed to the side, to hide his shaking, but it didn't work. Voldemort quickly muttered a spell on the carpet. The last thing he needed was for it to be replaced from another person widdling on it.

"What is it?" Voldemort asked as he stared at the man opposite, and gently caressed his wand with the middle left finger. The man didn't reply, and after a moment Voldemort looked at the mans eyes, and followed his gaze. They were looking at the wand. Voldemort gave it another caress, and the man gave a small gulp, almost inaudible under his breathing. He stopped his actions, and instead lowered the wand so it was pointing at an are some three feet or so above the ground.

"What is it?" He repeated, only more firmly. "And I don't ask thrice." The mans eyes widened in horror and for a brief moment Voldemort could have sworn the shaking of the man was causing his desk ornaments to start moving towards the edges of the desk.

"Th-the m-m-m-men are r-r-r-r-are r-r-r-read-d-y for ins-sssssssssssssssssss-pection." He managed to get out after much effort. Voldemort looked him up and down and rolled his eyes. Why he had been told this man would make a good death eater was beyond him. You didn't get a wobbler like him torturing people. You got them standing them stammering as they tried to mutter an unforgivable. It was pathetic.

"Very well. I shall be down in five minutes." Voldemort said.

He never liked to do things immediately. It made it feel as if he was obeying someone else. He always left it five minutes so it seemed he had more important things to do than the crossword in the newspaper. "That will be all for now. If you could have a new door bought up and get that man cleared off the wall. He's creating an awfully sticky mess all over the place."

The wobbler started to take a few steps backwards. He couldn't wait to leave, as could most Death Eaters. What's more is this mans brain was an open book to reveal such simple information. Still. You didn't need to know legilimancy to know something like that. You could tell just form looking at the small wet patch three feet above the ground.

"One moment." Said Voldemort, and for a brief moment in the mans life he became thoroughly religious. You couldn't pray unless you believed in god. Voldemort looked down at the news paper on his desk." He picked it up and held it out to the man, who very slowly took it. "Give that to Lucius and ask him if he has any sugared sweets. That will be all."

He turned his attention back to his desk. Damn. He should have cut the crossword out before giving the paper away. Now what was he going to do?" He sat in his chair. With his feet on the desk, and watched as in surprising speed two more experienced Death Eaters appeared and started constructing a new door. They were certainly doing a good job, he thought to himself. It looked just like the old one. Still, he had no reason to expect less of them. The fact they were alive reflected a lack of bad jobs. Just as one of them finished tightening the hinges onto it, He watched as Goyle came along, and picked up the squashed body from against the wall.

Voldemort started at it in a sick excitement. It was disgusting really, how wide someone's torso could be, and just how much fluid was in a mans head. It always surprised him to see how gooey someone's insides were. He pulled out a little bit of paper form his pad. It wasn't a normal pad of paper that would be used for a shopping list, you couldn't feel evil when using something like that. Instead it was a pad of paper, shaped like the dark mark, with an adhesive back. He began to scribble down notes on what was needed. He had done it before but it seemed to have gone missing. His notes had a habit of doing that. It hadn't been stolen, he could tell, because no one had to be swept off the floor yet.

Once he was satisfied with the list he stood up from his desk, inspected himself in his mirror, and set of down to view the men. There were few things he loved more than the smell of fear. A cinnamon cake in the over was a strong contender, but he could have that anytime. He could only have fear at the times when he wasn't doing notes. There was something about the fear of his own men however, a kind of pleasant smell. If he tried to describe this some people would look at him disgustedly, and think he was talking about the man at the end of the line who had soiled himself. That wasn't what he meant at all.

As he walked down his corridors, in his great mansion it struck him how quiet it was. Clearly all forms of interrogation or torture had stopped. He knew the interrogation was over because this was where his part came in. Once potential Death Eaters had been tested for loyalty and obedience, the dark Lord stepped in and reduced the number a little bit, then congratulated them and gave them the dark mark. There was always an amount of reduction after that as well, although it was by no means obligation.

The torture they had probably decided to save for later. You couldn't torture the prisoners all day, they might start to find it fun. He had given them specific instructions only to torture them a little bit, and mainly during meal times. It was nice to have some background noise to take away from the scratch of cutlery that his men managed to make. It always repulsed him how disgustingly animalistic his men were at meal times. He said men, there were a few women, but they usually chose not to take up fighting roles in his army. They often preferred a more laid back role, literally.

He often wondered where the new Death Eaters came from. Apparently a lot of them were people that his existing members spoke highly of, the sort of people you could trust. He had a few foreign people join his cause, although not many. Far less than he would have liked. He wanted to ability to expand across the sea, after all what kind of villain has ever uttered the phrase "Today Hogwarts, tomorrow, England!!! Mwahahaha" No one is the answer.

The problem was however that a lot of the people from other countries simply couldn't speak other languages, and Whilst Voldemort was fluent in parseltounge, he had yet to grasp the others. He had not intention to either. For some reason anyone wanting to speak to him learned English pretty damn fast. Another problem that came with crossing the sea was that generally they were un-trusted. That was starting to change, because with the few trusted members he had recently recruited, they would in time make a recommendation, and with any luck he would find himself with twice as many troops where that area was concerned.

Another problem was that many of the people who swore their faith to the dark lord, was that he had been threatening them with a wand. Of course it was a clever thing to do at the time, but you could never be sure whether they would try and run away when your back was turned. With these situations you usually killed half, and then watched the rest kill themselves a few hours later when they tried something silly. After all with paper work here and there he needed entertainment, and the body clearers needed to be kept busy. It was expected of him really.

Bellatrix would be slinking round somewhere. She always was, except when she was out on a mission. She had just got back from one early this morning, and being rather successful, she appointed herself a day off. Voldemort thought to himself that he would have to teach her a lesson, except that she always managed to worm her way out of his line of fire. It was disconcerting really, to have one of your subjects tell you they are your favourite.

He stepped into the hall in a very precise manner. It was dark, which was good, because people got uncomfortable in the dark, whilst he got settled in. It gave him an edge in the interrogation. At the end of the hall was Lucius, along with a handful of his other most senior Death Eaters. There were ten men all lined up, and looking he admitted, more hopeful than usual. Not one of them was shaking, and only a few of them were grinning nervously. This wasn't a picnic and that kind of behaviour wasn't tolerated.

"Stop smiling!" he commanded, and in an instant they did. "You're not torturing anyone yet so you can save that happiness for later."

Half an hour later and with only three dead people Voldemort walked over to Luciius and congratulated him.

"Well Malfoy, I don't know where you got them form but they certainly seem…evil." Lucius nodded as acceptance of his thanks.

"I only aim to please." Said Lucius humbly.

"Yes. Well thank the men that suggested them, and remind them that if their man betrays me they will both be put to death, as usual." Lucius nodded.

Voldemort felt for something else to say. He knew he had a though but he wasn't sure how to put it into words. "Well, you must admit that these people I'm interviewing are getting better. Not one of them out of the three messed themselves before I killed them. I'm not getting less evil am I Lucius?" He asked as his eyes suddenly widened in fear. Just because he appreciated the subtle smell of wet flowers on a spring morning didn't mean he wasn't evil.

"I am still evil aren't I?" Voldemort asked as he looked Lucius dead in the eye. He knew That Lucius would tell the truth, and he wouldn't dare use legilimency in case it turned out the truth wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Bath in blood and you're the devil himself." Lucius said matter o factly. Voldemort beamed. He may have to try that sometime, although in his experience getting blood on you was usually the reason for a bath to occur. Blood was rather sticky when it started to dry.

Voldemort happened to notice through the course of the interrogation, that one of the new potentials was a little different from the rest, he couldn't define exactly what was different, it could have been a number of things. Perhaps it was the way they stood or maybe it was the way they stared unblinkingly into his eyes. Personally, he thought it was the fact they were a woman.

"You' haven't happened to have seen Bellatrix around have you?" Voldemort asked as he turned back top Lucius for a moment. For one of the few times in Voldemort's presence, he felt uncomfortable.

"I saw her earlier… She said she was taking the day off." Voldemort nodded.

"Yes, she said the same thing to me, after I gave her permission of course." He hastened to add.

There was a pause as he considered whether they had believed him.

"But do you actually know where she is?" Voldemort persisted. "I was hoping she would be here for the announcements of the update on progress." Lucius looked down at the ground in order to hide his embarrassment.

"She said she was going for a lie down." He spoke quietly, so that the new recruits could not hear.

"Was she feeling tired?" As a Death Eater she had had many late nights, but she never seemed to sleep. She was like a lot of Death Eaters. She simply found that with practice you could do away with it altogether.

"Um no. She said she was also going to make herself more comfortable." Voldemort's eye's widened

"Well I had probably best make this quick then."

He hastily walked over to the woman out of the line.

"Would you risk your life for me?"

"Yes."

"Would you sacrifice your time for the purposes of evil?"

"Yes."

"Would you set aside your morals and humanity and kill families and puppies?"

"Yes."

"Would you take of your clothes for money?"

"No."

"Pity."

He then walked away from her, vaguely disappointed and looked at the rest of his Death Eaters.

"Well what are you waiting for. Get them out of here and down to the practice halls." She had been quite pretty as well… Maybe even it was the reason she was chosen, although the men pretended not to know of his actions. A few of the Death Eaters moved everyone out of the hall, and left Voldemort standing in the large open space with just five senior Death Eaters.

"Truth be told I would prefer for the others to get back…But I'm on a tight schedule, so lets just make this a quick meeting, maybe we can have another tomorrow."

"Ok how goes the security involved in the Arc of Spirits?" he asked, before a man stepped forwards out of the line and spoke.

"The Security is still in the stages of negotiations. It is however doing better than last time, and we should have the place empty for when the potion you have is ready."

"Good. Good." Voldemort said as he rubbed his hand together. "And it isn't a potion it's a Rite."

"A what?" asked the man who had stepped forward, before he could help himself. Voldemort spun on them angrily, causing them to step back into line.

"Don't speak out of turn, and a Rite is a powerful magical ceremony involving certain items and ingredients, as well as certain conditions."

"Sorry my lord, I was out of place, my lord." He said as he continued to stare straight forward, just as the rest did.

"Now. How goes the obtaining of the ingredients. Including Bellatrix's success this morning." A Death Eater stepped forward, only it became apparent to all who could see him , that what he had to say was not good news, maybe even news so bad, it was terminal!"

"Well my Lord I regret to inform you that it is progressing badly. Despite the success in obtaining the recent item , one of the few remaining on the list has proved elusive, and although we have located where it can be obtained, it was caused some delay." He said as he put his hands in his pocket to hide them from the Dark Lord. They were shaking.

It wasn't good news. In fact as far as Voldemort was concerned it was going to be about the worse news possible, He hated delays.

"How long a delay?" he asked as his blood began to boil. He had a sense of foresight in a way, and from the moment that man had taken a step out of line, he knew what was coming, to an extent. He could also see what was coming now and it wasn't going to be one or two days."

"Well I'm afraid that it will be some… er months!" He said as his voice went up in pitch. He stepped back in line quickly. Hopefully Voldemort would forget he was there, and simply pass right over the man.

"WHAT?" Voldemort demanded, eye wide with fury as he slammed his fist in anger against the wall to his side. The roof seemed to shake, form either the impact or the sound, it was tough to tell. The man gulped and stepped forwards, he hadn't believed he would get away with it that easily.

"Well if you will beg my forgiveness your greatness, But it seems that one of the items, and indeed one of the most important items, cannot be located commonly in this world. Truth be told it is so rare that it doesn't even exist." He finished as all of then gasped. Voldemort stumbled back madly, face pale, as he quickly started sweating and gasping for breath.

"Are you telling me that the plan can't be done? That we have to stop?" he managed to splutter quietly, in a manner so scary it had made everything up until now seem like rocking a baby in your arms whilst a beautiful maiden feeds you chocolate covered strawberries and gospel singers praised your every move.

"No. It can be done." The man utter thankfully, he could kiss his life goodbye with any other answer. "It is just that the item in question, the only place to obtain it, is in Pharaphax." He finished dramatically. There should have been gasps and things said like "No, there must be another way" but there weren't. Instead all the other Death Eaters looked at each other confusedly. Voldemort however understood perfectly.

"The other world eh? The origin of magic itself. You shall go there then and obtain it. As dangerous as it is it is nothing to my forces and my army. The only question that remains to be answered, is how long until it is next open?" One of the Death Eaters who was trying to follow the conversation politely stepped forwards, and remained silent, asking permission to speak.

"Yes?" Voldemort asked slightly impatiently.

"I was just begging enlightenment as to what exactly this Pharaphax is. I thought there was no where the item could be obtained, as was just said a moment ago." Voldemort grins.

"Well yes, I suppose not all are as learned as I and so yes I may let you feast upon my pool of knowledge. He was right when he said that there was no where in this world where it could be obtained, or so we believe. However, Pharaphax is not in this world. It is another world, through the Veil of Darkness, a link of the worlds."

"Now, how long is it, if my understanding is correct it varies from opening to opening, depending on the sun? I don't claim to be an expert on the manner, I merely know the essentials."

"Well The Veil of Darkness does, as you say, vary between opening to opening. It is based on the gravitational pull exerted by the planets. A gravity so fine that we cannot feel, but a gravity that is still strong enough to tug on the fabric of the universe, and open the gate between our world and Pharaphax. The time until next opening master, is two months, or thereabouts."

Voldemort paced backwards and forwards silently, deep in contemplation. The Wizard wars in the other world weren't a problem, nor were any other threats that he knew of. He would have to do more investigating into the matter, but for now it seemed to be much better than he had feared. If he could not complete his plan then his very life would be threatened. The only problem that remained now was the location. The entry into this other realm was in one of the safest places there was, at the ministry of magic.

Some people believed that the ministry had been built around it, to try and monitor and make sure no evil came from it, whilst others believed that it had been constructed at a later date, by nosey wizards who weren't happy enough going south for the holidays. It was however, quite heavily guarded, as was everything there.

"We shall need some effort to enter Pharaphax. I think I shall go with you, for I do fear that whilst I may guarantee a safe entry, when you come back out, it won't be nearly so safe, and the last thing we need after all our trouble, is for my minions to dry at the ministry and loose the cargo they carry."

"This leads us onto another point." Voldemort said as he rubbed his chin, his eyes alight with the gears of plot ticking. "Can we have the other requirements for the Rite ready by this time? Within the next two months?" Voldemort asked manically.

"Yes. I see no reason why we should fail, only three more items excluding the one in Pharaphax remain on the list." The informant stated as he read a note from his pocket.

"So we could do it then? Two months from now the plan could be completed?"

"Not entirely you leadership. If I may offer you another problem." Said Lucius, now that they were back on ground he knew.

"I would rather you didn't" Said Voldemort honestly. "I don't suppose saying no will make it go away will it."

"No." Lucius replied. Voldemort sighed.

"Very well." Lucius Malfoy cleared his throat and said something he knew was daring, even by his own standards.

"I was wondering, if Harry Potter is essential to this plan that you keep so secret, we will need to obtain him first, and that won't be easy. How do you propose to do that?" He enquired.

Voldemort rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Admittedly until now he hadn't given masses of thought to the matter. He knew the boy was guarded though, it would be no easy task.

"We shall come back to that, although I must say it is the last complication it seems. For since both the Veil of Darkness and the Arc of Spirits are in the Ministry, it would make sense to try and do them both. Would that be at all possible?"

The Death Eater who had spoken before, stepped forwards.

"I regret to inform you no my lord, for upon obtaining all the items, some of them need to mature, and so it wouldn't seem to be possible to do it all with one invasion of the ministry. We would need to do it twice."

"Damn." Voldemort cursed as he stamped his foot. Then he came up with an idea. "Or we could just steal the ministry and take it as our new headquarters." He suggested. There wasn't much of a reply, and he knew someone was about to say something. Yes, as predicted the small man cleared his throat and looked at the dark lord. That was never a good sign. Voldemort hated every time he spoke, because it was always bad news.

"Well,. If we consider our forces compared to the ministries Auror department, added to the magical law enforcement department… and the unmentionables, then we haven't the power to do it yet."

"Very well then. We shall do it in the future though. Until it is ours however he need to think of a way of getting into the ministry twice. The first time they hadn't been expecting it, and this time they wont be expecting it, because you have to be mad to rob the same bank twice, but I'm sure they will be ready for a third time. Lucius, Can you tell, actually no I will tell her later, I will get Bellatrix to investigate what we could do in order to get into the Arc of Spirits. Lucius, you can do some investigating into what Harry Potter has planned for this school year. I don't suppose our luck is enough for there to be a school trip there is there?" Voldemort asked hopefully. "That would certainly make matters easier."

"No My lord, not that I know of." Lucius replied.

"Oh well, I wasn't holding my breath on the matter."

"What else is there besides that, which we need? With all the items plus Harry Potter and the Arc?" One of the unknown Death Eaters asked.

"Well other than that me, a few good fighters, and some Dementors, and with any luck the world will be won." Voldemort said with a manic laugh. His subjects followed in his lead, but he hastily stopped them.

"We haven't won yet, don't count your chickens before they have hatched." He said advising. "After all, as he have discovered, Harry Potter has a talent of avoiding my grasp, and eluding my intentions. We cannot take a risk, for it is to great. This plan must succeed."

"What else is there on my agenda?" Voldemort asked once it seemed business had been cleared up.

"Well you have an early lunch with the Ambassador de Miaso, my lord." One of them said.

"Good, good. Looks like the troops should be growing some more. With the new recruits and the death of that fellow this morning, what are out numbers?"

"What death?" asked one of them cautiously. It always paid to know who was dying these days, because once senior Death Eaters started hitting the lead lined box you knew you had to look out.

"I don't know actually, I didn't get to see his face. Rather flat fellow, or at least he was after he died. Never mind, you can still give me a sum can't you?" He demanded.

A small man on the end stepped forwards, It was a mystery to everyone why Wormtail had been left in charge of managing the troops. It was his job to make sure that everyone got fed, had clean bed sheets, and had enough clean toilet paper. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several feet of crumpled up paper, noted with various scribblings and calculations.

"Hurry up then." Voldemort exclaimed exasperatedly as Wormtail slowly ran his eyes down the length of the paper, whilst muttering under his breath. He unlike the other Senior Death Eater's was excused from wobbling. It had been a skill he had had as long as Voldemort knew, and put up with, since Peter did usually do a good job, and he was guaranteed not to betray you.

"Including the chef or without?" he asked as he looked up, and found Voldemort's face distractingly close. So close in fact you could feel the death wafting out of his skin. Wormtail gave a long breath that caused Voldemort to back away. That was better.

"Can the chef fight?" Voldemort asked, as he pretended to be aware that they actually had an appointed chef. He thought that everyone just took it in turns to make him food. He supposed having a chef explained why he hadn't had hairs and dirt in his food recently.

"Well he managed to give Avery concussion with a saucepan sir." Said Wormtail earnestly. Voldemort considered this.

"Yes include him then."

"Three hundred and twelve then sir."

"Excellen-"

"Sir, one more thing sir." Said Peter as he raised his hand, asking permission to speak.

"What?" Voldemort asked angrily. He didn't like to have people interrupt him. Before you knew it they would all be at it, and he would be giving money to charity and helping old ladies across the road. The sheer thought of it was disgusting."

"We need to order some more toilet roll sir." Peter said as he checked his list again for certainty. Voldemort stared stupidly at him for a few minutes. "And I was thinking maybe we should stock up with the flew season round the corner, the lads can get a bit unhappy about killing someone if they have to wait till they get home before they can wi-"

"Why are you telling me this?" Voldemort asked in sheer disbelief. "If you need it them buy it. I'm the Dark Lord! I'm not meant to be concerned with things like this. You don't see Albus Dumbledore out buying his own toiletries do you.

"Well actually…" He began, before Voldemort stared him into silence.

"Now you all get back to what you do when your not killing." Voldemort instructed as he clapped in hands in a chop chop sort of manner.

"I have to quickly go and inform Bellatrix about the situation, and thank her for succeeding in her mission." Voldemort said as he started to edge towards the door. He didn't want to keep her waiting any longer than was necessary.

"My Lord." Peter said as the other Death Eaters left the line and went off to their stations, or home, if they felt so inclined.

"What?" He snapped impatiently. It was at least a minutes fast walk.

"Do I take it as a yes then to the extra toilet paper?"


	52. Tours and Tales

"Do I take it as a yes then to the extra toilet paper?"

Everyone walked along slowly as Page finished off the guide of the school. It was a lot less exciting than Harry had imagined it to be. Everyone seemed to agree, because instead of having four founders from thousands of years ago, and a big fallout between them, it was merely a school founded by a with in the early part of the millennium. There wasn't much left open to the imagination, and apparently there weren't secret passages or hidden chambers.

"I hope the whole day isn't this boring." Complained Ron as he lent over and whispered into Harry's ear.

"You know I wouldn't count on it being much better. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to be more bored walking round school than sitting in it and working, but this trip is really opening my eyes." Everyone was talking quietly, except Tonks, who was making her boredom quite annoying.

"Did you used to kill people in the dungeons?"

"No."

"What's the point in having them then?"

"So that students can be taught."

"But if the students were badly behaved during the lessons then you killed them?" she asked hopefully.

"No."

"Not even tortured them a little?"

"No." said Page sternly. And that was roughly how the whole thing went.

"So my dear Dumbledoreydore, I assume you would like to get on with business, concerning the Order? Of would you like some cake?" she asked as she poured out two cups of tea from the table at the side of her room. There were some biscuits and things to go with it.

"We could always do both." He said hopefully. Olympe gave a small chuckle and put a piece of fruit slice on a plate, before sitting down and sliding it across to Albus.

"Very well, then would you like to say yure things first, or should I?" she asked. Dumbledore finished his mouthful and thought for a moment.

"I think I should probably go first, and you can just interrupt me if you like."

"Now I think we should begin with a status update, so I can tell you the situation of everything."

"That sounds like a goot idea." She said with a small nod.

"Well now I apologise if you already know some of this, but it is important I don't miss anything out. First of all we should start with Voldemort's forces." Olympe would have shuddered, but it took a long time for the shake of her bones to reach the perimeter of her body.

"From our estimates his forces now measure about one hundred and sixty. Most of these are new Death Eaters, however, and this is good, because it leaves open the opportunity for us to recruit them under our control. We are having some of the Order working on it actually, Alastor Moody has interrogated any captured Death Eaters, and I'm afraid there are very few, and from there he is finding out the names of accomplices in crime. We are trying to convince them that there are other ways to fight besides surrender."

"Now to this point we haven't had much success, but we believe that as Voldemort's numbers grow, so do his weaknesses, for each member he has is a kink in the armour, and it is only a matter of time before we break through, and manage to gain a few spies. However it is of course, always the case that the more followers he has, the more powerful, and some of them seem awfully loyal, as he have discovered. This means that it is only a matter of time, before he gains a force large enough, to try and cross the sea to here, of course I expect you will know about that before me." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"Indeed I will, and in fact, I am finding I do." Olympe said, as she leant back in her chair, which cave a loud creak. "For I regret to state to you that I have learned You-Know-Who has managed to recruit a few people from my country already." Dumbledore sat up at this news, and with a sip of his tea he looked at her, urging onwards. "Now I can not tell you who, for I do not at this moment know myself, but I have learned that it has taken place. This cannot be good, for if my belief and understand of his ways are right, then I fear more are to follow are they not?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"I am afraid you are right." Dumbledore said in annoyance as he put his hands together and thought for a moment. "You are right, in the sense that those who Voldemort deems trustworthy, are allowed to make suggestions and recruit new members for him, and so unless we are lucky enough to have all three of them disappoint him, and I won't say the chance of that is likely, then we can expect his hold upon France to increase."

"How long do you think it will be before we are in the same dire situation as yure England?" she asked, as Dumbledore noticed she was turning pale. She had probably started turning pale a few minutes ago, but it was only now noticeable.

"I wouldn't call our situation dire." Dumbledore said with a frown. "But it certainly isn't what we would like, and with the power he is amassing it is frightening to think of what he may do. In answer to your question, my guess is no better than yours. It would be wrong for me to give you an amount of time, because it would most likely not even be close. It really all comes down to what Voldemort has in mind."

"What are you meaning?" Olympe asked reluctantly. She had hoped for better knews. Admittedly she had not heard much, and she had no reason to believe that things were all sunshine, but the saying was no news is good news, and she assumed bad news would obviously be told to her, even if she was only part of the information branch. It was still important. She was the only French person they had!

"well If Voldemort wanted to try and increase his hold on Franc, I expect he could do so in a matter of weeks. If however he wanted to do something else, which I feel he does, then he will take longer." He explained.

It was a quite day, with the students all in lessons and the teachers all off teaching or in the teachers lounge. Dumbledore and Olympe were the only ones around, but even so, several silencing charms had been placed on the door. With all the information spies around you couldn't be to careful.

"And what are you thinking is his plan. What is it he is trying to do?"

she enquired.

"Well I was hoping you may be able to tell me more about that. You say he recently recruited a few Death Eaters from this country, maybe he is intending to work his way across Europe, increasing his forces and power. In answer to his long term goal though, that still eludes us. Whether it is world domination, I can only pray not, but then that doesn't answer a question that arises."

"What is Harry Potter doing in his scheme." She said, as she said his question, only in a stupid manner.

"Yes, that is a king of questions, and we are lucky to know it, for it seems Harry is required for something other than death." Dumbledore said gravely. Thinking of Harry, having to fight Voldemort in the future. It was a dreadful shame and Dumbledore wished with all his heart that he could fight instead of Harry.

"But what do you mean?" Olympe demanded.

"Well It would seem that Voldemort doesn't want Harry dead, despite all his past, something must have changed, something that means he wants Harry alive. I cannot fathom what it is, and I do not expect you to, but I can tell you and you can conclude yourself if you like."

Olympe was a bit flustered. She didn't like being told she wouldn't know the answer to something.

"Tell me and I will see what I can make out of matters." She said in a challenge. "I' am a a woman of more intelligence than I think you appreciate."

"Well perhaps" Dumbledore said simply. "But bear in mind not a single member of the Order can make any sense of it. All we know is it must be something truly diabolical. And old."

"Old?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied. "For you see that old spells were often more complex, and it seems he is planning a very old spell, or one he found himself, for with the items he has stolen from various museums and locations, it does not seem to add up to anything that we know of."

"But if it is a spell of some sort, requiring objects, then surely you must have some idea." She asked hopefully. Hope was a useful thing to have, but by no means should it be what you rely on.

"Alas, I'm afraid not. What I can say is that somewhere in Voldemort's grand scheme of things, Harry Potter is involved, and it would seem he is wanted alongside a potion or Rite, and it also seems to involve the Arc of Spirits at the ministry."

She ran it over in her mind. It had been a long time since she heard mention of it. After all why would people want to talk about the world where the dead resides. The last time she heard it must have been about eight years ago, when she had gone to an aunts funeral. "_May thee arc welcome you into the never world, and there you may live without worldly restraints, in the land of go, blessed and in happiness._" That is how part of the speech went that they read out to dead people.

"How are you knowing this? Is it from an additional part of yure information division?" She enquired. Perhaps Voldemort was planning to recruit an army of spirits. Warriors without mortal flesh. They couldn't bleed and couldn't die. They would stop for nothing, not even the end of battle.

"Well this information actually came from Harry himself. He saw Voldemort their with one of his Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange, and it seemed he was trying to break down the world between the living and the dead." Dumbledore said surely. Olympe shifted a little bit. This wasn't entirely what she wanted to hear. In fact it was certainly not what she wanted to hear at all.

"I thought those…visions… were a humorous spell." She said as politely as possible. She didn't think the boy was crazy, she merely thought that that he was confused. Often she had woken up after a nightmare, and been convinced it was real.

"No, I assure you Olympe, they are as real as life itself. Maybe even more real than that! So with the Arc and Harry and stolen items what can you make up my dear lady? For I find nothing." Dumbledore said simply. He watched as she stayed silent for a moment as she blushed and failed to think of anything.

"I do not know. But if I read into the matter I'm sure I would come up with something."

"But of course." Said Dumbledore in the manner he always used when it was apparent she was merely trying to show off.

"So you think he will go after the boy, rather than try and take over France and Europe?" she asked to break the silence. She hated when Dumbledore had that look in his eyes. She knew it so often. It was a look that said "Hey world, guess what? I'm better than you!" and then stuck its tongue out.

"No, it would be wrong of me to assume anything where Voldemort is concerned, I expect he will continue to expand his forces, and sooner or later, he will move your way, regardless or not of his intentions with Harry Potter. I assume you are aware that he is being protected are you not."

"But of course. Your ministry stealth men cannot go sneaking round behind him without my knowledge, I see them a mile of." She boasted.

"I assume you are referring to the one you caught whilst going to the staff loo, or do you mean the one who made you a cup of tea this morning?" She looked away angrily, and regretted not putting laxative in his coffee, that would have shut him up.

"Now there is another big issue, and I do not understand the implications behind it, but it is very obvious Harry Potter is possessing an unnaturally large amount of talent."

"Unnatural or unusual?" Olympe asked suspiciously, for she had a very strong grasp of facts, and liked to know the difference between the truth and the belief.

"Well, I suppose unnatural is a bit of an overstatement. He certainly has an affinity for it though. From what I am told by Remus Lupin and other members of my staff, he seems to be picking up some of the most complex spells on the syllabus with the near simplest of ease." Olympe gave a small laugh.

"Perhaps then it is yure syllabus that is slipping, and becoming easy." She suggested. Dumbledore chuckled briefly, before becoming serious.

"They are quite the same as usual, of that I'm sure." Dumbledore said. The school had always taught the same things. They taught the important things.

"Well it makes sense that he has talent. What should you expect from one fate chose to fight You-Know-Who?"

"Nothing less. Nothing less." Dumbledore conceded. His parents had been quite good at magic, he tried to reason, although that hardly seemed to justify someone of Harry standard." "He doesn't do excessive amounts of studying, so there is no way he could be attributed to effort alone."

"As I say," Said Olympe. "you can't send a turtle to fight a titan." A silence flowed between them as they considered this. Maybe Dumbledore put to much thought into matters these days, he didn't know. After all over his years he must admit he had seen some other pretty impressive students. Alastor was just one of them.

"May I ask you something Olympe, did you notice anything, absolutely anything, strange about time a few weeks ago?" Dumbledore asked as he stared at her with a penetrating gaze which could practically read the thoughts from the way your eyes move.

"What time in particular?" she asked as she misunderstood the question. There was that time when she woke up and all her furniture had been glued to her ceiling. She ended up standing on her head for half an hour before realising it had been part of a particularly elaborate practical joke. That was a strange time indeed.

"No, I meant time itself."

"Well in that case the answer is being a no. Should I have?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, you shouldn't have. I was merely wondering for something that happened, that I have spoken to the active division of the order about." He said unsurely. There was no reason why he should really tell her. He didn't expect her to know anything, but then again, secrecy leads to mistrust, and it was trust and a lack of murderers that separated the Order from the Death Eaters.

"Well you see, it seemed that Voldemort froze time." He began to explain.

Harry and the others stood at the bottom of the Eiffel tower, staring up at its massive steel structure. They had finished the school, and now they were moving onto the countries attractions. Due to complaints from a few of the group members, they were promised that after they had finished looking at this they could go for an early lunch. Ron was particularly happy about this, especially after he spotted the burger king in the distance.

"I didn't think they had those." He beamed.

"Why wouldn't they?" Harry replied

"I don't know, I thought they would have something like frog king."

"Do we get to go up it?" Remus asked as he looked at it hopefully. He had bought a few galleons, which to him was a lot, so that he could enjoy himself. It was only later on that he had been reminded he wouldn't get a chance to change his money into muggle currency. Still, it didn't matter to much, because he was an expert in spending other peoples money. He had a habit of saying "Ooh now where's my wallet gone." Whilst vigorously turning out all his pockets to the waiter, who stared angrily at him. Then the attention would shift to his companion, who at this moment in time, wore a long crimson travelling cloak, and didn't like talking.

"No." Said Page. Sternly.

"Why not?" Tonks protested angrily. She had been particularly looking forward to going to the top and spitting onto unsuspecting victims down below.

"To dangerous." Barked Moody. "One of you would have to lean out of that window to far and then before you know it your three inches high and two meters wide, and I don't care to explain later on to Dumbledore, why we are a student down."

"But we won't lean out much." Phillip said hopefully. "Please." Moody grumbled angrily, and for some reason so did Page. It seemed they had a deep respect for each other, and would never dare disagree.

"Please Professor Moody." Said Serenity in an unnaturally helpless tone. Anyone who heard her voice half expected a sob story. "Only for a few minutes, and we promise we wouldn't do anything naughty." She pleaded. It was probably due to the fact she was a girl, but Moody felt a lot more uncomfortable about telling her no and shouting at her.

"Fine, but just quickly. I mean straight up "ooh that's pretty" and then back down. No silly business and no spitting off the side!" He said as he aimed the last comment at Tonks, who sulked for a minute until she realised he couldn't watch her the whole time.

"You may go, but you will not do anything I do not give permission for." Page said, in a way that suggested he was in charge of the students, when he had not been since Moody began talking. He had a way of controlling people. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was due to his deep understanding of human nature, but if he gave a death eater a kick here and there they would do anything, and if he went up to a student and broke a few rules, they would learn anything he put in front of them. They were completely scared of course, but fear went with control.

They walked to the base, and to the man standing in front of the elevator.

He said something in French and they stared at him blankly.

"Going up?" he tried, and then they smiled.

"Yeah." Moody said as he walked to the front of the crowd, and shepherded the children to all stand behind him. You could have an army of Death Eaters in there waiting to ambush you if you weren't careful.

"All of you?" the man inquired as he counted eleven of them.

"Yeah. Hurry up!" Standing round wasn't good. In the law of safety you should always keep moving, that way by the time a Death Eater had reported back where you were, you could be on the other side of the world eating a sandwich and enjoying the sun."

The best way of moving was to run, provided you didn't run into battle. He had seen so many new Aurors die from doing that. In his experience you let the scum run to you, because then they were out of breath and couldn't say spells as quickly. Also if had the intelligence and luck to arrive on the scene before the enemy, you could glue nails top the floor, and then by the time the enemy does arrive and gets to you, half of them are on the floor, staring dizzily at a squelching shoes.

"That will be seventy seven Euro's please." Moody went a little pale in the face.

"Ey gad! I'm not paying that much. I could fly up there cheaper than that."

The muggle elevator man seemed to misunderstand. "I know what you mean. You can get airplanes dead cheap these days. Just a few pound to get from here to England."

Moody turned his back away from the muggle and cursed. He had heard about all this new nonsense about paying muggles for stuff, but it was so much more trouble.

"Do any of you have money?" Everyone shook their heads, except Remus.

"I have a few galleons anyone can borrow. Low interest rates." Humphrey kept quite about his money. He wasn't to eager to see it disappear. After all he was on a teachers salary.

"No that's no good. Oh well no other way then I guess. Can't say I didn't try." Moody said happily. He was a big fan of tradition, and tradition demanded the use of magic and a distinct lack of paying. He went back to the muggle, who had started serving a German family, who asked to go to the first floor. Moody waited patiently, tapping his feet on the cobblestone floor. It made a loud clunking sound every time he did it. It was almost musical, except the irregularity of it disallowed anyone to add to it. Moody probably made sure it didn't sound musical, because you couldn't be a serious Auror if you went round singing and such.

Once the man had finished with them, and helped them onto one of the lifts, he turned his attention back to Moody. He was a little nervous around this man. There was something suspicious about his face and the hat he wore obscuring half of it. All Moody needed to do was put his hands in his pockets and it would look like he had a gun.

"Yes. Still going up?" The man enquired.

"Do you have a wife?" Moody said, in a manner which completely caught the man off guard. No one asked him that. They might make small talk whilst they waited for a lift to become available. They might talk about the weather if they wee English, or the latest sporting event, but they seldom if ever mentioned anything about his family.

"Yes." He said unsurely. He couldn't decide what the man was up to, but he didn't like it.

"I see…" Moody said. "And what time do you knock off work?" There was a horrible moment in the mans head when it dawned on him what might be going on here. He had heard about these people. Sex people.

"No I don't want to go and have a drink with you and I don't want to engage in a sex festival thank you." He said briskly as he tried to turn away from Moody, before deciding it best to keep his back to a wall. Moody stared dumfounded. What was this man on about.

"I don't know what you mean about hanky panky but my job doesn't allow it." Moody said very sternly, as though he had been greatly offended.

Moody was one of the few people whom you could trust not to give a damn whether a woman was offering herself to him, because as far as he was concerned, if it wasn't in the job it didn't count, and if it was in the job he hated to think what that made him. Indulgence in the flesh was for the weak, he always said. Constant vigilance!

"I was just wondering if you would like to finish a bit early today." Moody said in a rather reasonable tone.

"No I think I'm quite alright thanks." Said the muggle. He was running through his head whether they would allow him to work all day, and possibly go for his lunch break now so that he could run very far away.

"You could finish early." Moody said, with lots of eyebrow wiggling, and suggestive toning.

"Yes… I suppose I could." Conceded the muggle as he suddenly had a whole new outlook on life. Why, no one would really mind, and he would always be back tomorrow. Life was suddenly jolly. It was a world where anything could happen.

"I think you should." Said Moody as he gave the man a little encouraging pat on the back. Remus sighed to himself. That was the fourth time already he had done that since they got here, and it was only the first morning. The first two times were to school students, whilst the third was to a policeman that decided Moody was offending the public with his appearance

"You know, I think I will." Said the muggle eventually, and with that he walked off merrily, whistling to himself.

"Takes care of that." Said Moody disgustedly. It was repulsive how easy muggle minds were to manipulate. It was barely even magic that was required. "Come on then get in. We haven't got all day." He said as he waved everyone into the elevator. They all stepped in, and the door closed behind them, It was a tight squeeze, and it was near the maximum weight load apparently. It was a good job Harry wasn't afraid of heights, because it would have been scary.

"Did you know that the Eiffel tower is actually leaning slightly?" Hermione asked in a very knowledgeable tone. If you didn't know it before it was a guarantee you would by the time you stepped off the lift. Hermione would make sure of it.

"Why? Was it built badly?" Ron asked.

"Probably." Blaise said gloomily. It was the worst day of her life.

"No, it is actually so that if it ever falls over, it won't fall onto the road. Quite clever really." She explained. It didn't seem wonky, so it wasn't exactly to the same standards as the leaning tower of Pisa.

They continued in silence for a little while, as the silent hum of the lift became the only noise, eventually they stopped on the first floor, where it seemed an impatient person had called all the lifts, and ended up choosing the first one which arrived. The doors closed and they carried on up.

"you're going to tell us more facts aren't you." Ron said as he looked over towards Hermione, who was visibly fidgeting under the silence.

"Well if you want me to I can." She said brightly. "It stands at three hundred and meters high, and varied by about fifteen centimetres depending on temperature."

"Why is that?" asked Alexanda. Most people didn't know why, and being from a pure blood family gave you no chance.

"Because metal expands when it heats up." She said simply.

By the time they had reached the top, which felt like a long time, and probably was, they had learned that it was made by three hundred steel workers, had eighteen thousand and thirty eight pieces of steel on it, and two and a half million rivets. Also they apparently painted it every seven years, with fifty tons of dark brown paint. Bing. Went the elevator as it at last drew to the third and uppermost floor. They stepped out into the room, and immediately everyone walked over to one of the windows.

It was strange, how people would pay to go up in a building and then look down at the ground, you could see it much better when it was five feet away from you, although Harry did have to admit the view was rather breathtaking. The room itself was large and open, with several glass cabinets depicting the history of the tower, and other vaguely interesting facts. Remus, being a teacher, decided he should be more reserved than everyone else, and rather than joining them in squashing his nose up against a pain of glass, he wondered around three cabinets and tripped over before joining them.

Page stayed by the door, maintaining that it was so he could stop the lift form going down, when it was in fact because after a quick look out of the window he had gone a funny green colour. Moody hobbled up behind the students and joined in looking. The view stretched out for miles and miles around (according to a display bored, forty miles on a good day). On one side was a large amount of open grass, whilst on the other side a river ran a short way away from it, with several bridges running over in which cars angrily drove over, like angry humming bees. From here they seemed more like silent toy car on a model world than the real thing.

The city stretched out on the other two sides, and past the river, and back and past the green park. The roads were quieter at this time of day than they had been some hours earlier, due to the fact most people had gotten to where they wanted to be. It was however still very busy, down in the little toy world below them. Each house and building holding its own family and stories, it was a regret to Hermione that she could not have come at night, for to see the city in its night time state, lit up and twinkling would truly have been spectacular.

A lot of the buildings they could see were large. Office blocks stretched up here and there, but as they looked out and past these, the nearer to the edge of their view they got, the smaller and older the buildings, until at last they came to small cottages belonging to and old woman who would go out and milk her cow in the morning, before returning indoors for a cup of tea by the fire in her rocking chair.

It was strange because if the cities age was checked, it would seem that several hundred years ago, a ring of houses had appeared, and gradually as the years ticked by like pages of a calendar, so it moved towards the middle, getting bigger and newer. The tower they were standing in, along with a few old Cathedrals were the only evidence visible that said this wasn't how things went.

A tourist boat went by in the river, silently with its little trail of pollution leading up and behind it. Eventually it rose into the air and spread out till it wasn't visible. Harry reached his hand forward and by closing one eye it seemed to him he could pluck items from their surroundings. He could fit a multi story car park between his thumb and finger, as it only measured an inch across, in his view.

The sun seemed to shine more brightly up here, although it was tough to be sure. Maybe it was because the room was surrounded in glass, and seemed to have a green house effect, or maybe it was because after being in a dim lift for five minutes everything seemed brighter. Quite possibly it was because they were elevated up and above a lot of the city pollution and smog.

"It's beautiful." Serenity exclaimed as she looked down on the city of tales.

"It's not as good as England." Ron said loyally. Moody gave him a thoroughly approving look as if to say "Albus Dumbledore would be proud of you." Tonks was trying to force open a window and spit on someone, except she realised that due to the shape of it, there were several hundred tons of steel between her and the unsuspecting French person. Moody looked down at his watch, which told the time, amongst other things, and after realising they had been there for three minutes declared they had better be off. After all up here in the sky they could be ambushed by Death Eaters and there was no where to run.

"Come on then best be going." He said to everyone who was still staring out of the window. "If you enjoy pressing your face to glass that much you can do it in your own home but we have a schedule to stick to." Page looked like he was about to tell Moody that he was in fact the one with the schedule, but thought better of it.

"Can't we stay a little bit longer?" Serenity asked sweetly. He had been prepared for it this time, and had spent the last few minutes into training himself to say no when she asked. He knew she would ask, she was a hopeful.

"Yes, we could stay a few more minutes. In fact we could stay all day. We could do a lot of things! We could all stand round in la de da land prancing with the fairies and singing with the birds, or we could do what I say and get out of this shoddy construction and go and have some lunch!" There was a moment of silence in which she sulked, and Ron said very spiritedly.

"Here here!"


	53. Serra

Hi guys, sorry for the long delay since last update… things have gone slowly lately… no real reason other than its summer and I have been busy going out all the time and things. Still I'm back to school in a week's time so hopefully things will speed up by then. Thanks to those who reviewed, to those who read and didn't review, shame on you! You know who you are….

Also if you are getting tired of reading about France, then fret not. I hate writing about it and this story is to long, so with any luck in a few chapters time it will be back home at Hogwarts.

Without further ado, as Hagrid would say "Da Duda Da!"

There was a moment of silence in which she sulked, and Ron said very spiritedly.

"Here here!"

"So that explains that really." Said Dumbledore as he finished off the rest of his tea and put the mug down on the table, he left a tiny pit in the bottom, because in his opinion it wasn't as good as the rest.

"I see." Said Olympe quietly. They had concluded the discussion over the time freezing, and she didn't have much to say on the matter. She had been mostly quite whilst Dumbledore chaptered it and said about his beliefs and what he thought Voldemort was up to.

"I think that is all there is really, to report on the Order business, from my division at least." He said as he sat with his fingers laced and his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. There was a window behind Olympe, and facing Dumbledore, it wasn't very large, but he could see the sun which had now risen higher, due to the fact it was approaching twelve. He might have had to squint if he hadn't been cast in shadow by the woman in front of him.

"Is that yure way of saying you would like to talk about new recruits?" Olympe asked cleverly. She had a habit of knowing what Dumbledore was saying, or not saying.

"Well, whenever is convenient. Who have you got to introduce me to? I hear you have a few people." Dumbledore said as he moved in his seat and turned to the door, no one was there. "But I expect it will have to wait until later, because if I know correctly, then there will be a teacher amongst your selection, and they will no doubt be teaching at this moment." Olympe smiled

"You are right and wrong. Although one of them is a teacher, he isn't teaching. He is off showing yure students round France."

"I see, Sir Humphy Page, was his name?" Dumbledore asked enquiringly, despitre the fact he knew the answer was yes. "I must admit I had him down as a shade bit to dodgy, but I take it you know him better than I do, and upon an… interrogation, I am sure we can come to the truth." He chuckled.

"You do not have to accept him. By any means do not feel yure forced into saying yes just because of my recommendation. After all with age comes wisdom, and you are very wise."

"I'm not that old!" Dumbeldore protested jokingly. However, after Olympe had stopped laughing he fell quite for a minute. He was old.

"Who else is on the list?" He asked breaking the silence. "Well, I have a lady friend of mine, I trust her. We went to school together, and any woman who stays in touch with a friend as has she, is trustworthy." She said. Dumbledore nodded.

"I quite agree. I never really kept in touch with my friends, you know how it is, one thing leads to another and then a month has passed and its all to easy to move onto new things." He explained.

Dumbledore seldom spoke of his friends, and most people assumed he didn't have many. He had had a couple, but he was to engrossed in studies and furthering his magic to be popular. Still, he didn't regret it. It was important, his role in life, or so he felt, and he had enjoyed it.

"And the remainder on the list? I assume there is only one more." He said as he tried to peer over to the piece of paper that Olympe had written down on. She drew it up out of his vision.

"There are two others actually, neither of them I don't think should go into the active division. But rather, they would be better suited for intelligence." Olympe said as she thought of the characteristics each one of these people possessed. They could both be not seen, although through very different manners. The first one moved with the shadows and the wind, and could become so inconspicuous that they were literally blocked out from the viewers mind.

The other one was more devious, more crafty, and perhaps of even greater talent. They were not seen, in a manner that they were never known. A master of disguise and a veteran of personalities, they could say exactly what you wanted them to say and behave as any different person. They could be a prince or a pauper, and no one would think differently.

"Well One of them, I think you will be happily shocked to know, is a teacher at Durmstrang." She said simply. A smile passed between her and Dumbeldore.

"If indeed this teacher is trustworthy, then it would prove a most valuable asset, for to have our reach of information reach to their it would greatly increase our grasp. Not to mention Bulgaria's attitude to the dark lord. Most didn't believe, and those who did would open their door to him.

"I am afraid you will not be able to meet him on this day, and Professor Page until later today. You may however meet the one I have not spoken of. She is rather good at her job I think you will find."

"And what is her job?" He enquired. Olympe's eyes flickered slightly, and there was the most silent of rustles of material. It that would not have been heard if the window was open or there was someone walking along outside.

"I work for the ministry." Said a well spoken calm voice. She was clearly English, not French. Dumbledore couldn't make out anything of her appearance, due to the fact all but her eyes were masked in black, what he could tell was that she was rather thin, and probably quite muscular. You had to be in order to pin yourself up in the corner of the room like she had done.

"An information spy. I'm impressed. If I was younger and more impressionable I would have jumped out of my skin." He said laughingly as the woman reached up and pulled of her black velvet balaclava. It was a standard issue uniform. Velvet was the blackest of materials, and was generally favoured due to this quality and its mostly silent ability to fold. The last thing an information spy wanted was to be caught on the job wearing a shell suit or denim.

"Please, I prefer Stealth Detective." She said as she took a relaxed leaning position against the wall, next to the filing cabinet, even now Dumbledore could feel his mind starting to slip at the fact she was there, and it wasn't due to any sort of invisibility spell. He had long since trained his mind how to over look those.

She was beautiful, by all accounts. She had shoulder length blonde hair which hung perfectly straight around her face, and framed her pale skin well. She had a charming personality, the sort of infectious person that was the pinnacle of social life. She seemed well mannered and sophisticated, without being condescending and hubris. She was probably like a mature Tonks, except of course she wasn't any older. She appeared to be in her early twenties, clearly having excelled through training.

Dumbledore stood up form his seat, and shook her hand.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" He enquired. Olympe stood up from behind her desk, which was quite unnecessary, and shook the woman's hand as well.

"This is Serra L'Ange. A niece of mine."

"Second niece actually." Serra corrected. "Otherwise I would be big boned." She had a smooth voice, the kind of voice that could sooth you to sleep. She could start talking so quietly, that you couldn't hear, and then gently get louder until she was singing to you, and your mind would be blissfully unaware until someone pointed out, at which point you would suddenly hear its angelic pitch.

It was the kind of voice someone could only obtain from having lived in a non polluted area all their life, or possibly if their diet only consisted of fruit, or slippery foods. It was the exact opposite of Mad Eye Moody's.

"And the pleasure is all mine." She said charmingly, with a brilliant smile. Here eyes were a deep vibrant blue, so blue in fact that it seemed impossible. Admittedly they weren't very good for Stealth cases, and she often used a darkening charm so they stood out less.

Dumbledore looked at her as she crossed her arms again and leant against the wall contently. She was happy. She had been successful. Admittedly she was always successful, but after hearing so much about the infamous Albus Dumbledore she had questioned her probable success.

"Yes I can see you're related. You have Olympe's…er…Yes. So anyway, I'm glad you could join us for our meeting. I do however regret to inform you that Should you fail the initiation test you will die. And of course I would have to do some nasty memory charms on you. Very dangerous." He said. She had heard a lot, and the more someone had heard or seen the harder it was to remove from their mind.

"Well that isn't a problem to me. Death threats come with the job, as I'm sure you can imagine." She said. There were numerous occasions when she had been caught, and death was certainly a possibility. Thankfully she was a good runner, and she had lost them. It took a real pro to creep up next to the enemy, but that was all wasted if they could kill you before you reported back. "And I assure you I won't be dying in any case." She said calmly. Olympe seemed to agree.

"There isn't an evil bone in this girl. Not even a small one." She said. "A Coombsy would be starving within her."

"Would you like a seat?" Dumbledore asked as he waved his wand and a chair appeared. It was large and comfortable, and far exceeded the quality of the chair he was sitting on, much to Olympe's annoyance, and his satisfaction.

"Thank you." She said as she took the chair and manoeuvred it round to the side of the desk so she could watch them both equally. Dumbeldore reached into the depths of his robe, and his hand clasped round the small grey plastic container. He drew it out and placed it on the table in front of them all.

"I assume you are fairly familiar with the initiation, having no doubt being told already by your aunt." Dumbeldore asked as he peered at the young woman over the top of his glasses.

"Second aunt. And Yes, I know it involves a Coombsy, and I know what they do." She said knowledgably. She knew a lot of things.

"Well in that case I hope you will forgive me for explaining again, for I need to make sure you know what the initialization involves, so I can't be held responsible later for your death, should it occur."

He reached in to the container and pulled out something that could only be described as a worm. It was thin, almost like a finger. The red worm was about four inches in length and was wiggling as Dumbledore held it firmly in his grasp.

"This is a Coombsy. It is obtained from the intestines of a Chimera. It feeds and grows on the evil inside you. They are kept in bat blood because without the evil they will starve and die." He explained.

"In Order to pass the Initialization you must consume this. If you are of a good heart and have honest intentions, the Coombsy will starve and die, causing you no harm what so ever. If however you have evil living deep within you, and you are the sort of person who thrives on others misfortune, then this will find a home in you and feed upon your anger growing larger until it becomes fatal." Dumbledore said very dully, as if he had repeated this many times.

Sierra reached out a hand, which Dumbledore put the Coombsy into. It quickly tried to crawl over her hand, and away from her, as though it could sense what was going to happen, and detect a distinct lack of evil to feed upon.

"I just eat this then? I don't chew it I assume." She said as she held it up to the light expectantly, and realised just what a fowl little creature it was. It looked pitiful in a way, and if she had known him she would have thought of Wormtail, because they had similarities, besides the name.

"Well I wouldn't suggest you chew it, because it tastes rather detestable, and I would have to hand you another." Dumbledore said as his eyes stared continuously at the creature. He didn't expect it but it was possible that the woman may swap it and have a fake one. After all it only took one traitor to enter the Order and the whole thing would fall down. Once Serra realised she was being watched, she quickly raised it to her mouth and swallowed it, without the slightest grimace.

She waited a few minutes for it to settle down inside her. At first it kept wiggling in order to find a place to get comfortable, but as it failed, it just settled for what was available, which was space. It could look for food later.

"Well, I expect it shall die shortly." She said simply. She knew it would, she was sure of it. She often wished other people could appreciate how she could be sure of something on gut instinct alone. Especially in this situation gut instinct counted for a lot, due to the fact it was a lot more up close and personal to the intruder.

Dumbledore fumbled in his pocket for a moment and drew out a galleon. He hadn't needed to have any new ones made up yet. He would if the others passed, but for now he had the one on him. It had belonged to Harry, and with a simple reconfiguration it was ready for her.

"Now if you take this, it will allow you to be summoned to the Order meetings." He said as he showed it to her and explained how it worked.

"But I thought I would be working in the information division?" She asked as she looked up at Dumbledore, who looked back and saw the want in her eyes.

"Well technically you are, but you see I felt you would better off coming to the active division meetings, despite the fact you will not participate in any time travelling missions like the rest of us." As he said this Olympe moved to try and hide her displease over this. Why should her niece be allowed into the meeting and not her? All her action actually did was cause the chair to give a loud creek, and draw all the attention to her.

"Don't worry my dear madam Maxine. The reason is simple, it is not that I favour her over you or any other non active division member, it is simply that miss L'Ange processes skills, which would be used in an active manner, in order to obtain information.

"I also feel it would be quite useful for someone this side of the water to be kept informed of the meetings held in Hogwarts. Of course our lovely Olympe cant attend due to her responsibilities her at Beauxbatons. However I am quite willing to hazard a guess that you would be able to attend meetings, and inform members here in France of the latest developments, miss L'Ange?"

Serra nodded simply. It made sense. No one would say it, but Olympe stuck out like a saw thumb. A saw thumb painted to glow in the dark, and then put with a packet of chocolate fingers. Having her sneak up to Dumbledore's office wasn't a possibility. The only sneaking she could do would be in an elephant parade. She liked it when people made sense and used simple logic. Of course she also liked to use her charm in a way that benefited her, and required a lack of sense from the other party. Men usually worked as she planned.

Serra understood why so many spoke so highly of the headmaster. He appreciated things for how they truly were, even if he didn't portray that to be the case in what he said. Dumbledore held out his hand, and she shook it heartily.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, or as some like to call it, Dumbledore's Army" He said with a twinkle in his eye and a small chuckle. Out of the corner of his vision he could see Madame Maxine's glower. She couldn't boast of having her own army to him. He gained another point in their friendly rivalry.

The tour of France had ended with the vineyards. It had literally been a flash in " here-are-our-world-famous-vineyards-where-we-grow-the-grapes-to-make-our-world-famous-wine" and it was over. Everyone, Harry included, had hoped for a tasting session. They all left disappointed, except for Moody, who was carrying a large demijohn of wine, which he had the sense not to start whilst on guard duty.

Now they were all back in the entrance hall at Beauxbatons, slightly aching and tired from excessive walking as they saw the sites, and spoke to many confused French people as they asked for directions. But that was to be expected with a whirlwind tour of a whole country in a single day and Moody as their guide. Professor Page left them with the assurance that there were many more exciting things planned for them to partake in during the coming week. Harry groaned.

At some point just after lunch he had become convinced that this was all some great master plan to wear out the whole of the visiting contingent of students so that when it cam to the all important Quidditch match, the team would be too tired to stay on their brooms, let alone play a decent game of Quidditch. When he mentioned this thought to Ron and the others during the evening, they wholly agreed with him. It was the only way to explain why there was such a rigorous schedule.

They all trudged up the stairs to their temporary accommodations. Everyone had discovered during the course of the day that they had new muscles their bodies that they had never known of. Some of them had actually never been discovered before by anyone, and they hurt. After a little stretching out because their legs were decidedly cramped they made for the bedroom area. The only thing that halted their final trudge was Tonks.

"Hey guys!" She said excitedly bouncing a little upon the spot in an annoyingly energetic manner. "You can't go to bed yet we're expected down in the not-so-great hall. Only they will be expecting us to disregard that expectation and go straight to bed, so lets go eat!" She grinned around at the group expectedly. They all groaned audibly, with Blaise throwing in some dirty comment which Tonks missed for some reason or another. Remus said that he agreed with her, and that they should show their faces down there tonight, even if the only reason was to show that they had greater Stamina than the French students, or something along those lines. With much sighing, moaning, groaning, whinging, and whining they made their way back down the stairs. The final trudge of the day would have to wait.

As they came down the stairway and appeared in the doorway of the hall, they could hear the general hubbub of normal end of day chatter to be found among any people when they come together. But as they stood in doorway silence gradually spread over the whole crowd. It started off with a small group by the door who turned to the door and quietened. Their neighbours turned to see why the friendly chatter had died down, saw the reason and also went silent. They watched a this slow silence ripple extended the full length and breadth of the hall, as heads turned to face the small group. Harry had the curious thought of a queer Mexican wave done with the head.

He caught the look on the headmistresses' face. She looked like a thunder cloud, and not just because of the dark billowing gown with odd fluffy bits she was wearing. Her expression itself was thunderous and he could even see a miniature form of lightning sparking across her face as her enormous eye brows acted like clouds, and shifted rapidly, causing an enormous static build-up. He couldn't figure out what they had done wrong. All they had done was walk in to a meal. she couldn't expect them to go hungry could she?

As he stared at her he saw her configure her face into a look of false happiness.

"Ah children, what a pleasure to av yure company joining us in our evening meal." She grinned at them. Serenity and a few others all moved back slightly, something about her tone suggested that she was actually some sort of evil witch, who planned to eat them. "Please please, join us." She strained, as she pointed over to the end of the table where they had sat before. Several students quickly vanished from the seats she pointed to.

Harry sat down unimpressed. Poor organisation is what it was. It was blatantly obvious to everyone that they hadn't been expected, and they should have been. A real school wouldn't d that, he thought to himself as he cast his loyal mind back to good old Hogwarts. He had seen a flying car, in fact, he'd flown in it! He'd seen a giant spider, flesh eating horses, and a willow that whomped. A lack of organisation wasn't anything to be impressed over, or even unimpressed, if you had a warped mind.

Some people would say that unimpressive, was just that, when the truth was that unimpressive was impressive itself, because it wasn't everyday that something could be so standard or lacking in impressive nature, that it was normal. It was an impressive feat to be normal, and therefore unimpressive was actually not as it claimed to be. Either way having to wait for food, didn't make the Hogwarts team happy, and it certainly didn't make Olympe happy.

Everyone managed to hold a face of indifference. Well that is everyone except Serenity, but then again she was obviously a sheltered individual, and everything was either beautiful and captivating, or horrifically frightening. Her eyes were wide as she looked around uncomfortably. Harry nudged her gently in the ribs. Sp gently that he wasn't even sure he had done so. He didn't wan to make he cry, and by now each and everyone of them knew she was very sensitive.

"Sorry I was just… confused." Serenity explained to him.

"Confused? Over what?" Harry asked in confusion. She often confused people. Probably due to the fact that somewhere between her eyes and her brain was a layer of cotton wool which made the whole world a fluffier softer place.

"What is the emotion I should be feeling right now?" she asked as she tried frowning, to match Olympe's face. The difference in their femininity meant that no resemblance was made.

"You're supposed to be tired." Harry said as he propped his chin up with his arm. After eating he would probably be even more tired. He would probably just go straight to bed. "Also unimpressed." He added. Serenity considered this for a moment before asking. "So what facial expression would I have for this emotion then?" She liked it where everything was horrifically frightening. You knew where you were with a high pitched scream and a well timed gasp.

"Well… try frowning… and give all the French students shifty sideways glances. Also if you could make a sweat drop appear next to you then that would help…"

Again the meal was as unremarkable as the supposed feast they had eaten the previous evening for Halloween. In fact it was even less so, although the lack of non petrifying decorations allowed you to concentrate on what you were eating. Also if you had a boy with a large plate of runner beans trying to talk to you it didn't help. The only French cuisine they had was a starter of Bouillabaisse which they were told was a type of fish soup, and as such it was safe. Still most refrained from eating it, each maintaining their own private speculation on what it really was.

The exceptions were Hermione and Ron. Hermione ate it to see if it tasted any different from some she had sampled on a previous visit to France, and Ron ate it because it was food, and because it met his safety rules ("If you poke it, it doesn't poke back.") Once finished with dinner, which admittedly was a rather brief affair, they all returned to their room, to find a smiling Dumbeldore awaiting them .

"Good, very good. You did the exact opposite of what Madame Maxine expected. Who was it that figured out her thought pattern and coaxed you all down into the hall?" He asked as he glanced around, his gaze falling upon Remus.

Remus shuffled about uncomfortably from foot to foot, trying to not meet the head teachers gaze. It was an impossible thing to do, but Harry thought that he had given a very valiant attempt all the same.

"Uh well, it was Tonks Sir." He explained as he ran his hand through his hair. The the fact that Tonks had figured it out when all the others had not, meant that Doomsday had indeed arrived, and that the fabric of reality was unravelling itself.

Dumbledore looked vaguely amused. So vaguely so that you had to be staring very intently at his silvery eyebrows to see the minute upwards movement of them. Harry was the only one to spot it. He had taken to observing Dumbledore's face for miniscule betrayals of his feelings in his expression of late. He suspected that he was one of the very few that had ever tried to fathom the professor in this manner, and one of the even less that had some small degree of success.

Dumbledore strode rapidly over to Tonks who had taken on the appearance of a person with rather pointy facial features during the meal to amuse them, and had forgotten about the look on her face. As she stared at Dumbledore in delight at the praise, she caught site of her miniscule reflection in his glasses, and quickly changed into something more suitable for talking to the headmaster. Bright Red hair and usual facial features seemed to work.

Dumbledore gave her a hearty handshake with a look of triumph shining in his eye. "Congratulations Nymphadora, maybe being a professor is doing you some good after all." It could have been the compliment or it could have been that Dumbledore had said Tonks' surname in front of the students, but if she hadn't turned her back on him and Harry, they would have seen her blush.

Harry looked round at everyone, and then noticed something. Professor McGonagall wasn't their, and if his memory served him then she hadn't been there the previous night either. Since Dumbledore was now free to speak to Harry went and asked him about it.

"Sir, Do you know where professor McGonagall is? It's just I haven't seen her much this trip, is she alright?" Everyone else was wafting round, some slumped on the chairs a few watching TV, and a few had already retired to their rooms. Whatever Dumbledore was about to say didn't need much privacy, because he seemed to deem the situation adequate.

"Yes I do know what has become of her Harry, and you needn't worry yourself over her well being. She can look after herself, as I'm sure you may have guessed. She is at Hogwarts, She needed to return late last night, but should be back further in the week. The school can get a bit hectic without a headmaster or strong leader. It seems that Snape wasn't doing a very adequate job. He actually tried to expel a student! We never expel students, that would be to easy. All you need to do is a few well timed detentions and a bit of sleep deprivation and they usually quit school themselves."

Harry was distracted from any further conversation between himself and the headmaster that may have arisen, for a small scuffle had broken out when someone tried to change the TV channel. Ron took the opportunity to hurl an over stuffed cylindrical pillow at Alexanda. Everyone was reduced into hysterical fits of laughter as another pillow appeared out of nowhere, and a very slow swordfight began, where the sword were thick and stuffed. Once Ron managed to land a well placed blow round the side of the head which caused Alexanda to stumble and complain on dizzy spots, Dumbledore deemed the sport unsafe and sent them straight off to bed, which each and every one was none to sad over.

Once in bed Harry's thoughts turned to Quidditch, and for the first time today the thoughts weren't interrupted by other thoughts of the schedule meals, and tourist attractions. It dawned upon him that in five days time they would have finished the first of three international Quidditch matches by this time for the day. he gulped, for they had only practised as a team once. They had been okay, but they still weren't exactly marvellous or particularly awe-inspiring, and not in the slightest bit intimidating. At the moment he thought that their chances of winning an international match was slim to none.

His final thought before he rolled over and fell into a dark exhaustion induced sleep was that they would have plenty of opportunity to practise between now and the match. he was sure he had heard mention of a friendly "no-competition" match arranged between his team and one from Beauxbatons for tomorrow. Also at the end of the day, if they lost he could always run away and live on a tropical island where no one knew him.


	54. Flouncy Bits

Wow it seems like it has been forever, it has in a way. Now I don't suppose there is much I can say in a way of excuses. The only thing I can say is that school was a little hectic starting back, and that I have been spending a lot of my time playing old computer games. Something I'm trying to stop doing for the stories sake aswell as you.

If you are reading this then you have waited, which I thank you for. Hopefully you shall never have to wait this long again, because a week is the limit I would like to spend per chapter.

And I say I, it is actually we. This was mostly written by my co writer, bless her. She does to much work, and speed has nothing to do with her, so if you moan direct it just at me thank you.

The Quidditch match will start soon as well, in case any of you were wondering

Harry found himself rocking and rolling, and for a moment he wondered whether perhaps he was in the Pegasus and it was galloping along jerkily, but as he opened his eyes he found that he was actually being shaken awake. It was seven in the morning, and rather predictably the culprit was the one and only Ron Weasley, the amazing human gullet gulch, into which any amount of food could be shovelled, and it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy the hunger pangs. He had worried that Hermione might try and make a habit out of waking him up, since that time in the dormitory, but two days had passed and she hadn't, so Harry gave a sigh of relief.

As they were heading for the door they were both gripped by the shoulder, and they turned swiftly. There was Dumbledore in a dark purple velour dressing gown. He had a matching hat held in his hand, and his long hair, where it was, was messy. Harry had to stifle a laugh.

The teacher gave him a look that clearly stated, with rude words, that should any rude comment arise, he had the ability to make the rest of the week miserable for you. However, he spoke in as pleasant tone as ever.

"Where are you two off to at this time in the morning?" He asked as his brow furrowed in general puzzlement. Ron looked at him incredulously.

"Breakfast of course." He explained, as Dumbledore shook his head, whilst still smiling

"No Ron, you see it is not time for breakfast yet." Dumbledore explained in a tone that suggested he was much more educated in the matter. He anticipated Ron's half protest half plea about it being the same time that they went down yesterday, and continued to speak before Ron could say any such matter. "It may be the time we went down yesterday, but that is precisely why we won't be going for another half hour. Olympe will expect us at that time, therefore we shall be a full fifteen minutes late, meaning we are in actual fact, a quarter of an hour early." Ron opened his mouth wordlessly. Privately he was wondering if they had skipped time, and consequently breakfast, because Dumbledore seemed to be saying that they should have already gone to breakfast but hadn't.

Dumbledore merely responded with one of his knowing looks and spoke again.

"However Olympe is a lady as smart as she is large, and will be anticipating my anticipation, and whilst that works in theory, she was not born yesterday. This means she will know we will arrive early at our attempt of being late and so she would be expecting us. Therefore we shall be adding an additional fifteen minutes onto that time, so Mister Weasley, in answer to your question, you may go along with he rest of the group to have your breakfast in half an hour."

Ron looked horror stricken at this final statement, a full half hour until breakfast? It just wasn't the done thing, or at least it wasn't the don thing as far as Ron was concerned. Surely it wasn't healthy. The old people had it all sussed out, that mucg he was sure of. Up at four in the morning for a bacon sandwich, or if the body wasn't up to it, a bowl of muesli to get things flowing. Then a nice early dinner at four o clock before nodding off at five in their arm chair whilst Richard whitely tells unfunny jokes at the start of countdown.

"Are you sure that will work sir?" Harry asked sceptically. It sounded like an awful lot of assumption work on Dumbledore's part. "Surely you don't know that stuff as a fact. By that logic could Olympe not anticipate that extra fifteen minutes and have breakfast prepared for then?" He asked. An eerie silence followed this as every par of eyes swivelled to face Dumbledore, all two pairs (Dumbledore, whilst having the knowledge of an eye stretching spell that would allow him to view his own forehead without the use of a mirror, refrained from putting it to application. He knew his face was grave).

"That, Harry, is a thought of which I dare not fathom. It truly would be the end of Hogwarts as we know it!"

Harry and Ron exchanged vaguely scared looks. It was only the briefest of thoughts any of them dared possess, but whilst it was there, it was certainly questioning the headmasters senility. Tonks decided to add to the tension of the situation and to Dumbledore's last statement by sticking her head out of a door.

"Du du dum!" She said theatrically. Everyone ignored her. Dumbledore Decided however that he should go and offer her a sherbet lemon whilst most definitely not talking to Harry or Ron. He then went to get dressed before any other students caught him in such an un-authoritative state. No one could command an army in their pyjamas. (Actually, Roman Caesars did it all the time whilst in their death beds, but they were usually about to die in a few minutes from loss of blood, so it was the least anyone could do.)

Fifteen minutes later when everyone with the exception of Remus had arrived, fully clothes, Dumbledore decided to show them something. He led them over to a table at the side of the room. Folded neatly upon it were several items of deep purple fabric. As Dumbledore picked one up and shook it out for them to see, it became clear that these were Quidditch robes.  
  
They were exactly like their normal Quidditch robes, in the design aspect and quality. The difference was that they were purple trimmed with silver, and carried the Hogwarts coat of arms instead of that of the appropriate houses. Much like their stage school uniforms. Harry could tell that when the whole team was kitted up they would look very smart and presentable.  
  
Of course how long that would last was questionable. There was always one kid who tried to roll the Quaffle in dog muck and try and throw it at the opponent.   
  
Dumbledore cleared his throat and turned to face everyone as he handed them their appropriate uniforms, each one custom made to fit. He removed a minute speck of dust as he handed.

"Now these are the Quidditch robes you will be wearing for all the international matches, whether they for the actual tournament like the one at the end of this week, or simply the friendly practise sessions like the one arranged for today."  
  
There was the tiniest hint of sarcasm attached to the words simply and friendly, which the students missed.

"Now it goes without saying that you must take the highest care of these. In fact if you think you might get them creased then return them to me for safe keeping until the time when they are actually required. Also you shall have new robes for Quidditch Robes for the match, because I find they fade a bit after that first wash, or get funny round the edge of the hem. I think that is all you need to know, they are after all rather straight forward. Is there anything you would like to know?" He asked.  
  
Everyone murmured a no except for Ron. He scuffed his feet on the floor a moment before finally asking

"Well why can't we have them in our house colours? I liked the yellow and red, I could get custard on it and it didn't show up much." A silence fell as everyone looked suspiciously at Ron.  
  
Dumbledore gave a small cough.  
"Ron, I'm sure you think me stupid for asking, but why would you get custard on your uniform at all?" Everyone remained silent as they waited patiently for the reply. "You know how it is. When your up in the air and its cold I find its difficult to reflect the ball with cold hands, and a nice hot bowl of custard always warms me up." He looked at everyone who gave him shifty looks. "What? It does!" He said defensively  
  
Due to lack of anything to say over the sheer disbelief, Harry spoke up.  
"Surely that is against the rules isn't it?"  
"Arr that's the clever part, Whilst rules disallow custard to be on any persons, it doesn't include instant custard."  
  
The group had dispersed round the room, having been told that breakfast would not be served for another fifteen minutes. Harry turned on the TV and flicked through all the channels. He sighed and quickly turned it off again. It wasn't that he didn't like TV, he would have quite enjoyed to watch some, but the problem was that unless he wanted to watch something about chefs or DIY, it was all in French, and Harry didn't know any.

Instead they played a couple of rounds of exploding snap. Midway through one of the games Ron's stomach gave a highly audible rumble which made him began to mumble and complain. When it became interested that no one was interested, he turned his attention to his stomach which he comforted with reassurance that relief would be soon to arrive.

"It's all Dumbledore's fault. Just because he is some sort of super human who doesn't need to eat every three hours doesn't mean we are!"

After a tense breakfast was over (Olympe had a funny habit of squinting and shaking whenever she looked at Dumbledore or the students) they were informed that today they would be partaking in the morning flying lessons being conducted with the fourth and fifth year students of Beauxbatons. Then they would break for lunch, and at approximately two-fourteen pm the friendly training match would begin. This arrangement confirmed Harry's theory they all decided. They were going to be tired out after flying all morning. Then to be flying all afternoon as well. It was insane. Or at the very least lacking in intelligence.

They were supposed to go straight out to the front lawn as soon as breakfast finished, for flying. This did not go as planned however, as Dumbledore insisted that they take half an hour break, under the excuse that they were unused to flying straight after eating, and that to do so could resort in stitches or cramps, which could be dangerous at higher altitudes.

They all knew this was complete codswallop of course, they often flew straight after a meal, with the exception of Hermione who hadn't been flying all that long. Only for the last few months in fact, but they all nodded and signed the agreement to what he had said. Just to make sure he had gotten his point across Dumbledore also said something about hem getting into proper flying clothes before they went out on their brooms. This last one was true. It was certainly better to fly in Quidditch robes than in the school uniform robes, especially as they were supposed to be keeping them in pristine condition.

It wouldn't matter however as Ron had dropped a piece of toast on his lap this morning when the crust tore away from the main hulk of toast. He had tried rubbing the marmalade off but had only succeeded in forcing it through the fine material, and separating the shreds. That sort of thing never happened with real toast.

The group filed out of the hall and back to their allotted room. Once there they asked Dumbledore for their new Quidditch robes. He handed them over and they all went off to change. Hermione Blaise and Serenity were pleased to find out there were separate changing rooms, unlike at Hogwarts. Truthfully it was one of the few things Beauxbatons had better than Hogwarts, but Harry's loyalty dismissed them as a poor idea that didn't promote team behaviour, and split the group up in a sexist manner. Some of the other boys were also upset. Not that it was said, at least not outside their dorms, but they had been looking forward to it.

It took about ten minutes for them to throw on their robes, or rather delicately dress themselves. This was because none of them wanted to risk damaging the expensive looking robes, except Ron, who seemed to think that if it was damaged them he would be more aerodynamic. He was jumping up in the air as he pulled on his flight socks and tucked them over the hem of the trousers.

"It reduces drag you know."

Once clothed they picked up their brooms which ranged from a Blue Storm down to some pretty poor brooms, truth be told. Harry was surprised that they hadn't all been given brand new brooms to ride, considering everything else that they had gone through to try and look respectable and get one over on Beauxbatons. But then maybe after seeing Ginny try and fly on Harry's Firebolt he realised that giving someone a better broom doesn't necessarily improve their performance.

They need to be able to handle the broom and be used to its physics. They needed to hear its voice, or at least get to know it well enough that if it did have a voice then it would say what you imagine. Once they arrived, and waited for the full half hour to expire, they began. The French students were stood round in their flying gear, and it caused Harry to raise an eyebrow. The articles were in essence normal robes but horrifically more complicated than anything he had ever seen upon a human body before (Harry had never been to a rock concert and so had never met someone with spikes on their wrists, chains round their body and bolts through their neck).

He was quite sure that with all those strange billowing bits of extra cloth they fashioned really couldn't be practical. Unless of course you intended to gather the ends together and form a sail and harness the massive force of nature itself. That however was very unlikely. Somehow he kept expecting them to peel them off like the skin of a banana, and reveal the basic robe underneath. The extra bits certainly didn't seem to improve performance, as Harry would learn later, and it wasn't some elaborate French protection for the robes. He was at a loss

"What's that dangly bit for?" He had asked one of the good English speaking students.

"That bit is for flight stabilising."

"What's the jingly bit for then?"

"Weather detection and aerodynamics."

"How about the frilly bit."

"That's for fasion."

"And the cup holder?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet."

Once that was all sorted out they all swung themselves up onto their broomsticks, unperturbed by the hindering pieces of cloth snagging on the tail twigs and getting blown in their faces, they flew on. Harry felt vaguely like a small dark rain cloud next to these preening peacocks. Of course in actual fact he looked no more like one than a muddy little yellow bear did. They spent the morning doing basic flying drills. So basic in fact that even Hermione could do them. Not that she was a bad player but if it involved special manoeuvres she was on new ground. In the small amount of time she had to train since the start of the year the only thing she had down pat was the flying and passing.

They flew through the air, ascending and descending, and then the only slightly more complicated things such as reversing around corners, which wasn't at all beneficial to actually playing Quidditch. Harry suspected that it was deliberately simple. Why though was a question without one answer? It could have been that they were trying to lure the Hogwarts team into a false sense of security, or it could have been that they simply viewed Harry and the others aa dimwits and duffers.

The school bell rang and the class of French Students they had been flying with filed into the castle as another came out to take their places. This time they spent the whole lesson doing relays the length of the lawn. Throughout the morning storm clouds gathered on the horizon and slowly rolled towards the school lumbering along like a colossal wave crashing towards them in the slowest of motions as the monster within tried to burst free, surging it on in an ominous gloom.

By midmorning the wind had picked up considerably, and though the Hogwarts students coped perfectly well with the change in the weather the Beauxbatons clearly weren't doing quite so well in their elaborate get ups. The breaths of air caught up in the fabric pockets and billowed them out like miniature sails. Now quite clearly this provided them with a big advantage when the wind was blowing them in the direction they wanted to go, increasing their speed significantly.

However most of the time the wind wasn't going the right way. And so they made slow progress if any through the air. Truth be told if you put on some tinted sunglasses it would look like the players were slowly sinking through a thick world of golden syrup. As the unpredictable wind blasted in from all directions in sudden gusts and burst, it sent The French players lurching several feet in random directions, and often into another player. The material flapped everywhere like a dozen bats tethered angrily to the end of ribbons.

With clothing flapping across their faces and obscuring their vision, Harry felt that his sensible traditional robes were better than those from the Frankenstein haberdashery. Harry gave a hard lurch on his broom as a small gust of wind blew over, and fell off and thumped down ten feet below onto the soft springy grass of Beauxbatons. Several others gasped, Hermione included, whilst one French Boy gave a brief laugh that was quickly swept away in the wind as a team member gave him a quick slap reminding him to be courteous.

Ron grinned. He knew Harry well enough and there was no way that any weather short of a hurricane would knock him off his broom (and even them it would need to be the kind of hurricane with a barn, a herd of cows, and an old lady in a rocking chair blowing around inside it.) The flight instructor blew a whistle and everyone landed on the ground whilst she rushed over to Harry to see if he required medical attention.

Looking back on it Ron wondered how he had managed to keep a straight fac as Harry pulled of a stunningly convincing act of injury. He slowly pulled himself up with his head tilted at a funny angle, and his eyes wide.

"Are you in fine health?" The instructor asked as she gave him a shake to see if she heard a rattling sound.

"I don't know." Harry responded slowly. "I feel cold and I cant move my head."

A gasp went around the group as the teacher suddenly leapt away from him, afraid she might cause more damage to him in his delicate state. She quickly conversed with the students in French, causing them all to quickly run to the changing rooms a moment later. She then turned to Harry and said.

"Are you able to walk yourself to the Medical Wing?"

"Yes, I should be able to get there on my own. As long as I don't bounce at all while I walk my neck shouldn't break anymore should it?" He asked in what would be a marvellously optimistic outlook had he not been faking the entire injury.

"Yes, but do walk quickly." Said the instructor as she started backing away from them. She didn't want to be within five miles of Harry Potter when he died because it would be only to suspicious. Hermione who knew Harry as well as Ron, if not better, walked over and gingerly helped him to his feet, playing along with the act.

"Don't worry Harry… I'm sure you won't die. You might still be able to play Quidditch for the tournament." She said as she let his head flop onto her shoulder. Some for the Hogwarts students however, believed that the boy who lived was about to be so no more.

The French medi-wizard had been rather befuddled, although Harry had stopped tilting his head to one side. Instead he waked in and sat down patiently, and after much explaining to the man with a slightly difficult understanding of English, he had managed to communicate that he had a neck ache and that he was cold. Or at least he hoped he had (In fact he had no such ailments). French medical practice had a few subtle differences, or so he had been told, and he was less than keen to learn of them first hand.

With no sign of injury Harry hopped off the bed and left the medical wing, along with Ron and Hermione. Once the medi-wizard was safely out of hearing distance Ron burst out laughing.  
"Genius mate, absolute genius!" Harry beamed at this, but managed to refrain from laughing due to the dark looks Hermione was passing him.  
"Well I don't think it was at all funny." She said hotly. "We were very worried for you Harry. One day you are going to get seriously injured and you won't be laughing."  
"He already has been seriously injured and he seems no worse off." Ron countered as he leaned round Harry's side and stuck his tongue out.  
  
"It wasn't just for laughs." Harry finally said after taking a moment to savour Ron and Hermione's bickering. It was so natural it made the world seem right, despite dark wizards trying to steal him and use him for evil purposes. "I will have you know there was a very useful purpose behind my fall. For one they will think that I am injured, a and will therefore be playing less than my best, and also they now think that my usual is very low. Did you not see how lots of them grinned when I fell off from a little gust of wind?"  
  
Hermione nodded. She wanted to scold Harry but everything he made sense. The only thing she regretted was that she hadn't been in on the joke when it happened, because it would have saved her n awful lot of worry, and probably given her a bit of a laugh. It normally took something paranormal to unseat Harry from his broom, but then in Quidditch there were two big paranormal metal balls flying round after the players…

Lunch whizzed by in a blur of knives, forks, spoons, friendly chatter, and sauce spray showers courtesy of Ron and his amazing over animated mouth. Once everyone had finished with the meal (Ron and a Fat boy he seemed to have made friends with had to finish prematurely.) Madame Maxine stood up and drew her hands together in a few swift claps to get everyone's attention. Most of the students had turned to face her after hearing a squeaking sound that issued from the wooden platform, as it strained under her weight.  
  
Certainly the loud cr ack which echoed through the hall as her foot went through a particularly sad piece of wood that had given up on life due to her presence, turned many heads. She hastily removed her foot and gave a small cough, in the attempt to convince the students that she had merely a chesty cold coming on, and the hole by her feet had always been there. The few remaining people who hadn't been looking (including the Beauxbatons charms teacher, who seemed to have enough senses left to only make up one normal human sense) turned to face as her clapping sounded like gods pounding on the clouds above.  
  
As quickly as the hubbub erupted after the lunch bell tolled, it abated as all eyes turned towards the front of the hall, and towards Madam Maxine who was wearing a fine gown of yellow felt and silk, which made her look like a rather fancy honeydew melon. Announcements at lunchtime were generally unheard of, so everyone was naturally very curious about what she had to say. Olympe was very curious over whether the floor was going to last if she remained standing much longer. It didn't sound like it.

"Children, it has come to my attention that the weather has turned for the worse." She said slowly in French. Harry worried for a moment that perhaps she was under the impression that the slower it was the easier it was to understand, but after she said each sentence she repeated it in English, and Harry's fear was put to rest.  
  
"I fear that flying in this weather would be quite impossible, and certainly not enjoyable, for both teams involved in the little friendly match we had planned for this afternoon." She said silently as she waited a few seconds for her echoes to quiet down. "Therefore I have decided to cancel the match." She said to a small gasp, and a melodramatic French student who fainted. "We don't want any of our guests getting harmed before the all important match later in the week do we? Especially as they don't have any substitute players with them." She said gleefully.  
  
Harry detected the complete absence of sincerity in that statement. Her toning practically suggested that she had given her students instructions to hurt them, or to accidentally poke Ron in the eye or shut Harry's snitch hand in a door. If her eyebrows hadn't been so massive she probably would have wiggled them to avoid any confusion on her students behalf. Harry however shrugged this off. He had expected it from the Durmstrang and most possibly Mirari. It was just one more straw on his back. He turned his attention back to the headmistress as she continued.  
  
"That is all please continue with your usual afternoon schedule." She said before hurriedly dashing down from where she was standing, and onto the solid stone floor. There were several loud crunches and a squelch as she finally made her way off the wood. All the French students immediately broke out into discussion once it became apparent their silence was no longer demanded.  
  
They seemed louder than they had so far that week. Maybe it was because as the days went by the demands from teachers asking for best behaviour were becoming more sack, or perhaps it was because everyone was plotting against the Hogwarts students, and trying to think up seemingly accidental ways to sabotage and annihilate their opposition.  
  
The members of the Beauxbatons team didn't seem to be plotting though, which Harry was pleasantly surprised to see. He put down in his mind that they probably wanted the best match possible. He wanted that, and he liked to think that people in other countries had what he hoped was a high moral standard as him, if it were possible to say that without sounding big headed. Of course they could just feel sorry for Hogwarts after seeing Harry flying so badly, and felt no need to further handicap Harry and the others.  
  
Olympe made her way to the students and guardians, or Moody Tonks, Remus and Albus.  
"As you ave' been flying all morning and were oping' to play a game this afternoon I am thinking that you will not want to be joining my own pupils in their lessons, and I do not have any teachers to spare, they are busy teaching at the highest level," she hastily added before anyone could say the word short staffed. "So there is no one to take you out of grounds this afternoon. I would suggest that you return to your room and relax for the afternoon." She smiled at them all.

Harry was relieved that he wouldn't have to sit in a lesson. The last thing he wanted was to have a French equivalent of Snape, where he could be insulted in a language he didn't know. He had also for a brief time thought that he was going to end up being dragged around the countryside on an impromptu tour of the native magical wildlife habitats or something else just as daft. They were all in high spirits as they ascended the stairs, making quite a din and not caring what classes they disturbed on the way up in the slightest.  
  
Olympe stood on her own in the empty hall. The last of the students had left, even that sticky boy who had a habit of waiting round and trying to eat the reminents from others peoples bowls. "The swine." She thought. It had however been this sticky plump boy who had given her the idea, as she sat up eating her own food. These Hogwarts students had more stamina than she had anticipated. Therefore she would have to try another plan. This one was just as genius.  
  
"Yes, go and rest, my children, rest well. Rest and eat all you want' till your hearts content. You shall eat, and eat, like the animals you are, until you are bursting at the brims and feeling heavy with food. So very very heavy. The tendons of gravity shall tug at you and strain you on your brooms, whilst you move sluggish like an elephant in water." She said malovently as she flicked her tongue across her drying lips in anticipation of the plan she was to put into action. "Eat, sleep, and rest well my little piglets, for soon you shall fly."  
  
As everyone talked of their good fortune, Dumbledore proposed an afternoon game of croquet to Remus and Alastor. It was a fine grass surface and one that shouldn't be passed up. Tonks was wafting in between the two groups, she didn't want to slob around all day, she had to much energy for that, and she wasn't allowed to play croquet, for some reason when she showed an interest in swinging the wooden hammer they had mentioned around, they retracted their invite.  
  
It was quite a long time before Harry realized that the tiny laughing sound he thought was his mind, was actually real, and it was coming from Hermione who stood at his shoulder. She continued her small almost completely inaudible snicker all the way up the stairs which could only be heard by those in seriously close proximity to her. Harry merely dismissed it as her laughing over some unfunny highly academic confusion which had probably occurred some time ago, and sprung to her mind, but once they had all entered the room and she was still laughing, he turned to her.  
  
"What's so funny Hermione?" Harry asked with a frown. When other people laughed without him it made him feel excluded, and he felt that enough due to death threats. She smirked at him for a moment before being unable to contain the funniest joke in the world.  
"You're telling me you didn't understand what Madam Maxine was really on about?" she asked in mild surprise which did nothing to ease Harry's feeling of stupidity.  
  
"Funny thing Hermione, but if I did know what you were on about I don't think I would have asked."  
"Oh." Hermione said as she tried to find a good place to launch into an explanation. Eventually she decided, and after looking bemusedly at him for a second or two she began. "Oh really Harry sometimes you are so dense. You really don't get it?" She asked as she bashed him in the ribs playfully. He had hurt his ribs when he had fallen earlier, nothing serious but enough to make him grit his teeth for a moment.

He shook his head dumbly, causing her to sigh.  
"But its so obvious." She exclaimed, causing Harry to frown  
"If its so obvious why isn't anyone lese laughing about it Hermione?" She hesitated for a moment in which he saw her sneak a glance at everyone else present. If she hadn't been so Hermione she would have colored slightly as she realized he was correct.  
  
"Well, maybe it's not that obvious, Harry, but it's clear that Dumbledore and Madam Maxine are having a little contest of their own trying to out do each other. In just the same way Dumbledore gave all of us stand in school robes and Quidditch robes, Maxine has done exactly the same thing. Only she has gone overboard with her embellishment of the flying robes. Because of the wind it's become impossible for them to fly properly in them!" She declared this last sentence with a triumphant flourish. "In fact I bet that when it comes to the proper match all those dangly bits will have magically disappeared!" She added confidently.  
  
Harry didn't know at the time if Hermione was right or not, and to tell the truth he wasn't prepared to speculate on it, because that suggested doubt in his mind, and if Hermione knew that he doubted her then she would sulk for the rest of the week. Later on he would learn that his doubt was ill founded, that the Beauxbatons students had indeed changed for more sensible flying gear. He would also learn the meaning of pain, and that the whole time he had seen the French students fly, he had not yet seen the anger and violence they could and would unleash upon him, but for now he remained speculating.  
  
The rest of the week passed in the same way, the complete boredom and lack of engaging activity turning their brains into mush, and the previously mushy brains into a thick goopy slime. The only exception seemed to be Hermione, who was taking full advantage of all the free time and had decided to submerge herself in the culture and begin a learning marathon. Ron asked if she hadn't started that the first day of Hogwarts, and that it was due to finish in around a century or so when she died. For that he earned a slap.  
  
She certainly seemed to be enjoying france, if not the others. So much so that one morning when Harry tried to talk to him she started nattering back in French. It went something along the lines of  
"Hey Hermione, how are you this morning?"  
"Oh Harry Bonjour Ca va?"  
"Eh?"  
"Ca va?" looking perplexed He repeated himself, only much louder.  
"EHH?" She frowned at him.  
"Ca v-AH! Ah I'm sorry Harry how are you? But honestly haven't you taken a single look at the English/French encyclopaedia?" She asked in dismay  
  
Harry rolled his eyes.  
"Yeah yeah I'm fine. Less of the Frenchy stuff though if you don't mind though. It's bad enough being surrounded by it all, now you're spouting their language at me." "Honestly Harry, have you no culture?" She had asked  
"Yeah, it's back at Hogwarts." He had replied.  
  
That was the only thing he could remember of the time between the cancellation of the friendly game and the dawning of the day on which the first official match was to take place, the rest had receded into a hazy indistinct mist he'd only previously associated with a half remembered dream. It had involved lots of food though…


	55. Game Day

Sorry it took longer than we said. I know we said a week but 9 days flew by…

I want to have the next chapter out within the week but I think I will hold my tongue on making any promises, as we don't want to disappoint.

The rest had receded into a hazy indistinct mist he'd only previously associated with a half remembered dream. It had involved lots of food though…

Harry awoke one morning from a strange dream concerning cabbages, and an invasion of ravenous flobberworms. The dream wasn't important, or interesting, and the only reason you should know it, is because the morning in question was that of big match. He as well as everyone else had gone to bed early the previous night after very strict instructions from Dumbledore. Harry didn't think he would need to be on top of his game, but he wasn't one to take risks.  
  
He lay still with his eyes shut as he slowly moved through the realm in between the asleep and awake (a lot like the realm between living and dead, except it isn't primarily filled with old people). He could tell it was morning, or at least early afternoon, by the light that managed to pass through his eyelids. As his senses started to kick into action he noticed that there was a hissing sound, a strange emanation of gas.  
  
It took him a few minutes for his brain to conclude that this wasn't normal and should therefore be investigated. Surely the Beauxbatons students wouldn't try to gas them to death on the morning of the big match. They had better moral standards than that, didn't they? However as Harry's eyes flickered open he realised that it wasn't a gas leak at all, but someone breathing. Breathing gently rhythmically, for the shortest of moments until they realised he was awake.  
  
He began to move his mouth in shock, and several things happened at once. So fast and close together in fact that it was tough to determine if one of them had not had a sort of spider sense. However, through the use of lasers and quantum we can conclude that the events followed as such. The being that was standing above his bed, looking over him jumped back away from Harry, who realised there was another pair directly above his, less than two inches away, and gave a cry of alarm.

"Argh!" He yelled as his hands slid over the polyester bed sheets in an attempt to draw himself up. If he hadn't been awake before then he certainly was now. The person staring down at him echoed the sentiment back, in a louder manner  
"ARGH" They said in a familiar voice. Harry replied with another yell, partly due to revelation, and partly due to the fact that the adrenalin was still coursing through his veins, and demanded and least a scream if not a ball fisted run.  
  
The screaming competition continued in that fashion for a long time by screaming standards, although in actual fact no more than five seconds. It finally ended when someone else in the room had been rudely awoken, and thrown a sausages shaped pillow which smacked Harry in the face. After Harry turned to see that it was Ron who had thrown the pillow, he concluded that the other person shouldn't be here. "Shut up!" Came Ron's muffled complaint, even though the noise had subsided.  
  
Harry managed to catch his breath, and flopped back against his mattress with his hand to his chest.  
"Jesus Christ. What the hell are you doing Hermione?" He asked as she stared back at him guiltily.  
"I was sent to come and wake you up." She replied before turning to Ron, who was still fidgeting in his bed, trying to get back to sleep.  
"What, by breathing all over me." He asked angrily. In his mind he supposed there were some positive points, although not many. At least it was Hermione who had breathed on him. She had a sort of peppermint breath, whilst Ron had a pepperoni breath.

"Well I wasn't deliberately breathing on you Harry. But I have to breath somewhere, and Dumbledore sent me to wake you up and I was going to but you looked peaceful and I felt guilty waking you up when you seemed so happy and carefree." She said with a smile, as she seemed to waft into a daydream for a moment. A very un-Hermione thing to do. She finally snapped back to the situation. "But since you still need to get up I was trying to wake you up as gently as possible…"  
"By breathing on me?" He volunteered.  
"No! I was about to shake you awake but that's when you woke up."  
  
Harry believed this, so nothing more was said on that matter. Later on when Hermione had left and Harry woke Ron up in the much more traditional method of violent shaking and a mention of breakfast, Hermione was gone from their minds, after all they had Quidditch on the brains, there wasn't much room left for other things.  
  
They left their small sleeping room and joined the rest of the team who was quickly assembling. They weren't wearing their robes yet, because the match wasn't supposed to take place until the evening. Harry supposed this was so that if his team won, they couldn't be gloating the whole evening, after all they were to leave the next morning.  
  
Apparently there were going to be lots of photographers and reporters. That was no surprise to Harry, and he just desperately hoped to do nothing that would make him stand out from the crowd, because he knew well enough by now that there would be at least one or two papers which would be unfairly focused on him. He looked at his watch out of curiosity. Its only about fifteen minutes past six in the morning. That meant that there were still several hours to go. They wouldn't be fun. Instead he tried to think of something else. Flobberworms maybe.  
  
Arthur Weasley's alarm bell rang loudly as it clattered across the top of his dressing table. Molly had begged him numerous times to simply use an awakening spell, but then where was the fun in that. So what if it woke her up an hour earlier than she intended. As he had often said himself it was good when she was awake early in the morning because her breakfaster skills far exceeded his own. Probably because he insisted in using a toaster.  
  
Marvellous things they were. You put some bread in and then metal bits get all hot and the toast cooks, before popping out all lovely and toasty. It's a pity that the timer was broken. By the time you smelt the smoke it was to late, and he would find himself standing over the bin scraping away. Just like the muggles did. Burnt toast was rather a popular meal in some Muggle households, or so he had read in a book he got out of the library in the town from next. He himself didn't like I, but then perhaps it was more of an acquired taste.  
  
"Arthur the alarm!" Molly said angrily as she wiggled under the covers and managed to land a kick on his lower back, which caused him to jump up.  
"Sorry dear." He said as he hastily grabbed the alarm which was still ringing loudly throughout the house and through the numerous bedrooms that remained empty for most of the year. Fred and George had moved out of home. Apparently some of their tricks were a bit too dangerous to risk in the house. After all, they couldn't afford another one.

Arthur dashed across the landing along the bare floor over the squeaky floor. It was a good job he remembered his slippers this time. Twice last week he had gotten splinters. He dashed into the bathroom holding the clock at arms length as though it were a ticking bomb. Again this was something he had knowledge of from Muggles. He had seen it on a telly-vision, about a man with a license to kill. (Aurors had those as well.) It had said that ticking things should be held at arms length.  
  
He stumbled on the bathroom rug for a moment before regaining his balance and smashing into the wall. He hastily shrugged it off and turned the taps on and plugged the sink. Molly really didn't appreciate it when it went off for to long. Once the sink had several inches of water in he plunged the clock into it, and with a few bubbles and a final muffled ring it gave up its life. Arthur wondered how Muggles managed to reuse their clock without the use of magic, but then he had yet to discover there was an off switch, and that there was a subtle difference between alarm clocks and time bombs.  
  
Once that was sorted He left it on the side to dry and made his way downstairs. It didn't look like Molly was going to be making him breakfast this morning but then again that wasn't such a bad thing. Given that this was the day of the international School Quidditch Tournament she would probably just pace backwards and forwards fretting over Ron's welfare.  
  
"But what if one of those blugers hits him in the face?" She would say. "The poor boy would never get a girlfriend then, and boys can get very depressed at that age. Hormones and things raging." She would say. Yes he knew her well. That's what she would do. He knew her well enough the know that. Also the fact she had constantly been like that with Fred and George was a bit of a give away. Although she never seemed to have the sense to realise they had a bat  
  
He walked over to the pot of floo power and lifted it up, there, just as he hd left them were the two Quidditch tickets so he could go and see it tonight. It was a long journey and they would only be able to floo there. "Apparation over a long distance is dangerous." He thought to himself. The ministry was always clearing up accidents. "And it can be especially dangerous for someone…" and he chose his words carefully here. "…as voluptuous as Molly."  
  
It would have cost loads for the tickets. He wouldn't have been able to afford them on his old wage, but since Voldemort's public arrival at the ministry there had been a lot of resignations, not to mention numerous deaths. It seemed they had to beef up the pay packet just to keep the staff there.  
  
Not that he had paid anyway. He was saving up for a micro-wav. It could cook food for him when Molly wasn't there, apparently. He had been given the tickets by work. The ministry always had tickets to those sorts of things, mostly due to the fact that they arranged it all.  
  
Not everyone had tickets mind, only the more important of staff did. He thought to himself proudly. "and as assistant minister of magic he was first on the list." Since Crouches early retirement last week He had wondered to himself why he had been promoted. After all he was only working for the Muggle artefacts department.  
At first he had celebrated, he still did, but now he thought more. He wasn't sure whether he was there due to outstanding work (he liked to think it was) or perhaps it was because as a sort of father figure to the boy who lived, they figured there was no way he was evil. After all these days it seemed ever other person was. His boss was a man, quite clever. Gariberes Ridley. Rather exceptional, and rather strict. But that didn't matter to Arthur. He was proud to work in his position. It was the highest job anyone in his family had had since his great great uncle Philias Woosely (as it had been spelt back then). Also he got a window!  
  
He could tell Ronald tonight. At first he wanted to tell all his friends and family straight away, but then he decided it would be better to do it in person, and with Ronald being at school that caused a problem. Still, tonight would be a good chance. If the Hogwarts team lost, then it would cheer Ron, and perhaps Harry up, and if they won, Great! It would be the icing on the cake.  
  
Arthur snapped out of his thoughts by a vague smell of smoke, wafting over from a Muggle device in the corner. Seems like breakfast was ready, or at least it had been a minute or so ago.  
"Oh bugga!" he cursed.  
  
Ron, Harry, Hermione. Phillip, Alexanda, Serenity and Blaise, all stretched and yawned in the main area as Tonks pulled on her socks, so they could all go downstairs to breakfast. The atmosphere was tense between them, as the nerves started to kick in. some people were dealing with it better than others.  
"this is gonna be awesome. Were gonna slaughter them like the dogs they are." Alexanda said as he clenched his fist.  
"Im gonna fail and everyone will hate me." Serenity wailed in despair.  
"Don't be stupid." Said Blaise shortly. "Everyone won't hate you. I will, but not everyone."  
  
"But Harry, it's finally the morning of the match! We're going to go play quidditch!" Ron explained excitedly, to Harry who didn't seem to excited. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Quidditch. It was just that he thought they would win, and that everyone would be happy and that the press would write lots of lovely articles all about it. He couldn't wait.  
  
"I know Ron, I am excited. I'm just… concerving my energy for the match." He explained. It was partically true. It seemed like these last days they had been doing nothing but concerning their energy. Ron nodded in understanding.  
"That's a good idea Harry." He said wisely, before giving a whoop and dancing off across the room. "We finally get to do some proper flying, not that flouncy stuff we did the other day." He sang.  
  
"And we will win. I know it." He said loudly as he spun round with a great big grin on his face. "Its in our destiny to win you see Harry."  
"Don't tell me you have started believing Divination?" he asked.  
"No, its just that its our traditional way we get up early get down to the dinner hall and stuff ourselves senseless! If we do that today there is no way we can't win!" Harry gave a wry smile he had know that food had to behind it somewhere. He had to admit all the Quidditch players at Hogwarts had always gotten in to he great hall pretty early due to pre-match jitters, though most of them couldn't eat, indeed only Ron ever seemed to retain the full scale of his appetite.

They reached the hall just as the food was being served up. For once it seemed Dumbledore deemed a good meal more important than arriving at an inappropriate time. The hall was mostly empty, other than the large head mistress, a few teachers, the exceptionally ravenous students, and half the French Quidditch team. As The Hogwarts team entered everyone looked up from their bowls, breakfast, for they had all been looking down, and not talking, which gave an impression of expected impending doom on their part.  
  
Olympe was wearing a traditional black robe and pointed hat which made her look very witch like. She would probably change into something extravagant later, one the press started to arrive. She hadn't been eating, but she had been reading a newspaper which seemed to have arrived before the others. She must have paid for the express delivery. She looked up from it and over at the entries. Once she identified who it was she hastily stood up and strode over to them.  
  
"Welcome my precious little Quidditch cheeldren, and staff. Let me show you to your seat." She said as she strode over towards a table up near the far end of the hall. There is a special table just for you. Not that I would expect it from my students but some of the boys can get a bit boisterous when it comes to sport. I wouldn't want them to be throwing a stray hex now would I. Yure table is highly guarded against any such incidents." She explained.  
  
Dumbledore who had not yet said anything took the first seat at the table.  
"How insiteful of you my good lady." Harry expected some sort of reply, or further discussion, but as Olympe hurriedly walked off back to her table and newspaper, it became apparent this was not going to be the case. Instead, and rather silently, they took the places that had been allotted to them on the first night and began to eat. By eating, to Ron this meant shovelling food into his mouth in as little time as was humanly possible.  
  
Over the week Harry had wondered why Ron was not so fat as Dudley, who truly was a fat beast of a boy, and he had arrived at a conclusion. They were both a little bit like cars. Ron was a dragracer, whilst Dudley was a taxi. Ron gave it hs all and poured the food down his mouth very fast, for a short amount of time, whilst Dudley ate much slower (and being a taxi I mean the way that costs the most money). But the difference was that Dudley, however much he ate, didn't stop. He went on all day, consuming like a vacuum cleaner in a dirt factory.  
  
Harry sat and ate several pancakes which were there. Infact there seemed to be just about every kind of breakfast he had ever had. There was toast and cereal, Eggs of four different kinds (five if you counted the kind Ron had just eaten), crumpets, muffins, pancakes, fruit, yoghurt bacon and some fried sausages. It was like an unannounced feast. It seemed a bit of a waste to make so much food when it wasn't all going to be eaten. Especially with people like Serenity and Hermione, who nibbled half heartedly at a very thin slice of toast, and watching as the rest of the early risers slowly tricked inot the room.  
  
Harry sat and listened to an undecodable conversation between two of the French Quidditch players. He couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, and he probably wasn't meant to even hear them, but when everything was so quiet and they were in such an echoe hall, he couldn't help but have it trinckle into his ears. He also couldn't help but notice that from the tone of their voice that they were in quite high spirits, especially considering they were about to play a major international game.

They probably thought Harry was rubbish, which he hoped wouldn't be the case for long. Perhaps they had prepared for much worse than they had seen, having been informed that Harry Potter was a supposedly a professional level flyer by none other than Harrys rival from the triwizard tournament, Fleur De'laCour. Still if they honestly believed that he had fallen so easily in a simple gust of wind then they deserved to loose. Gullable was a word he could definetly sling around in their company.  
  
Half an hour later after Harry had eaten a good sized breakfast, and was feeling rather content most of the other students were filing into the hall to eat breakfast. The noise level had begun to rise due to all the bustling about, scraping of cutlery, and conversations passing from person to person. "Is anyone nervous?" Harry asked when he was confident no one would hear him. It wasn't that Harry was scared and wanted someone who's chattering teeth could cover up the sound of his knocking nees, it was quit the opposite. He had noramly been nervous, even with smaller matches, where they had better chances, and some how he felt over confidence on their part wouldn't pay.  
  
"Oh yes, im dreadfully nervous." Serenity said in the most secretive of tones.  
"Well that's good." Harry said, as he spoke his thoughts.  
"It is?" Asked Serenity, who was rather bewildered.  
"Of course it is, you wouldn't be you if you were brave." Ron gleamed.  
  
Eventually the time came for them all to be going out to the grounds. It seemed like no time had passed at all that day. Whilst they sat around doing nothing much, or maybe going for a brief stroll outside to stretch her legs and investigate flying conditions, time seemed to fly by. There had been lunch in there some where. Quite a lot or lunch if he remembered correctly. Still, the sudden disappearance of the last few hours was startling, and a little bit scary. Harry was pleased to notice the churning in his stomach as last minute nerves kicked in.  
  
Madam Maxine had sent one of her professors to guide the Hogwarts team down and to the changing rooms, probably in case they accidentally tripped, they couldn't blame someone who wasn't there. Hermione had said the flying conditions were mild. Well technically she had said that there was a five mile an hour south westerly wind, with a humidity range just above average. Mild was simply what it translated to.  
  
They all made their way outside to where the Quidditch stadium was. Already there was a crowd of people. Some over enthusiastic sports fans who had arrived early in hope of securing a seat better than what was stated on their ticket, whilst most of them were reporters and photographers from various countries around the world. Harry was not at all surprised or happy to see that Rita Skeeter was present. There were however other people he did recognise, like the short fat reporter with no teeth, or the tall thin man who looked like a bean sprout. Perhaps he was some sort of relation to runner beans, Harry thought, it was the last thought he managed before the media noticed the arrival of the stars of the hour, and flocked over to them.  
  
"Move!" Barked Moody, who had appeared from no where. His normally clunky footsteps were silent on the grass, and so he achieved a level of stealth rather alarming to those he was praying on. Harry and the rest of the Hogwarts team were hastily shooed along the grounds, round the corner, and into the changing rooms, where a large door was abruptly slammed, leaving the media outside, still trying to ask questions.

Ron seemed to find the whole affair of being chased by the press hilarious, and even tried to answer some of their questions through the thick door. However when a muffled reply to one of those questions suggested something rather alarming, he stopped. Harry gave a sigh, it was what he expected.  
"Shall we get changed then?" Asked Phillip anxiously as he looked over at the girls. Everyone stared at him for a moment, before looking round the changing room, and realising it was a mixed gender one.  
  
They turned their look back to Phillip who blushed.  
"What? Serenity, would you lie to go first?"  
"I would really rather not." She said quickly, whilst backing away behind Blaise. "Don't worry. I have a curtaining charm prepared, Hermione said, to much relief and disappointment. Hermione handed out their special Hogwarts flying robes. Which everyone took. Five minutes later they were all ready, and kitted up, looking like a real team, ready for flying.  
  
"They look stupid." Blaise complained.  
"Not. As stupid as you." Harry responded. Blaise did look stupid, in a sense. She could be a perfectly good-looking girl if she wasn't always frowning and hitting him. "I heard that, and first of all you're wrong, and secondly, they fit all wrongly." She complained as she ticked off the points on her fingers.  
"But they were made to fit. You even had your measurements taken." Ron countered. "Yeah Blaise. Maybe you put on some weight since then." Harry said with a laugh.  
  
She punched him.

They strode out onto the pitch, to cheers and jaunts from family and crowds. Lights flashed from all around as the photographers who seemed to have taken every available inch of ground space around the stadium competed to get the best photo's. The evening sun was now low in the sky, although due to the season it was sinking the last few inches in the sky very slowly, and promised at least another half an hour of light before the magical lanterns flickered on, illuminating the match like stars bought down from the sky.

It was a bit damp, humid would be a better choice of word. It was warm, but not hot, and yet the dampness in the air seemed to have a certain stuffiness to it. Harry had thought it would be refreshing, and claming when he first detected its touch upon his skin, but now it seemed to close upon him like a clammy hand pressing down upon his chest. It gave the impression that the air itself was charged with excitement and energy.

(This was quite possible. It had been known in the Wizarding world, that when a large number of magical beings gathered in one particular area, their emotions could combine together and cause magnetic fluctuations in the air, capable of communicating emotions or bringing down small air craft.)

"Wow, I fee like they are all cheering for me." Hermione said as she beheld her first pre match cheer. Apparently Hermione was a big hit with a magazine promoting equal witching rights for women, and from there had spread out across one half of the visitor section.

"Better than learning isn't it?" Harry asked smugly, he was walking at the front of the group and didn't need to turn round to know what her face would display. Harry wasn't walking at the front because he wanted to stand out more, quite the opposite, he would rather be where Ron was, at the back, but they had been given very precise orders on how they should be viewed. The Seeker should walk at the front with the broom resting over his left shoulder. The two Beaters should follow, then the three Chasers, with the Keeper at the back on his own. The formation rather resembled an arrow head.

"Well Harry, I think that perhaps over the months of this year I have learned you point of view somewhat. I suppose this could be fun, but the reason it is particularly exciting at this moment is because I get to learn as well. Next time I will know what it is like to walk out onto the pitch, and it won't be as fun. I should expect. And of course it is nice to have lots of people cheering your name." She added as Alexanda looked at her questioningly.

As the cheers increased in volume Harry concluded that the French team must now be arriving on the pitch. Of course he could also tell since the fact he could see them walking towards him. They, to his surprise were all wearing the same, or at least very similar looking fancy robes. However as one of the students gave a wave to his mother and auntie in the crowd, Harry noticed a crucial difference. There was a cut in the material here, and there. So that rather than creating an air pocket, the material would simply flatten out at high speeds. A simple change, but one that would prove quite annoying later on.

Harry tried to look stern, authorative, and well behaved as he lead the rest of the team on, but that became increasingly difficult as a sound trickled into his ears from the right. "Ron, Harry. I'm over here. Here, no not there. HERE!" Came the voice of a rather excitable misses Weasley. Harry looked round for a moment looking for the source of the voice, and eventually looked up to see her leaning out of a high balcony box. He couldn't see Arthur, but presumably he was somewhere there, probably making a wager with a fellow college.

Harry gave a small wave so as not to draw to much attention to himself, or to miss Weasley, who was certainly drawing all the attention Gilderoy Lockheart would ever wish for.

"Can't you see me dear?" She called back down to him, again, in a distractingly loud voice "It's me, misses Weasley. Arthur is here to, well he will be, he just had to attend to some business…" She said as she started waffling on about something Harry tried to ignore as he turned his attention back to the French Team, whom they were now drawing close to.

"Wow, look Harry, it's mum." Ron said excitedly from the back of the crowd. He was definitely excited about the game. So excited that he didn't even hear his own mother, until after just about everyone in the stadium.

Blaise walked along strictly. She was paying great attention to her feet. She had seen a muggle military parade when she was younger, and whilst she would criticize their uniforms, weapons and battle tactics, she rather agreed with the marching business. It looked very authoritive, and exuded a charisma only achievable by teachers with loud shoes and louder voices. Blaise was holding her broom very precisely. She had polished it before the match, to make sure it would look its best. As the only Slytherin it was her duty to look presentable in the heat of the game

Still, there was one thing that didn't quit seem right to Blaise. Whilst she was managing to look very proper, something was throwing her off slightly. She had tried to ignore her senses. Earlier she had injured her ankle. Not that it would impair her flight at all but it aches when she stood on it, and so by pretending she was actually in a different body, watching herself, she could ignore the pain. But then that voice came along.

It echoed through her ears and caused her to grit her teeth. There were few things she hated more than Harry Potter, but people who had no sense of embarrassment could give him a run for the money. A ginger haired woman was shouting from above, yet, as the words started to fall into an audible call, she realised, and it all made sense.

"If it is the mother of that Weasley boy then that makes sense." She thought to herself. "Poor people never know how to behave."

Arthur Weasley dug around in the depths of his pockets. They were nice pockets, silk lined, he had never had pockets like that before, except that time when he travelled on a muggle train and reached into his pocket for a hanky. (He had extracted a mobile phone, and after a moments puzzled thoughts, realised it was actually the pocket of the large threatening looking gentlemen he was standing next to.) The pockets contained a wand, some ticket stubs, a few spare galleons, and a silver cigar case he had heard cultured men carry round.

"I'm sorry, Lucas, but unless you have seen my son and the others play, then you will be wasting your money. I can guarantee a victory for Hogwarts." Arthur said as he fished out a few gold pieces. I'm even willing to wager you with good odds." He said as he began discussing terms.

"How did they get such good seats?" Ron asked after a while. It was very high up, and probably very expensive.

"I don't know, maybe everyone's parents are there?" Hermione volunteered. She knew her parents wouldn't be there, as much as she wanted them to be.

"No, that isn't the case. My dad is over there." Said Phillip suspiciously. Ron shrugged.

"Oh well, I'm sure there is a good explanation."

"Ok, so we have shaken on it Arthur, there is no going back on it now." Said Lucas smugly. With uniforms like that there was only one winner, Beauxbatons got his vote.

"I wouldn't want to go back on it." Arthur replied just as confidently. Then something happened. A voice trickled into his ear as it had done many times. It had a treacly quality, that he knew only so well.

"Is that Molly?" Asked Lucas embarrassedly. He didn't want to point out to his boss that his wife was making a scene.

"Um, No, but I had better go and check on it anyway." Arthur lied, as he pulled up his robes so as not to trip on them, and dashed off to silence Molly before she really did something to embarrass herself.


	56. In the Air and On the Ground

Sorry it's late. Little longer than the usual chapter though.

Ps. please feel free to review each chapter you read. No one did for the last chapter, and whilst it won't deter us but it is disconcerting.

He pulled up his robes so as not to trip on them, and dashed off to silence Molly before she really did something to embarrass herself.

Harry stood in the centre of the pitch; with the French team mirroring his is stance. A man Harry didn't recognise started walking over to them, with Dumbledore and Madam Maxine, and a non-partial judge trailing behind.  
"Who is that guy?" Ron asked, as he looked at the man wearing suspiciously well-tailored clothing. You couldn't trust someone that rich. Especially when you were as poor as Ron was.  
"That, Is Gariberes Ridley." Hermione explained in a hushed tone. He was getting nearer and it would be rather rude to be caught talking about him. "He is the new Minister of Magic."  
  
"There is a new minister of magic?" Harry asked in surprise. He hadn't known that. He never seemed to know much these days.  
"Yes, My dad said something about that last week in a letter. Said there was more to tell, but that it could wait. He is meant to be quite good though, from what I gather. I didn't know what he looked like though." Ron seemed to lighten his distrust of the man once he found out who he was. It didn't pay to dislike your dad's boss. The average dad was good enough at doing that himself.  
  
"It wasn't in the paper." Harry replied back. He was pleased at the news, it was cheering to know, as anyone with half a brain who met Cornelius Fudge could tell you, the man was not well in the head.  
"It was Harry. It just wasn't on the front page." She said as she thought to how every day of breakfast he would still the front page, whilst she read the lesser articles on apparently important matter such as fluctuations in the pound to Galleon exchange rate.  
  
"Surely something important like a new minister of Magic would be top news. It affects the whole world."  
"Well yes, the whole world that is within the Ministries United Country Leadership act at least Also it was on the same day as the attack on that Muggle village down south near Exeter, and so that took top news and front page. Honestly Harry. You claim to be interested in the news, and what is going on and yet you don't read the whole newspaper. Believe it or not there is news in it." She said scolding.

Harry didn't have time to respond to her, as Gariberes Ridley drew close to them, with the other three people behind him. Dumbledore gave them all a warming look which thanked them for their good behaviour and appearance. Harry decided not to let him down at the last moment.  
  
"Welcome." Said Gariberes in a voice oozing with sharpness. He was the sort of person, it would seem, who felt very highly about making sure to sound every letter in a word, and even some which weren't there. Many senior authority figures had infact developed this trait, and it was mainly for two reasons. The first being that if they said everything very clearly then misunderstanding was not an excuse, and the second reason being, they could shout at anyone who replied with "Ay, you wha?"  
  
"Now most of you won't know me. But that is ok. I'm not important. However it is important that I introduce you to the person moderating and refereeing this match. This is Rudiga Meesblath. She has graduated from the Russian Institution of Sports and Competitive Events. She is an acknowledged referee of Quidditch, and is in no way related to any of the teams or players. If either team owner would like to make an enquiry or objection please do so." He said as he turned round to Dumbledore and Olympe.  
  
"I acknowledge your validity and have no more to say." Dumbledore said as he extended his hand and shook with Rudiga. She responded with a nod, and Olympe followed with the same words. Clearly it seemed to be some sort of magical tradition.  
"Good." Spoke Gariberes Softly. He gave a small smile, although not much of one. "In that case this match should now continue. The usual rules of The Quidditch Federation apply. May you have safe flight and an enjoyable conclusion." He finished, in a way of wishing them luck, as he turned and walked off to the side of the pitch, with Dubmeldore and Olympe trailing behind, as before.  
  
Only Rudiga Remained, and she stood staring at them all. Once it seemed that she would be just as wooden, her gaze broke from straight ahead where it had been fixed, and looked over the two teams of young players.  
"Good now that the formalities are over I judge you are all ready for the match? If anyone has a serious injury or condition which will disallow you to play then you should say so now, because once your up in the air I can't stop the match unless we have a death.  
  
No one responded to this, although a few of the French students looked at Harry, as though expecting him to say a broken neck would stop the match before it even begun. He however said no such thing.  
"Good." She said. "In that case if you could please mount your brooms. We want a clean match, something for the audience to enjoy, so please do watch what your doing out there. That's all I believe. Let's get this match started."

The whistle blew. It was like an ever-lasting battle cry, or the glaring beam of a light house that broke through the fog. Harry sprung into the air with the glaring sun disappearing into the horizon behind him. Although he had flown a few days ago, it seemed like forever, and as he reached a height much above the rest of the game, where the quaffle was already shooting backwards and forward, he took his hands off his broom and clenched them and unclenched as he tested. He didn't need stiff joints or slow fingers in this match. To loose before the first round would be to embarrassing.  
  
Ron was guarding his position by the hoops well, and Harry gave a smile as he heard the first "ooh" come from the crowd as he blocked a long shot going for the hop to his left. Ron was doing a good job, or at least it would seem from the one shot fired at him so far. The chasers however didn't seem to be fairing nearly so well, and as Harry looked down at they team flying fifty feet below, he noticed that it seemed the French students had possession of the Quaffle much more time than they should do.  
  
They had better brooms. Harry knew that. They all flew nimbus 2001's, and whilst he could out chance the French seeker, that couldn't be said for the rest of the team , who were flying on an assortment of new and old brooms, each however, knowing its flaws and handling, and achieving the best possible flight the wooden instrument would allow. With their billowing robes, now cut to not catch the wind, rather than looking like rolling thunderclouds like they had before, they now looked like a team of traditional witches, or what muggles believed them to look like, with big billowing capes swirling around them.  
  
He tried to turn his attention back to Seeking. There wasn't much he could do to change what was going on down there. If it wasn't going well then all he could do was try his best to catch the Snitch quickly. He looked round for the French Seeker, who was hovering above his own teams goal posts. Harry knew of Seekers who did that. It gave them the best view of the pitch, but at the same time meant if it was at the other end of the pitch their chance of catching it was reduced.  
  
As He caught Harry looking at him, The French seeker gave a wave and flew over. Harry was slightly annoyed that perhaps the game wasn't being taken seriously by all, because if the French students didn't try they would steal any sort of moral victory the Hogwarts team had been hoping to get from the match.  
  
He pulled his broom round so he was five feet to Harry's side.  
"You will be trying your best?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow. The sun was low and since there was no rain the use of Quidditch goggled was not essential.  
"But of course? Won't you?" Harry asked back slightly worriedly.  
"Yes. Good. I just wanted to know that you would be your best, so that if I win it will be for good play, and if I loose it will not be humiliating." Harry nodded. It made a lot of sense, and pride between Keepers was a high thing.  
  
"Harry get back to chasing and stop nattering!" Cried Phillip as he shot past Harry, shortly followed by a Bluger. He took the advice, and without another word to the French student he dived down fifteen feet and began to circle the pitch.

Harry flew round looking for the Snitch, although as the sun moved further out of sight, he realised it was not going to be an easy task. Without the bright sunlight to reflect off it he would have to rely on the lanterns hovering around the edge of the pitch, and with their flickering quality, the snitch wouldn't show up easily.  
"Still." Harry thought as he tried to explain it rationally. "It doesn't matter, because the French seeker will be at a disadvantage to." Besides, Harry had caught a snitch in much worse weather than this, and he knew it was possible to do so.  
  
Hermione meanwhile gave a grunt of effort as she threw the Quaffle across to Blaize, who took it in one swift throw and chucked it towards the keeper. However, despite the effort the Keeper had been able to see which one it was going into, and managed to block the Quaffle. He then gave a long throw to a chaser who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Alexanda spun round in surprise and tried to chase after the Quaffle, but on his broom he wasn't able to catch up, and so it came down to Ron, who made a spectacular dive that unfortunately missed.  
  
He couldn't recover from the feign throw in time, and the chaser simply gave an over arm pass which popped it threw for the first ten points of the match. A loud bell rung, although it was quickly covered by the cheer of the crowd as the score ticked up. "Beauxbatons 10. Hogwarts 0"  
All this was being announced thre loud speakers, but to the players this was irrelevant. They couldn't hear it, for their ears were closed to all but the shouts of teammates and the whistle of air as a Quaffle or Bluger came flying towards them.  
  
Ron cursed. First blood. He had known there would be goals he couldn't save, but to have the first score of the game be in his own hoops was embarrassing. He should have spotted the feign. The way their eyes would go slightly to one side before the other, the way their other arm would remain forward… If only he hadn't been so distracted. But what was it that was distracting him? It wasn't like his mother was still shouting things. she could have been perhaps, but she wasn't.  
  
It was probably simply the fact so many people were watching, that put him off. At School he had under a thousand watching him, where as now there was all of Hogwarts, back at home on the magically enhanced ceiling, plus all of Beauxbatons which numbered several hundred. Then there were several hundred members of the public at least, plus the fact that everyone who wasn't watching would be able to see it in the paper tomorrow.  
"Concentrate Ron concentrate. Your mother didn't come here to see you let goals in. She came all the way here so that she can watch me play a great game, and I damn well wi.." he thought, before a swift impact came about his left shoulder.  
  
He looked down at his arm, and only briefly registered for a moment, that there were lots of screams, and some blood.  
"Oh." He said, as he closed his eyes, fainted and fell to the ground. His body tumbled in air as it spun before settling out with his back falling first, and his limbs slightly later, going up in the resistance against the wind. He thudded down on the ground, which although charmed to be soft, was nowhere near as soft as any conscious person would care for.

Ron lay still on the ground for a long silent moment, before Rudiga's whistle rang out across the stadium. Every flier pulled their broom to a stop, before looking at each other. A couple of the people had seen what had happened, namely the beaters, but those who hadn't looked around at each other to see if someone had committed a fowl. The whistle blew again and everyone landed their brooms on the ground, before dismounting.

Harry had seen what had happened, but knew there was nothing he could do to help Ron, and so instead he just stood and watched. Ron had recovered from injuries in training before. Everyone had, it was part of Quidditch, and just because you could see Ron's bone, didn't mean his arm would be any worse off the following day.

Rudiga Tilted Ron's head back and checked his breathing and his pulse like a true professional. Then she signalled for the medics dithering at the side of the pitch to come over.

Harry stared down at the team's fallen seeker and groaned inwardly. He hoped it would be something they could repair on the spot, although he doubted it would be. They wouldn't have a very good keeper if he could only use one arm.  
But then that would still be better than nothing. They couldn't afford to play the game without a keeper at all, even if the keeper wasn't the best in the whole of Hogwarts. If they didn't have a keeper then they would have to forfeit the game, and given their current score that meant that their chances of going onto victory were greatly diminished. As long as Ron regained consciousness within the next few minutes they could carry on with the game. If he didn't then… well that was an eventuality Harry didn't look forward to.

Everyone in the stand who had been cheering and cursing had fallen into the icy pools of silence. A silence so intense that it was deafeningly loud. The only sounds other than an odd cough and the scratching of quills belonging to reporters furiously chaptering down the events, was the pounding of feet on wood as a lone figure dashed along the walkway leading down to the ground.

The woman panted along the wooden floors which flexed under her weight. She reached the end of the gangway and started down the stairs, taking two at a time. Something she had always told her children not to do. A moment later she came out at ground floor, and after forcing her way through a few reporters who cursed angrily after her, she ran over to where Ron was lying. She came to an abrupt stand still as she stared at the form of her injured son. A second later a distraught shriek rang throughout the grounds.

The Beater who had aimed the Bluger flew to the far end of the pitch, just incase misses Weasley decided to jump up on one and come chasing after him. Mr. Weasley, who happened to have also seen the whole event came running out onto the ground shortly after her. The way Ron was hit by that Bluger, the way he just fell from the broom. He could have at least tried to stay on. He knew what his Molly was like when a family member was injured. Just last Christmas Charlie showed up with a bandage on his arm from a dragon that got a bit to close. It hadn't been a very comfortable morning.  
  
He knew Ron was all right. Boys would be boys. Broken bones and a bit of the red stuff was just in their nature. Never did anyone harm. Besides, he had more important things to focus on. For one as assistant Minister of Magic he couldn't allow his wife to make such a scene, especially not when there were reporters from every country staring. Half of them thought he was weird enough as he was, and the other half, they couldn't even spell his name.  
  
"Come on Molly." Said Arthur as he placed an arm around her shoulder. If he could just get her back inside, or at least away from the reporters.  
"But our poor Ronald is hurt." Miss Weasley exclaimed as shrugged Arthur off, and tried to move further forwards, knocking a few medi wizards aside.  
"Don't worry, he will be fine, if you can just let the people have some room to fix him up then he will be good as new."  
"How would you know?" Molly snapped back at him.  
"I don't." Arthur admitted. "But Lucas is giving two to one odds that Ron will pull through.

A loud groan issued from the form of Ron, as his eyes flickered open and he rubbed his head.  
"Damn my head aches." He complained as he raised his good arm to rub it. The medi-wizards took a step back as he sat up. After a moment in which they all stared at Ron, and he stared back he asked. "Why is everyone staring at me?" After a moment Harry spoke.

"I don't suppose anything else hurts does it?" as he looked at Ron's bone which was horrifically visible.  
"Well… I guess my bum hurts."  
"What about your arm?" Rudiga asked, as she seemed to inspect it. Ron turned his head, and saw for the first time, just why everyone was so surprised that he should be sitting up and talking normally.  
"Bloody hell the bone is sticking out and everything!" Ron said in shock.  
"Don't worry, we will have it fixed right up Ron." Arthur said as Molly slumped against his shoulder. He had to use a conscience-removing spell to silence her.  
"Not yet you had better not!" Ron protested. Get a photo first. Fred and George will laugh their head off. I will be like a hero." He explained excitedly.

Relief washed over the Hogwarts team as they saw that Ron was moving. That meant that they wouldn't have to forfeit, a fate worse than loosing. Hermione as well as the other Chasers was a little concerned that they wouldn't have a very good keeper, but Harry and the beaters were mostly just relieved. Phillip made a promise to himself, as he cast a look over at the Beauxbatons team, who all seemed a little bit too happy, that as long as he was in the air, he would give them hell.  
  
Rudiga turned Ron to look back at her, and away from the large crowd of people assembled around him, consisting of his team, his parents, medi-wizards, and the bean looking reporter.  
  
"You need to tell the Medi-wizards if you fell dizzy or have any other ailments." She told his strictly. Ron checked himself over just to make sure that he was ok, before answering accordingly. "Well in that case I see no reason why the match cannot continue. I have been told that we can't currently reset and repair your arm as it will take some time, but it will be done straight after the match, or now if you do not wish to continue?" She asked as everyone stared at Ron expectantly.

"Well I'm terminally wounded, I fear." Said Ron melodramatically. I also suspect my Quidditch career is over before it has even begun. I have bought shame upon thy family and thy friends, but I shall never bring shame upon our spirit." He said as he clutched a hand to his heart. Anyone who had seen the scene from this point would think it was some sort of medieval film.  
  
"In other words I say Yay, I shall play." He said as he raised his fist into the air, which surprisingly earned a lot of cheers from the crowd considering they couldn't hear a word he was saying.  
"That's the spirit." Said Rudiga, who was more interested in getting on with the match than poorly copied speeches. After all she didn't want a riot on her hands. There would be looting and pilfering and all sorts…(especially the pilfering.)  
  
"As the saying goes." Ron said as he heaved himself upright with some effort. "The game must go on!"  
"Show." Hermione hissed under her breath, which earned her a whack round the side from Ron's broom, as he turned round, in a rather purposeful manner.  
Ron managed to mount his broom, though with one hand they knew he wouldn't be able to play well. It took one hand to stabilise the broom, and so he really wouldn't have much chance of saving with anything than his body.  
  
Rudiga blew her whistle to tremendous applause, and instantly the match sprung up into high speed high tension action, with the exception of Ron, who slowly and wobbly rose into the air, before wafting over to the goal. Harry turned his attention away from this and back to the Snitch, was proving rather elusive. Partially due to the bad light, which was now rather dark with the exception of the torches floating in the air around them. Thankfully it seemed that the Beauxbatons Seeker was having no more luck, as he circled around low to the ground.  
  
The Hogwarts Seekers knew what they had to do. They had to play defensively. They couldn't afford to make any more shots than necessary, because without any real sort of defence from the keener it was down to them to make sure the ball was in their hands, even if it meant not through the opponents goal. Hermione passed the ball to Blaise, who gave a grunt and made a massive throw right down the pitch to Alexanda, who upon being quickly enclosed by opposing chasers, flew back down to the Hogwarts end, and passed back to Hermione who ducked forward under the players in pursuit.  
  
"What are you two doing?" Blaise demanded? A curve shot could have scored just then!" She shouted angrily over the various chants of the frenzied crowd.  
"We can't risk it. We need to play defensively or else we wont last long enough." The only hope we have in my opinion is if Harry catches the Snitch soon, because it will only be so long until they figure out our plays, and start overpowering us." She explained. Alexanda darted back past and Hermione casually passed the ball into his hand, whilst he flew off and around the pitch.  
  
"I didn't ask you so shut up." Blaise stormed as she tightened her grip on the broom and lent back slightly, ready to charge. She looked like an angry tiger, ready to spring. "You play your way I will play mine, and when we win you can apologise." Blaise said as her words faded and she roared off after Alexanda who was quickly getting pinned, and looked more like a spiralling piece of cloth than a real human.

Ron was circling the goal posts once again dutifully, ignoring the pain in his arm, and the screaming voices in his head that they were going to loose and it would all be because of him. Instead he tried to listen to the much quieter voice that said he still had one arm, and the opposition weren't that good…he cast a glance over to the top box where his parents would be, they hadn't returned yet. They were probably getting a cup of coffee to calm their nerves or something. At least that was good. He half expected his mother to be charming thousands of pillows below him in case he should fall.  
  
It was during this thought that something zipped past his ear, he slowly turned, and after a seconds thinking came to the disappointing conclusion that it had been the Quaffle. "Stupid Blood loss!" He cursed to himself. "Making me think all slowly. I could have saved that if I had leant my head a few inches to the side."  
The crowd groaned, and cheered, depending on what side they were supporting. The Beauxbatons team were pleasantly surprised to see that The Hogwarts keeper. (Wogsley something or other) Was doing a rubbish job of defending. They congratulated their Beaters, privately of course, but they congratulated them none the less.  
  
Another injury like that to one of the players, and the Beauxbatons team would have the match in the bag.  
  
"Pay attention Ron. Me and Serenity have the Beaters covered and the Chasers are defending as well. It shouldn't be to difficult Ron. I know you can play better than that, and I know how much you would hate yourself if we lost because of you, so stop daydreaming." Phillip advised as he hovereds above the hoops and with an almighty smack sent one of the Blugers whistling through the air, straight towards one of the unwatchful Chasers of the other team. At the last moment he managed to lean back, but a good two inches of wood splintered off the end of his broom in the impact.  
  
Ron knew that Phillip was right. It was like the match against slytherin last year. He knew that he could play better if he put his mind to it, if he ignored the negative ones and the ones calling him stupid, and all those other voices (especially the loud voice of his mother telling him she had some nice fizzy pop that would fix him right up). If he ignored those and simply tried to play to the best of his ability, then they could win, and if they didn't then they would know they had met their match, and lost for a good reason. And they could live with that.  
  
"I will Phillip. I will play like I have never played before." Ron called, as again the Quaffle went whizzing past him. And straight threw the goal. "Hogwarts 0. Beauxbatons 30." The scoreboard read.  
"What, you mean you will play like crap?" Blaise asked angrily. It had been her who lost the Quaffle to the Chaser who scored, and she was more than happy to shift the blame onto Ron.  
"Because I can assure you that you have played like that before."  
"It's ok. A few are bound to get through." Hermione tried to say brightly. She knew the outlook wasn't bright, but it was at least a little bit brighter if Ron tried, and she wasn't about to let him be put off by some stupid girl. Especially a girl as stupid as Blaise Zabini.  
  
She was so stupid…

Meanwhile Harry looked round for the Snitch, there was no sight of it still. One of The beaters had a watch which kept grabbing his attention, but other than that there had been no sign of anything really. Except for the small shiny golden thing down near the other end of the Pitch. It was Snitch shaped and Snitch coloured and if he cared to taste it, it would probably be pretty darn Snitchy. But then there was the Beauxbatons Seeker, he was just feet away from it, it was right behind his back and he couldn't see it. In fact if everyone held their breath then he would probably here the fluttering of its wings.  
  
Harry paused for a moment. Standard tactics were that if the opponent was closer than you then you would fake it, but when the opponent was that close, and that clever Harry wasn't sure he would get away with it. First of all he hadn't been paying much attention to the Seeker, and secondly they hadn't been paying much attention to him. If he did feign it then by the time The Seeker would notice something was going on, Harry would have to pull out of his dive. What he needed was some way to get rid of the Seeker, providing the Snitch was still there?  
  
Was it?  
  
Yes. It had disappeared behind the seeker for a moment, but as it reappeared from the other side of his head Harry let out a sigh of relief. Although it probably wouldn't stay still much longer. There was only one thing for it.  
"Oy!" He yelled across the pitch. Several members turned their heads, and some even stopped and questioned who it was aimed at. Finally the opposing Seeker caught Harry's eye and he gave a wave. "Come over here." He said hopefully. It was such risky behaviour. If he was found out it would lessen his chances of winning to nothing. It was perhaps that this behaviour was so strange that it threw the other Seeker.  
  
He flew over to where Harry was positioned, several feet above the height the Chasers were at, although they did keep changing, with Hogwarts giving the best defence they could, and flying in every direction, and some directions they wished they hadn't. Indeed at one point when they flew at a wrong angle of forward, they went through a parallel dimension with great monsters and hideous beasts. Of course this passed so fast, that they knew nothing of it.  
  
"What is it?" The Seeker asked as he looked at Harry confusedly. He lant his head to one slightly… and yes! The Snitch was still there. All he needed to do was slide his broom sideways a foot or two and he could make a quick clean dart for it.  
"I was just wondering if you had seen the snitch at all?" Harry asked, as he edged himself round. The opposing seeker hesitated. Something was up, and as he followed Harry's eyes he realised what it was.  
"First of all. I thought we were playing fairly. No dirty tricks. And secondly, I haven't seen the Snitch… But you have!" he said as he began to swing his broom around.  
  
Harry cursed himself for leaving it so late. But he had a faster broom, and was already facing the right direction, and with a quick tightening of his hand's he blasted forwards at the maximum speed his broom could offer. Which was a massive amount. He could hear nothing except the constant tuneless hum of wind whistling through his ears. Everything around him was slightly blurred, except for the other Seeker, who was flying in the same direction, and as a result, appeared to only be flying backwards at a slow pace.

The Gap in between Harry and the other seeker increased every passing moment, as Harry kept his eyes fixed on the Snitch, the fluttering of its wings and the shine of its golden mass. He was ahead and he couldn't be caught up. The Snitch was his, and he knew it. The Beaters were down the other end of the pitch, helping their chasers put another Quaffle through, by whacking Hermione round the back of the hand. And no one could try and get in his way because they knew at this speed he wouldn't able to stop, and at this speed If he were to crash into someone, the point of his broom would end up going in one side and coming out the other.  
  
The Seeker fell back and gave a quick signal, which the Keeper managed to decode. It was a strange one, and he hadn't expected to see it, or have to use it against Harry Potter, but then these robes weren't for nothing. He dropped his broom as fast as he could. He didn't want to go far through because he valued his life. Still the action was exciting. He had had nothing to do up till now, and to be able to claim a piece of the fame that would be theirs, was what he wanted. Harry Potter closed in on the Snitch, as did he. He couldn't catch it obviously, that would be against the rules, and to deliberately tough it would count as a perversion to the game. He could however stop Harry Potter touching it.  
  
He lowered a bit more, until he was perched a few feet above the Snitch, and then darted forwards towards Harry potter, like an in air jousting match, except that no collision would occur between the two. Harry briefly let his eye move from the snitch to the Keeper who was flying towards him. He worried briefly that they would hit. It would be suicide, not to mention a month off school in the hospital wing. Then however he realised that they weren't going to crash. They weren't flying at the same height, but then before he could realise the purpose it was to late. He flew forwards with only a dozen meters between him and the Snitch, whilst the Keeper flew over him by a few feet.  
  
Harry saw a veil of black swirl past him like ink in water. It fell into his face and whipped around his head before passing. In that brief moment it had caught his eyes, and he blinked furiously, trying to right them of being touched. When he had recovered he turned his attention back to the Snitch and reached out to touch it only to find out that it had gone. He had been distracted and he had lost sight of it. He cursed to himself inwardly, and hoped it would be the last thing he lost today… except his temper. That was allowed.  
  
He pulled his broom to the sharpest stop he had done all match, and it jarred like a ski over ice, trying to find a grip and resist the massive forces being exerted on it. It seemed to stop, but then loose its grip and keep going. So many times no one knew if he would stop in time, as he continued to go forward like a butter knife scraping over the fabric of reality.  
  
He let out a sigh of relief as he finally stopped his broom. His legs were either side of the centre hoop post, with the length of his broom running along parallel. Any later and he would have done himself an injury far worse than Ron's broken arm. The men of the crowd let out a sigh of relief, for even those who were supporting the French team, they had all been unlucky enough in their life to experience a swift hit to the conkers, and it wasn't something they would wish on any man. Maybe their mother-in-law, but they usually only had the strength and facial hair of a man, and not the assets.

He turned to look at the rival Seeker, who was grinning broadly. Harry shot him a look to ask where the snitch had gone, and in reply he just gave a shrug. Harry cursed under his breath, before flying off. He had been so close…  
"I thought we were going to play honestly." Harry said sarcastically as he passed the Seeker.  
"We were, but then I wouldn't exactly call your tactic that, would you."  
"And I wouldn't call breaking a friends arm so badly the bone is visible, honest playing either." They exchanged final glances and then flew off. Harry flew round looking for the Snitch, with each passing goal causing more and more pressure to be put on him.  
  
Seventy points down and then a crack roared through the sky, as thunder shook the air and the rain began to fall. It wasn't a massive rain that drove them into the ground, but it was the kind of sharp rain with swift winds which felt like they were being swept into a tornado. Harry cursed to himself. As his glasses started to cloud up, and had to risk taking a break from the Snitch to fly over to Hermione and have her charm them as usual, so that he could still see something.  
  
Ron still seemed to be failing to save any shot. Who knew what was going on inside his head, but he now just seemed to be hovering by the middle hoop, with the reasoning that he would therefore save a third of the shots by staying completely still. He did technically save some shots, but that was due to times when the Quaffle got swept sideways by the storm they were in. The numerous teams of reporters on the ground had erected tents of all different colours and sizes, so that it looked more like an old fashioned carnival than a Quidditch match. Indeed with the tents, a few strange things seemed to have arrived.  
  
There was now an official betting tent, as well as someone offering to shine your shoes in the traditional muggle way, which Arthur Weasley was sure to visit at least once. And then there were a few food stalls, including one young man with a tray around his neck.  
"Sausages in a bun. Get yer sausages in a bun. Five sickles each, and that's cutting my own throat!"  
  
The Hogwarts Beaters were the only reason they still seemed to be in the game at all. Alexanda was smacking the Blugers as if each one of them was Snape. They went hurtling through the air at other players, causing them to duck, get hit, which several off them had, although none had yet broken anything (although one girl did complain of broken ribs). The French Beaters, who had themselves been very violent, were now doing their best to return the speeding Iron balls. Each time they made contact with the Bluger, it sent a shockwave threw their bat and their arm actually causing one of them to drop his bat. He flew down and managed to pick it back up, but it had become splintered somewhere along the line, and each time he hit back a Bluger it made a loud echo and didn't fly nearly as far as it should do.  
  
Serenity was also playing uncharacteristically aggressive in her playing, although the fact she accompanied each hit with a small scream of fear suggested it was more in self-defence than anything else. However, there was always a fact that they would tire sooner or later. If Harry had felt the burning in Phillip's arm, then he would be much less confident than he was, which wasn't much. He needed to find the snitch soon. He needed to find it before the opponent and before many more goals were scored. Also he needed to do it so he could finish the match and get one of those hot sausages in a bun. He was starving.


	57. Kiev's for Dinner

Sorry this chapter is so late. We actually finished it last week, but I have ben having school troubles lately, whilst fayetahl has another sort of trouble (not mental -.-)

Anyway hope you enjoy this, because I injoyed writing the bits that I wrote. Especially the second half.

Also he needed to do it so he could finish the match and get one of those hot sausages in a bun. He was starving.

As the rain bit into the robes, something happened although it didn't change the world, and it probably wouldn't effect the outcome of the match, the Beauxbatons team started to slow down. With all the loose material they had the water was becoming absorbed, like a giant flannel, making them heavier, or at least slower.

This wasn't noticed to many of the Hogwarts team. Harry was to busy trying to find the snitch, because at a desperately low score of ten points to Gryffindor and one hundred and ten to Beauxbatons, Harry knew the time he could catch the snitch in was short, shorter than he would like to measure. Ron. didn't realise the change in the oppositions speed, although he didn't realise much else either. Pain and blood loss had taken their toll upon him, and he was even less useful than he had been when he was on the ground.

Serenity and Philip were to busy trying to defend their team, and hurt the oppositition to notice, and so the only people who did realise, were the Hogwarts Chasers, who were certainly pleased.

"Lets hope it slows them down enough for Harry to catch that snitch. The chance of us evening the score is about as high as Snape taking a bath." Hermione said as they successfully defended a shot.

"Don't insult professor Snape." Said Blaize defensively. "He is a brilliant man."

The betting tent down on the ground was radically changing their odds, as with every goal that was scored Hogwarts odds diminished. Currently it stood at thirty to one. It wasn't exactly the most heartening sight to the players. It was like being told they were going to loose. They knew it was true, but whilst someone didn't say it, it made it that much easier to ignore the voices in their heads.

Harry scanned for the Snitch, not that he hadn't been doing so all game, but he looked down towards the ground. He saw a glimmer of gold, and was about to dart for it when he realised it was merely the reflection of torch light reflecting of a greasy sausage in a bun.

"Damn." He cursed. Another goal was scored and the Snitch was all the way over there! It took him a moment to run through it all in his head. He had been looking for so long, or so it seemed, that the very objective was fogged. He shook his head and quickly turned his eyes back to wear the real Snitch was, as a rush of adrenalin ran through his heart.

It was hovering still, just below one of the lanterns. The same lantern in fact that had cast the deceptive glow on the food in the persons hand. Harry watched for a moment to see if it was going to move. It slowly slid down so it was just peaking above the top of the tent. In fact it was just a mere ten feet away from the shiny sausage, and that is what gave Harry his idea. The Opposing Seeker was watching Harry, because at this point all he had to do was make sure he Harry didn't catch it within the next minute or two. He didn't need to catch it himself. The score the Chasers had bought had made sure of that.

Harry couldn't dive for it, he would be chased, and considering the angle they were at, possibly beaten, although taking into account speed difference it wasn't a certainty. Still, it was a risk he couldn't afford to take. Instead he would have to feign it. He was going to have to make a dive for the sausage!

Harry flicked his eye to the snitch, still there, taunting him, them to the sausage a few feet away which Harry hoped wasn't going to be eaten within the next few moments. He gave one last pray for the risky strategy, and swung his broom round, nose towards the ground, and made a dive for it. He clenched his hands tighter as he accelerated, for the rain had made the highly polished surface slippery, and if Harry didn't possess some amount of strength in his lower arms he would find himself going a lot less forwards, and a lot more down.

The Rival Seeker was the best. Well, the best of Beauxbatons at least. He had spent hours and hours training, honing his skills, perfecting techniques. He had also spent some time learning tactics, and from all his knolledge he had learned to watch the opponent, as much as for the Snitch. When he saw Harry Potter swing his broom round, the way his upper hand loosened and how he pushed with his first foot. It all meant towards a dive, and so quick as a flash, He was diving after the Snitch to. After all, he was the best.

As Harry dived for the ground, with the opposition coming along next to him, maybe even in front a little, the crowd went into a silence. Their bantering subsided as people in the audience stopped fighting, arguing, betting, trying to sell mouldy produce, and generally being human. The rain started to fall back into them, as they flew down to the ground so fast, rain that had fallen past them a mere moment ago, was having the unusual opportunity of a second meeting.

The ground quickly approached, as did the shiny sausage, grasped into the hand of a man who was completely unaware of two players hurtling towards him. In a moments time he was going to look up, give a whimpering breath, and relieve himself then and there, but for now he merely debated over the addition of a sauce.

Harry looked over to the opponent, who was neck and neck with Harry, hand outstretched. He would realise the truth any minute now, but by then it would be to late to correct his mistake. The ground was only twelve, no, ten feet away, when the French Seeker noticed something, something rather unpleasant. It wasn't the Snitch he was reaching for.

The thing that bought about this realisation was that as he got closer, with the light form the lamp he could see clearer, and now he noticed that the Snitch was embraced in a bread like coat, which was attached to an arm, belonging to a man on the ground. The man looked up at the two players, only a second away from impact. His eyes widened, and after a drawn out moment, he threw up the item in his hand, and fainted.

The greasy sausage spun in the air, whilst it soaked in the attention of the crowd. No one had ever paid it so much attention. Not even when the meat and gristle was scraped of the factory floor after being rejected by all the real sausages. The people darted towards it. One of them was panicking, as he pulled up the broom with all his might, trying to avoid an impact with the ground, whilst the other person pulled up, though unlike the first one, he did so in a confident manner.

Harry's broom came up at the last minute, as he continued to fly afterwards. The Beauxbatons Seeker however, despite his best efforts, had been unable to pull up in time, and with a crunch and a thud crashed onto the ground where he tumbled and ended up laying next to the passed out gentleman. Harry caught the Sausage in one hand, as he flew straight threw the hot steamy tent. With another jerk or his broom he tore out of the top, straight threw the material. The crowd gave a loud applause as this happened, for although most of them were supporting the French team, most of the,m also respected good flying when they saw it.

"You owe me five sickles for that!" Called the man after Harry. He didn't get a reply, but a moment later a gold galleon fell through the hole in the tent. It was all good and all, but a lot of it was luck. It was for instance luck that Harry had pulled the trick off so well, it was luck that the tent tore so easily, and that it didn't come up with him like a giant net, it was luck that the Snitch was right there in front of him, and that it didn't move as his fingers laced around it. A lot of luck, and a little bit of talent. The sausage? That was just for show.

There was a torrent of cheers, a few boo's any many other emotions. Various people asked him questions, lots of photographers asking him to pose, some on his own, some as a team (one in particular wanted him to pose with a tall partially clothed woman he had never seen in his life. Hermione quickly whisked him away from that. "You needn't get involved in that sort of thing Harry." She had told him sternly.)

Ron had been rushed over to some medi wizards, who gave him potion rubbed on ointment, and all sorts or things. They even put his arm in a sling. Arthur Weasley collected their winnings, as did many others, whilst just as many paid out instead. It was like a swarm of bees for the next hour or so, whilst everyone got on with endless activities, all moving about milling, around the queen, which in this case took the form of the fourteen players. However, there was more than just this going on.

Far way, in a town that few knew about, and in a house that even less talked about. The house, if that is what it was, (many called it the entrance of hell, or simply gave a furtive glance over their shoulder and a meaningful stare) was large and alone. The town itself had been constructed many hundreds of years ago and after plague and murder few people came to the town, until one day there were none. It was an isolated location, for the large part forgotten about, protected from muggles and out of mind to the Wizards, This was where Voldemort lived.

In a palace filled with corruption and lies, he had his meals and took his rest, and plotted his next move in the big wide world, turning all around him into a rotting world of dank decay. But to him it was sweet, as was the wine in front of him. His death eaters were elsewhere for the night, some of them doing tasks for him. Killing a few people here, looting a few muggle shops there. On the whole they were making mischief, and doing exactly as ordered.

Tonight was a special evening. Voldemort had a guest. It was so rare that they had a guest, that the cook worried half the morning over what to make. A causal Tuesday afternoon and it was sausages and toast, but an evening such as this? He was probably expected to serve up something that still looked alive, with some sort of fruit in its mouth. The guest, he had learned, was a lady. Young apparently. Strange name. Foreign most certainly.

"Sera L'Ange"

Harry was sitting round the bonfire. An hour had passed since the match. He had changed out of his Quidditch robes, and for the first time all week he was allowed to wear whatever he wanted. That meant a nice warm jumper, some old jeans that he seemed to have had forever, and a jacket. It was much warmer than his school robes, which felt a little thin at times. However, as he sat on one of the many great logs which were positioned four around each of the five fires, he decided perhaps it was to hot after all.

Most of the crowd had gone home. There was nothing more to see here. A few people had been hoping a fight would break out between the two seekers, after Harry's fake dive, but that had not happened. Several other fights had happened though, between some people who refused to pay up bets, though those were short lived and none were worth standing and watching. It seemed that although both members of the squabble were in principle up for the fight, neither one of them wanted a black eye for work, and after a minute in which they both stared at each other very threateningly, their wives usually came and escorted them home.

The refreshments stalls had left with everyone else, and Harry had to admit he wasn't at all sad about it, the sausages and marshmallows many of them were cooking, were much tastier, and more satisfying. The reporters had gone, apart from one or two, and they seemed to be there on a strictly personal basis, each of them friends with a teacher, or with the parents or a team member. The parents had obviously stayed. It was the first chance for some months that they got to see their children, and in another point it gave them chance to drop hints about what their children might want for Christmas.

Harry might have felt left out, though the Weasely's made sure that there was never the case. Some of the other children did though. Some of the muggle born ones, who's parents hadn't been able to make it. Hermione was one of these people and she sat fairly merrily, cooking some marshmallows beside Harry. She was swinging her legs backwards and forwards, as she, being shorter than Harry, couldn't reach the ground whilst sitting down.

She seemed to be glowing in an inner pride. Perhaps it was the fact that she had pulled thought, that she hadn't let the team down, and that she actually did a good job, and helped them win the game ( though only just. In the end it was by a mere twenty points.), perhaps it was the relief that the game was finally over, and the next one wasn't until after Christmas. It relieved Harry, certainly. Or perhaps it was that she was just literally glowing, with the crackling firelight shinning of her and casting a solid shadow behind her.

For some reason as he sat there watching Hermione, he felt overcome by something strange. An overpowering urge to just go over and hug her. It wasn't that he loved her, he was quite certain of that. He knew what love was, he had loved Cho, though now after the time apart he no longer felt it, he knew what it was to love, and he didn't love Hermione as more than a friend. Perhaps he just wanted to congratulate her and tell her she did a good job. After all with Boys congratulations at their age consisted of some thumps and hearty slaps on the back. You couldn't do that with a girl.

Harry stared at the roaring fire in front of him, which had tried him so quickly. Steam was still coming off his shoes, but he was instead staring at a crackling log which had tumbled down from the main body of heat, and was now on its own. A lot like him, in a way.  
"You played well Hermione." Harry said as he turned his sausage over and inspected it. It was burnt on one side, but then he didn't have the patience to perfectly cook it. Hermione looked up from her marshmallows, apparently happy at the chance to talk. With Ron doing a dramatic reenactment about the match for his parents and the other members of the team to excited or busy to sit around, it was quite to them.

"Thanyk you Harry. That is high praise coming from you." She said with a smile. Harry frowned.  
"Hey I compliment people sometimes. I'm not snape or anything."  
"No no." Hermione hastily said. "You misunderstand me. I didn't mean that you are never nice to me. I just meant that since your probably the best player in Hogwarts, for you to commend my playing certainly says something. Miss Weasley said I played well also, though that didn't mean nearly so much, if you understand my point?"  
"Yes. I do." Harry said with a laugh.

Meanwhile Mr. Weasley, who had been throwing curious glances at what Harry and Hermione had been doing for the last five minutes, gave into his curiousity. He sidled up to the pair and stared at the mushy white blob on the end of Hermiones stick. After a moment he gave a cough to announce his arrival, which caused Harry and Hermione to turned to face him. Harry sausage swung into the fire, and caught on fire, something that would annoy him a minute later when he turned back and saw.

"Hello Mr. Weasley." Hermione said politely as she shifted her position so as to face him better. Arthur continued to stare at the marshmallow for a minute before he realized he was being addressed.  
"Oh you're talking to me, sorry. Hello You two. I was just wondering…" He said as he licked his lips, as if he was about to broach a rather taboo subject. "What are you doing Hermione? With that stick and the funny white thingamajigs?" Harry grinned, as he realized the source of Mr. Weasley's strange behavior. He should have known that something as obviously Muggle as roasting marshmallows would interest Mr. Weasley.

"We're toasting marshmallows" Harry replied good-naturedly. "Well technically I'm cooking a sausage, but Hermione…" He explained before being cut off.  
"Narshmarlows… he said as he ran the word through his mind a few times, and familiarized himself with it. "What are they then? I mean, there are obviously that," As he pointed to the sticky blob Hermione was now eating. "But what do they do?" He enquired in a tone that suggested he was expecting a much deeper meaning that simply for eating.

"Well they don't really do anything. You can eat them cold, and people sometimes toast them on campfires and then eat them." Mr. Weasley scrunched his face a minute in intense concentration before a look of dawning comprehension appeared cross his features.  
"Yes I remember now! Fred and George told me about those…" he said far to enthusiastically for a sane man. "They exploded if I remember correctly. Why hasn't yours done so Hermione? Are you not very good at it?" He enquired. Hermione flushed red with indignation before calming herself and replying.

He scowered round for a suitable device to cook it on, before eventually removing a pen from his pocket, and skewering the puffy blob.  
"Um…that probably isn't the best idea." Harry said cautioning as Mr Weasley held it out towards the fire. After a moment had passed in which Arthur stared at the blob very expectantly, he turned to Hermione, with a look of school boy excitement on his face.  
"Nothing has happened yet… Does it take a long time?"  
"well it takes a minute, but it probably needs to be closer to the fire, although you youself don't want to get to close…" She faded off as Mr Weasley ignored her warning and walked forwards towards the mass of flaming wood.

When he was only a few feet away he stopped with his marhsmellow held out before him.  
"I say this is damn hot. I feel like im burning more than when I have a swift shot of firewhiskey… But oooh! It's working!" Mr Weasely exclaimed very loudly as the marshmallow began to go out of shape and gooey. He turned round to face the others and show them his achievement, but instead drew a lot of attention and a gasp from Molly, to his new lack of eyebrows.

"Arthur!" She screamed as she marched over and yanked him away from the fire.  
"What is it?" He asked worriedly.  
"You have burnt your eyebrows off!" she spluttered. Arthur stared blankly for a moment before he smiled.  
"Oooh I can be one of those rock stars then that Ginny always talks about at home. Am I cool Ronald? Am I a bad dude? Won't your friends at school be jealous!"

Once Arthur had some ointment applied to his singed forehead.  
"It does taste quite good I suppose." He said as he moved the object around his mouth. "Sort of like sugary sponge, only easier to eat. One weekend when molly was out I tried to make a sponge cake. A beast on my teeth. Maybe Its because the sponge was a bit old and I had used it a few times… do you think?"

Many miles away, in that building in the old forgotten town there were two people, sitting, talking. It was unusual for one of them to be talking in the manner that he was. It wasn't that he was being polite that was different. He was usually polite. Especially to women. It was that once the meal was over he wasn't planning on killing her. The other person was a woman, who called herself Sera.

"So Sera, have you ever been to Cyprus?" I have, some years ago now, beautiful place. Especially at night. The moon is so bright you could think it was the sun on a foggy day." Voldemort explained as he picked up his glass and gulped back some of the rich greasy drink inside.  
"I can't say I have been, though I had a few friends at university who did. They also spoke rather highly of it, perhaps I shall visit it one day, time and money permitting." She said as she crossed her legs and turned slightly. She was staring into his eyes, and he was staring back at her, with his piercing red pupils. It was easier to concentrate on keeping her mind closed from staring at him she found.

He said something or other, rather humo rous no doubt, to those who cared to listen. She pretended to lau gh, in a beautiful harmonic laugh that could draw the hearts of men from all over the world. People who didn't find Voldemort fun ny, when he intended to be, often found themselves on more dangerous of missions. He had his favorites… Who didn't? Bellatrix was one herself. Perhaps it was that she was a woman, or that her time in Azkaban had left her hollow inside, but Voldemort liked her over the others. She knew when to laugh. Lucius had tried once, but it was a pretty pitiful laugh, and if anything it just embarrassed the dark lord.

"Dinner should be ready soon. I can't say what we are having, as I do not know, but I expect it shall be something delightful." Voldemort said with a smarmy grin as he reached across the table and picked up Sera's hand, and gently caressed the pale skin. I do hope you forgive my forwardness, but I find you rather…beautiful." He said as he eyed her lustfully. Sera smiled, although inwardly she was loathing the touch of his skin upon hers. It felt like he was muddying her very soul.  
"It's funny you should say that." Sera replied playfully. "For I find you rather deplorable." Voldemort hesitated for a moment, unsure how to take this remark, before a large smile appeared.  
"Yes, I like to think so myself sometimes."

Voldemort looked around the room. The Moon was full outside, exactly as he had requested it to be, the candles were burning nicely, and everything was good, except for some reason he couldn't think of anything else to say at the time. He sat there drumming his fingers for a moment before yelling, without warning, for Peter to come.  
"Petigrew!" he snapped, causing Sera to jump, though only for the briefest of moments, she was to composed and concentrated fro such things. The running of feet was heard coming from down the hallway, before Wormtail skidded into the room, a towel over his arm, trying to look respectable, and failing.

"Where has dinner gotten to?" He asked as he cursed Wormtail's insolence. Without the proper footwear Peter looked nothing like a waiter, and it just server to make the dark lord look, to be quite frank, a duffer.  
"My understanding of the situation is that it will be ready any minute now. Could I offer you a refill of your drinks sir and m'lady?" He offered with a bow, as if he had been taking lessons from a house elf. "Or perhaps you would like one of our refreshing cold beverages available." He offered as he reached into his pocket, and with a flick of his wand from his other hand which was concealed, caused an icy fruit drink to appear out of nowhere in a Muggle magician fashion.

Sera Gave Wormtail a smile, like a mother pitying her rather simple son, before responding.  
"I am rather fine with the thankyou."  
"Good good, and you my Sir, you lovely handsome man you!" Wormtail said with a quick wink at Voldemort, to which the Dark Lord responded by throwing a kick at him. Wormtail stood staring at Voldemort as if nothing had happened, before Sera gave a small cough.  
"I'm afraid that was my leg." She said unfazed. Voldemort looked at her for a moment as a sickly feeling went through him.

"Please do forgive me, my co-ordination is a little of tonight. Must be the drink, he said, though anyone who knew Voldemort, knew he was as deadly as ever after a few drinks. "Perhaps you would do the honors, and give him a sharp blow for me would you?" Voldemort asked as he turned to Wormtail, who thought he had gotten off from his misjudgment lightly.  
"It would be my pleasure." She said sweetly, before sizing up Peter, and flashing him an innocent look which stated butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. There was a moment in which a swing of her leg, and a sharp thud caused Wormtail to slowly fall to the floor, clutching at his manhood.

"Will that do to your liking, my lord?" She enquired as she turned back to Voldemort.  
"I should say so!" Voldemort responded with wide eyes wonder. "I wouldn't have gone that far, a bit unfair really. Still, you will make a good death eater if you always fight in such a style. It's so hard to find decent fighters these days. All these wrong moral impressions. If your opponent surrenders, don't take them as prisoner. They eat all your food and fuss so much. Just kill them then and there. You have the element of surprise on your side, as well as their lack of wand."

After a few minutes in which Wormtail cursed his own stupidity, and Voldemort cursed Worm tail's stupidity the meal continued. The large doors at the end of the hall creaked open and in came two of his death eaters, pushing a big silver trolley towards them.  
"Good, I was beginning to get impatient. I don't like to keep a lady waiting." Said Voldemort truthfully as he passed a very meaningful look at Sera. There were silver plates, with patterns of roses engraved around the edge. There was also a large silver lid, concealing what they were having.

"Oh good. Food!" Peter said enthusiastically as he realized he might be allowed to go home now. Hopefully Voldemort could get himself desert, he did often enough.  
Once the Silver trolley had squeaked to a stop, the two death eaters who kept their eyes firmly fixed on the ground, moved the dishes and placed the on the table. Simultaneously the removed the lids, placed them on the trolley, and made a quick retreat back out of the room.

Voldemort stared in silence for a moment as a wave of rage began to wash over him. He stammered for words for a moment, which was very unlike him. Normally he combined a string of swearing, with a hand full of curses, giving him a very foul mouth indeed.  
"Kiev's? You kept us waiting all this time…. For chicken Kiev's?!" He shouted as loud as he dared in front of female company. "Where is the part that looks like the animal with the fruit in its mouth? God damn it I'm trying to impress her. Is this your idea of a joke you ignorant sod?"

Wormtail stood wobbling for a minute before he managed to get the first words out of his dry throat.  
"Well… I… That is we, the kitchen staff, thought that you would like chicken Kiev's. With the lady and everything we thought it would be best for something without bones." He explained, more confidently now as Voldemort stood staring at Wormtail with a look of anger. He hated for it to seem like his servants were more caring than him. He was caring damn it. He made sure to never leave anyone alive… He ended their suffering, even if it did take a few hours to do so."

"Not that we don't think your capable." Wormtail explained to Sera, who had given him a raised eyebrow. "It's just someone as lady like as yourself is probably very self conscious over her eating."  
"Most thoughtful of you." Sera said to him. So far so good. She didn't want Voldemort to kill anyone. It would really ruin the mood of the meal. Besides when there were servants about he was less likely to try something.

"You don't mind my lord do you?" Wormtail asked, smugly, after having the ladies approval. Voldemort sulked as he crossed his arms and pursed his lips for a minute. There were so many things to say, but in the end he chose one of the more polite ones.  
"Well I suppose its to late now. I can't wait any longer. I'm hungry, so this will have to do." He picked up his fork and knife before cutting off a chunk and putting it in his mouth, all the time staring at Wormtail with a look which stated he was being put through a terrible ordeal.

"Look at it this way, now you won't get any greasy sauce on your robes will you. It does tend to stain, delicate fabric and everything…" Voldemort made a quick hissing sound to shut up Wormtail, before he was embarrassed any further.  
"I never get food on my top." He said to Sera, who had been politely taking a drink of her wine, and watching the spectacle.  
"No of course not." She said sweetly. "Though I mist say I wouldn't mind if you did. I sometimes like a dirty boy." She said, which caused Voldemort to spray some drink across the table in shock. Sera ignored this and continued smiling at him.

Voldemort took this opportunity, so sticking his chest forwards and wiggling his eyebrows in what he considered manly, he stated  
"Actually, I'm so messy, I have a bib!" Sera didn't respond to this, and a silence followed which made Voldemort feel rather less sure of his comment than he had done a moment ago. Wormtail decided to come to the rescue.  
"The chicken Kiev's were on special offer actually. Buy one get one free. If you like them you can have them for dinner tomorrow as well."

After dinner had passed, and an embarrassing desert of children's ice cream, Voldemort decided to get down to business.  
"Well Sera, I would like for you to join or ranks. Given my understanding off your past, you would be a perfect spy for us. Does that tickle your fancy at all?"  
Voldemort asked as he drummed his fingers on the table.  
"It could do. You would need to tell me more first though." Sera stated simply.  
"But of course." Voldemort said with a dazzling smile. If things went well he would have something to occupy his time when Bellatrix was away on a mission.

"Now. To put it simply, I understand a certain madam Maxine, is a relation of yours, who has been recruited by the Order of The Phoenix. Your job would be to find out a thing or two. Other jobs would of course be involved at a later date, should you prove worthy. A theft here or there, a killing or two, the method is up to you, as long as you don't get caught. Would that be acceptable?" He enquired.  
"And the uniform?" Sera asked  
"Oh well anything black will do."

"Yes. For now I am interested. I trust it shall stay that way, providing that I be taken seriously, as a woman I mean." Sera said strictly, with fire in her eyes.  
"Absolutely!" Voldemort said fiercely, as if the very idea of anything else was offensive to him personally. "We don't believe in all that old nonsense here. You won't go near that kitchen, unless of course you are hungry and the chef is away.  
No, your place is on the battlefield. I tend to find that most aurors, being men, are some what reluctant to throw a jinx at a woman."

"It's a benefit I can't deny. But then that is because most men are, simple at the best of times. Wouldn't you agree." She asked. Voldemort considered for a moment, and was about to answer how Wormtail had forgotten once again, to put chocolate spread right to the edge of his toast. He decided against it, for as a dark lord he was demanded, by tradition, to have a different taste. Perhaps blood on toast?  
"Not all men…" He said in a hopefully seductive manner.

"No. One or two intelligent ones. Anyway, forbid me for being blunt, but does that conclude our business, since Olympe is having a discussion with Albus Dumbledore at this very moment, and if I am quick I may be able to learn of the nature, and maybe a fact or two which might prove interesting to you."  
Voldemort sat in glum silence for a minute, before managing to mutter a childish request.  
"Bt what about the you know…" He said as he waved his arms in the air. Sera raised an eyebrow as a response, to which Voldemort cursed under his breath, before lowering his voice to a nearly inaudible whisper. "The rumpy bumpy…You know…Sex!"

A long silence followed this, which seemed all that much longer to Voldemort.  
Sera blinked a few times, whilst looking rather taken back.  
"Dear me, I'm sorry, but I don't believe I ever said such a thing was on the cards. Maybe in the future, but if I were commit to such an act now, I oculdnt help but feel it would become expected of me, and lessen your opinion of me. I wouldn't want to seem easy after all."  
"Oh no of course not." Voldemort said hurriedly, in an attempt to cover up his embracement.

"In that case I thank you for the meal, and trust we shall meet again as arranged." Voldemort nearly nodded, for he felt at this point that if he did speak further his voice might sound high pitched and strained.  
Sera took her cloak of the hook, and strolled out of the hall, into the cold outer hall, leading to the front door. Voldemort through manners was walking some places behind her, apparently showing her out. As she reached the front door, and went to walk out into the rain. She stopped and turned back to Voldemort.

"One more thing, If you don't mind me saying my lord." Sera said earnestly. "It might make you appear a little brighter if you didn't eat with your mouth open." And with that, she strolled out into the cold night air, until she had passed the anti aspiration wards, and off into the night, away from Voldemort, who was left smiling.  
Bellatrix came out of the shadows.  
"Did she fall for it?"  
"Undoubtedly." He replied as they both smiled.  
"Good. Good. Although I feel I need a word with you about your behaviour during the meal. You naughty boy!"

Voldemort gulped.


	58. The Morning After

Hi, It's been a while, again, and I got some bad new and some more bad news…

First bad news, which is perhaps good news to you, is that I got chucked of college… Not good for me, except I guess I now have more time for writing.

Second bad news, which is bad for you, is that Fayetahl, the co writer, has had to stand down from her position due to a heavy schedule. Therefore after this chapter, until I announce her possible return, none of it will be by her, though she did a great job on the many chapters she was around for. She shall be missed.

Thirdly, this is a short chapter… Only 4587 words… one of the shortest chapters so far. However this is because it had a very distinct cut off point, and I didn't want to write more for the chapter. Anyway hopefully you shall enjoy it as much as we did writing it.

Mp and Fayetahl

"Good. Good. Although I feel I need a word with you about your behaviour during the meal. You naughty boy!"

Voldemort gulped.

Back at Beauxbatons, everything was peaceful. The fire was burning, thought not so fiercely as before. Everyone was happy, full from to much food, and in a lot of cases, rather sleepy. Serenity had fallen asleep on one of the logs, and was now slumped against Alexanda, who had tried to slide away from her, but realised such a thing would not be possible with her not waking up.

Dumbledore, Olympe, Mr. and misses Weasley, and Professor Moody all stood round talking. Mostly they discussed the good old times, meaning times when they were younger and currency was different. Times when they were young enough not to be considered old by children. They also discussed the match, including the high and low points, and for a few seconds they brushed on the fact that it had passed without a death eater in sight.

Remus was sitting with an eye on Harry, who was sitting on the other side of the fire with Ron and Hermione, playing a game of snap, though all to tired to really be bothered by the outcome.  
"Snap." Said Ron as he placed a card down with a bang.  
"What?" asked Harry.  
"Um… I got snap." Said Ron sleepily as he tried to remember.  
"When?" Asked Hermione.

"They look tired." Tonks said with a yawn that caused her hair to grow a few inches.  
"You're one to talk." Said Remus as he rubbed her back. "We should probably be getting them to bed soon. Early morning and everything." With that he got up and walked over to the other children, each sitting round in small groups. He rounded them up and sent them off to bed in the Golden Pegasus, to which they were surprised.

"We were going to leave tonight, but things have gone on for longer than we planned, So Dumbledore says we are going to sleep here tonight, and will leave tomorrow morning." He explained to Blaise who was remarkably, acting her usual self. Apparently she wasn't hindered by normal ailments such as tiredness hunger or pain.  
Shortly later several or the other adults retired for the night, except for Dumbledore who was expecting a visitor any minute now. He sat by the dying embers of the fire. He had cast several silencing charms and protection charms around the area in preparation.

There was an owl on a nearby tree, which had returned to its branch now it was no longer being smoked to death. Dumbledore was watching it when he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He heard them approaching for the last two minutes, but it was only now that he was able to identify who it was without looking. He stood up and turned around to great Sera.

"Good, you have returned and are alive." Dumbledore said happily. He looked down at a red line on the earth he had drawn. "And it would seem you are also not under control of the imperious curse."  
"No, all went well, I'm glad to report." Said Sera as she thought about what had happened over the meal, missing out small remarks from Voldemort which related to pleasure, not business.

"So what did you learn of, if anything?" Dumbledore asked as he threw a glance over his shoulder, as if expecting someone to sneak up on him.  
"Well firstly, I learned that our estimates of his forces were well above what he actually has." Sera began. Dumbledore looked up at her at this point.  
"But how can that be possible? Over one hundred and fifty Death eaters were reported at the attack last week? Do you think perhaps Voldemort altered the minds of the witnesses, in order to give himself a bark worse than his bite?"

Sera shook her head. "No, I'm sure there were that many death eaters there, but whilst I was at dinner I heard something which I'm sure will be of great interest to you. Do you know anything of Voldemort's hierarchy system?"  
"A little, from what Severus told me." Dumbledore said. "Though not enough."  
Sera took a flask out from her coat, and took a drink of it before continuing.  
"Well Voldemort is unable to supervise all aspects of his business, as he has learned from such a large command. Therefore he has senior Death Eaters supervising newer Death Eaters."

"There are several of these, though no exact number was said. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, even Peter Pettigrew. Now I happen to hear something exceedingly interesting, something I'm sure we can use to our advantage. Apparently Voldemort is planning an attack on an Alchemist Facility in Russia tomorrow at sunset, there sunset. He is sending out three seniors with their teams, whilst two more are currently out on patrol. That means that Voldemort will be on his own with an army of around twenty to thirty five.

Dumbledore nodded as he heard all of this. There was a lot to be done, if she was suggesting what he was thinking.  
"And you propose we storm his secret castle are you?" He asked with a clenched fist of triumph.  
"First of all, I don't know where it is, and secondly its so heavily guarded I was practically torn apart on my way in." Sera said as she remembered the spells trying top repel her. She would have a splitting headache in the morning.

"Then what is the good news, that makes what you're telling me so interesting?" Dumbledore enquired.  
"Voldemort is planning on leaving his house as well. With the remaining forces he is going to go and kill a family in Cornwall, who happen to have displeased him in some manner. The only ones at his castle will be working staff, such as chefs.  
"Voldemort has a chef?" Dumbledore asked in surprised jealousy.  
"Yes," said Sera simply.  
"I always thought his Death Eaters just took turns…"

"So anyway, said Sera, getting back on subject." I propose we take a force and attack Voldemort. We could do it couldn't we?" She asked hopefully. With an army of thirty-five they could ambush the dark lord. It should be like giving candy to a baby, which is a damn site easier than taking it back.  
"You are proposing we kill Voldemort?"  
"Yes, you could do it my sir. I know your power and I know you could kill Voldemort." Sera said earnestly, as she looked up at him like a child to a grandfather.

"I'm afraid I cannot. The prophecy says so, and my age is taking a toll, I might not act like it, but every year I grow weaker Sera, I can't take the life of Voldemort, no one can, except for Harry, and he is not ready. If we were to make him now it would be like sealing our fate."  
"Then we could kill his death eaters, maybe trap him. No such prophecy exists against this act, with the ministries best we could trap Voldemort, until such a time when Harry Potter is ready, even if that should be years?" Dumbledore considered this for some moments. "My Lord, do you give permission?" Sera asked. Victory was on their side, she could taste it.

Dumbledore Hesitated for a moment. He Wouldn't have thought that Voldemort would be so easy to beat, yet a paranoid mind can cause someone to overlook an opportunity, and a missed opportunity is a great crime, as Dumbledore had learned.

"You are absolutely sure of this information, that it is true?" He asked as he stared at Sera. At times, he wished he were not a leader of a resistance group. It would be so much nicer to sit down in front of the fire with some crumpets, maybe some sherbet lemons, and read non educational books about wizards rescuing young maidens from evil dragons.

There was time for that later, that was what he told himself when such doubt came to his mind.

"I am positive of the information. I heard very well, I used a listening charm I invented personally." She explained as Albus looked back at her, still unsurely. "If I am wrong then by god I will give my blood as payment. Please Lord, Albus, please don't deny the world this shot at safety." Dumbledore looked into Sera's eyes. They twinkled in the moonlight, they showed innocence and purity. In a way, although he had only met her a few days ago, she reminded himself of a granddaughter he had never had.

"Very well. Sera, give the orders to those within your contact, I shall inform those who aren't. Don't however, take the situation light-heartedly. Just because we know Voldemort's intentions and we can plan our attack, does not mean he will be easy to capture." He said, as he explained what she already knew. After a minutes silence in which no one had said anything, and he had paced backwards and forwards several times he said. "I shall assist with the Charms. If that will be all, then I would like to retire, for it will be a long day tomorrow."

The night went on, as the remnants of the once great fire crackled into a near nothingness, and by the first wisps of the foggy sunlight, the last few embers died. Arthur Weasley woke up happily. There was nothing greater than waking up, and being richer than the previous day. (Actually it was greater to weak up and not have molly shout at him about the alarm clock, but this was not a secret he dare let pass his lips. Bill would be round for dinner later. Should be exciting. Bill came round every week, since he had joined the order, and he always had some entertaining stories made at another's misfortune. The best kind of story really.

Harry and the others awoke, and after a dull morning, and a few half hearted goodbyes, they departed France, and started their journey back to Hogwarts. In fact, most of the day was pretty uneventful, in Harry's eyes. He had expected a massive applause and a big party when they got back, but after some strict shouting from professor McGonagall about enough time being wasted already, they went back to concentrating on their lessons.

Harry collapsed back onto his bed that night, and after rereading the highlights of the Quidditch match in various different newspapers and sporting magazines, Harry fell asleep. Tat night however was more eventful than the day. He had dreams of screaming, of blood, and of Voldemort in the middle of it all.

Harry awoke with a start, it was the middle of the night, and it was still very dark outside. He was cold with sweat, and his heart was beating fast in his chest. It took him several long moments before it sunk in that it wasn't real, and in which Harry had to convince himself he wasn't going to die (except perhaps of fright, although the worst had passed).

He was tempted to get out of bed, and check that everything was alright, for as chilling as the dream was, he couldn't get himself to believe it was so, to believe it was just a dream. In the end it was Ron's loud snorting snoring sounds which convinced him that it had just been a nightmare. After all, Harry couldn't pick up Voldemort's mind, not through the magical protection barriers that had been placed.

Harry yawned as he rolled over under his bed covers, before realising it was a school day, and deciding to get up. A quick look outside as he pulled his socks on, told him it would be a cold cloudy day, with perhaps some rain around lunch time. That was to be expected at this time of year though. Everyone else was still asleep, which again, was nothing out of the ordinary.

He had transfiguration later, and McGonogall would no doubt make Harry catch up on the homework he had missed whilst he was away, even if the teacher was away as well. All in all it appeared it was going to be a very regular day, a day no different from any other, yet this was not to be so, for as Harry was shortly to learn, It wasn't a regular day. It was the kind of day that he would remember for the rest of his life.

Harry finished dressing, woke Ron up, and a few minutes later they set off down to the great hall, for the first proper breakfast they had had in a week.

"You know, I think food is the thing I missed the most whilst I was gone." Ron said as he ticked of a mental list of what he was going to eat today. He was one of the few people in the entire school who knew what they were going to have for each meal, before even the house elves had decided what to prepare.

"More than Luna?" Harry asked devilishly with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, probably." Ron replied to Harry surprise. "She has been a bit weird lately." He explained. Harry was greatly tempted to ask if he meant more than normal, but managed to resist his urges and reply with

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, she was a bit strange before we went away to Beauxbatons. She seemed to think I was abandoning her, and now she seems to think I had some sort… well some sort of affair!" He spluttered. Harry considered this for a moment.

"Is it even possible to have an affair when your not married to the person?"

"I don't know. I can't sya I have ever heard of it, although I suppose it is possible. Perhaps it's just that it doesn't happen. You know like you only realise what a big mistake you have made, after you say I do?" Ron tried to imagine it, for rather along time.

"That's besides the point though isn't it." Harry said, as him and Ron neared the great hall. "Haven't you explained that you didn't, you know, betray her."

"Yeah I have," Ron explained angrily. "She just doesn't seem to believe me."

"Who does she think you had an affair with anyway?" Harry asked in bemusement as he considered Blaise.

"Hermione." Ron replied glumly. There was a seconds silence before Harry burst out laughing, the thought that Hermione would allow someone to have an affair with her was ridiculous enough, but Ron?"

"And there is no way she will believe you?" He asked as he finally regained his more sensitive side.

"Not that I can see. I think she decided we should just take a break for now, don't know how long though. What do you think Harry? A break like a week or a quick break, like a Kit Kat?"

"Probably the latter." Harry lied

"Also, probably best not mention this to Hermione." Ron said, as they walked into the great hall.

However, even if Harry had been planning on mentioning any of it to Hermione, he would have forgotten about it, because upon entering the hall, he realised something was rather wrong. Several members of staff had injuries, Moody in particular had a big bandage over his magical eye, where it had either been injured, or stolen. They also looked rather tired, and a quick mental comparison caused him to realise, that they members of staff were those form the Order, and that they seemed in a rather sorry state.

"What happened to them?" Ron asked as he followed Harry's gaze. Harry didn't need to give an answer however, as Dumbledore rose from his seat, and with a small head gesture for them to follow, left the great hall. Harry gave Ron a dark glance, he knew something bad must have happened. Voldemort had probably managed to steal another relic or herb that would allow him to complete his ritual, whatever it was.

"Sir. What happened?" Harry asked as they walked along the corridor.

"Not now Harry, this isn't the place." Dumbledore said sharply to them as he strode up the staircase. A minute later they passed Draco Malfoy, who looked at Ron and Harry, and their relatively grim expressions.

"Oooh landed yourself in trouble?" He asked with a laugh. Tonks however, who had come up behind him, puffy eyed and messy looking didn't find it at all funny.

"Not as much trouble as you. Detention." She snapped in uncharacteristic anger.

"What?" Draco protested before he was quickly silenced with a swish from her wand.

"Two!" She said, and stormed off down to the great hall. Dumbledore did not stop for this, nor did he pay it the slightest attention, as he continued to lead the way, to his office.

Hey Norman, said Harry as the gargoyle stepped aside for them. Norman didn't reply, either because it generally wasn't supposed to talk, or because it knew something was going on. A minute later Dumbledore sat down behind the desk, with Harry and Ron opposite him. He was playing with a quill, whilst deep in thought. After a minutes silence Harry even began to wonder if Dumbledore remembered they were there, but as he made a few false starts it was obvious that whatever Albus was going to say, he had been putting a lot of thought into it.

"Harry, I haven't been honest with you."

"You haven't?" Asked Harry, already knowing this wasn't going to be a good kind of surprise, such as finding out that he had won a brand new car from his chocolate bar, or that Dudley had had an early demise.

"No Harry. I haven't, but I shall have to be now. I, that is we, The Order, felt that you should no longer be allowed to attend the meetings, or the missions." Harry sat in silence, with anger building up.

"But why sir? I have never got in any real danger before. I helped didn't I?"

"Yes Harry, you have helped, and I wish you could stay, but safety is an issue here, one that needs to be considered."

"But I am safe with you around." Harry protested as he looked at Dumbledore in disappointment. He could never think of someone who could protect him better than the headmaster. To think Dumbledore had so little faith in his abilities…

"Harry, it's not your safety that bought about this, it's the safety of others, I'm afraid you are a danger to them."

Ron looked at Harry, as if he were about to explode, before subtly sliding to the far side of his chair.

"What danger could I possibly be to anyone? If your saying I'm to noisy or something then that's stupid. I was dead quite at Azkaban."

"No Harry it's not that." Albus said as he put his quill down, and for the first time that morning, looked Harry in the eyes.

"Then what?" Why am I a danger? Why chuck me out of the Order? If you really hated me being there that much you could have transferred me to a different division, the Information division. When I have dreams they are useful aren't they? Aren't they!" Harry asked as he rose his voice. Dumbledore did not reply for a moment.

"Why am I here sir?" Ron asked curiously. "Not that I don't like to be informed, but you have never seen fit to tell me something personally, normally Harry tells me."

Dumbledore nodded, before replying.

"We shall get to that in a minute Ronald, if I may ask your patience." He turned his attention back to Harry, and with a sigh, began to explain what he had hoped he would never need to say. "Harry, I'm afraid for you to be involved in any Order business, is a risk itself. Not only could you accidentally give away information… You could, also hurt members of the Order…" He said dryly. He waved his wand and a large jug of water appeared, before he poured himself a large glass, and offering the jug to Harry, who sat fumingly.

"You don't trust me?" At this question Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise, and said, as if it were obvious.

"Of course I trust you Harry, I do so implicitly. However the problem is, the problem which causes your expulsion from the Order, is no fault of your own. You see It is Voldemort." Ron gasped at this statement before turning his attention to Harry, who looked rather non surprised.

"And how does his existence cause a change in my situation, what is different now about him, from when I joined? He has more minions, So what?"

"No Harry, you don't understand. Voldemort does have more minions, but that isn't his main power. His main power, one that he is desperately trying to tap into, and is nearly succeeding is you." Albus said with wide eyed fear. Harry sat back in his chair, as goose bumps ran down his arms and his spine, causing him to give an involuntary shudder.

"What do you mean me? How can he use me? Hogwarts is guarded against his mind penetration magic."

"So I thought Harry, so I thought." Dumbledore said whilst shaking his head. Whilst you are still sound of mind Harry, I regret to inform you that Voldemort gnaws ever closer, to controlling you, to getting into your mind, to controlling you, like a puppet for his deeds."

Harry sat in silence letting the information sink in… Voldemort was controlling him? No, that wasn't the case, but he was trying, and was succeeding, or going to succeed.

"But I would know wouldn't I? There is no way I could be under his control and not know it is there?" Harry asked worriedly. It was a fear he had always worried about, or at least since he had started having the dreams. The dreams of the death and the torture, of his friends bloody bodies laying lifeless at his feet, and him laughing, always laughing, like it was the greatest pleasure in life, even better than toast!"

"Yes Harry, If Voldemort's strength on you grows you will know, it for now it is only subtle, think more of it as breeze in your mind and your actions. It gently blows you one way, so gentle in fact that you don't know your doing it. You think you would go that way on your own, but without that breeze, you would be in a different place, does that make sense?" Dumbledore asked as he looked over the top of his spectacles.

"I suppose it does, but surely now I know I can resist it, and you could stop it couldn't you. If Voldemort is penetrating your magic, then you can stop it can't you, like before."

"I'm afraid it's a no to both of those parts." For the first part, you have no way to resist it for now. To you, it is your own mind, and you think your making your own decisions, when in fact they are being influenced by someone else. I don't suppose you believe in destiny. Some do, I myself believe in a sort. I believe that you will be the one to stop Voldemort." Dumbledore said as he cast a quick glance to Ron, who's look of surprise said that he didn't know of the prophecy.

"It's like that Harry. Its always there, and it knows what your going to do, but unless you can see it, you don't know what to fight. After all, you cannot fight an opponent you cannot see. Remember that saying Harry it might come in use later in life."

"And what about you stopping it? Why can't you stop it, there is no greater wizard than you after all."

"Its not a matter of greatness Harry, it's a matter of objective. It's like a coin on its side. At the moment the magic protecting you is that coin, carefully balanced, shielding you, yet with every passing attempt, Voldemort familiarises himself with this coin, with its shape, its size, until he can knock it over flat. Now I can always put it back up again, and try and stop him doing it again, but it is much easier to knock a coin down, than to balance it."

Again Harry considered.

"So you are saying there are times, when the coin is flat that I wont be protected by your magic?" he asked worriedly. He had stopped Voldemort entering his mind before, but he wasn't confident enough that he would be able to stop Voldemort for long enough. What if he let something slip, then those he cares about could be in trouble. What if Voldemort found out Remus was part of the resistance?, what if he found out about mister Weasley? Their whole family would be in trouble. Harry hate to admit it, but he understood Dubmeldores decision, perhaps he shouldn't be in the order after all.

"No, Harry, not exactly. You see I'm not particularly good with metaphors and such, what it basically means is that there will be times when you will be more susceptible than others, but I should hope that you will always be protected by magic. Its not something you should worry about, for there is nothing really you can do, other than keep practicing your work with Severus, I understand Legilimancy is coming along well?"

"Quite." Harry replied.

"Good, good." Dumbledore responded as he took another sip of his glass of water and cleared his throat. "But I'm afraid this leads us onto more dark news. You see we obtained information that last night Voldemort and a small group of followers were going to be in a certain location. We gathered this from one of our spies in the information division."

"Madam Maxine?" Harry asked curiously. Other than Charlie she was the only person in that division that he knew of.

"No Harry, It was a young woman you don't know of, a relative of madam Maxine. Now it seems the information we obtained was slightly wrong, and so when we made an attack on Voldemort, eh showed up just as planned, but the number of Death Eaters with him was much larger than expected, and so there were many casualties, and one or two fatalities."

Harry felt his stomach convulse, as he considered that there had been death. He always knew it was a possbility, but for it to now be a reality…Dumbledore continued on, looking down at his desk, and not meeting either Ron or Harry's gaze.

"At this point we don't know whether the information we gathered from our spy, was falsely fed to her, having been identified as a spy by Voldemort, or whether she was actually a double spy, working for him. We suspect the former, for she died last night, to an Unforgivable curse."

Harry asked in a choked reply, though he knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"Who else died? You said there was more than one."

"I understand if you will blame me for this, for it was my decision to try and attack Voldemort…" Dumbledore began before he was cut short.

"Answer me!" Harry snapped angrily

"Yes… ok. Well I'm afraid that Kingsley Shacklebolt died last night, along with, Minerva McGonogall, and Bill Weasley. Remus Lupin in also missing and presumed dead." Dumbledore finished in barely a whisper, as he looked up with tears in his eyes.


	59. A Series of Events Varying in Fortune

Sorry for the wait….

Hope everyone has had a good Christmas. Mine has dandy, if any of you cared… though I don't expect you do…

Sorry if this chapter seems a little jumpy…

"Remus Lupin in also missing and presumed dead." Dumbledore finished in barely a whisper, as he looked up with tears in his eyes."

To say Harry was upset was a lie. If he was upset then it meant he felt sad about what had happened. He would most certainly, be sad, but until the news sank in, the sadness wouldn't arrive. Instead a dull numbness and disbelief waited for the sadness, accompanied by a dash of denial.

"I understand this must be tough for both of you." Dumbledore explained to them. "These are the times we live in I'm afraid to say, and it is with great regret that Voldemort's victims happened to be ones you know so well. They…" he went to continue before Ron looked at Dumbledore bitterly.

"Where is your brother sir?" He asked scornfully.

"Overseas," Dumbledore replied after a pause, having been taken back.

"Is he dead?" Ron asked through gritted teeth, as he tried to hold back tears of anger rather than sadness.

"No, he's not." Albus replied softly.

"Then forgive me for saying, but I don't think you understand, I don't think you have a god damn clue what I feel, so don't claim to do so!" He spat. Dumbledore would have explained the difference between understanding, and knowing personally, but as he had learned far to many times over his years as a Headmaster and elsewhere, those dealing with loss seldom like to be corrected.

"Yes, I suppose your right." He said as he looked down at the desk to a piece of paper which had materialised. Ron sat back down, before getting up again in agitation. There was a distinct lack of valuable looking objects on the desk that he could break. (Dumbledore had again learned, through experience, to remove his particularly valuable belongings from sight.)

Your parents and I agree, that it is probably best if you return home for a few days." Dumbledore said as he slid the paper forward, which turned out to be a contract of authorized absence.

Ron looked at it hatefully, before grabbing a pen .

"His dead because of you!" He stated with a shaky signature. "If he hadn't been involved in your hair brained resistance group, he would be alive. I hope you remember that for the rest of your days, that you are responsible for his death."

"Indirectly, probably, yes." Albus said as he quickly rolled up the piece of paper and turned his back to Ron. It made the death so much more real when you saw the effect it had on those it concerned the most. It was certainly a sad sight. But Harry's reaction… he was just sitting there, it unnerving.

"And as for remembering Ronald. I don't think there is a person in this school who won't remember." He still did not turn back to face Ron or Harry, he couldn't let them see him in such a weak state. People pinned their hopes on him, far more hopes than he wished to carry. He was seen as strong and reliable, to take away that image would leave people uncomfortable and nervous. "Your parent's shall be here to pick you up shortly, Ginevra has also been informed of this news, and is with her friend at the moment I believe."

"The schools pupils shall also be informed of the unfortunate loss of our teachers shortly, though I'm afraid I must ask, that you deny Bill's involvement with the teachers in any way. By all means say he died at the hands of Voldemort. He at least deserves his honour. However, to state that he was with The others when this happened, would place the Order in a rather compromising position. He asked Ron, who was shaking with rage, at the indignation of being asked a favour, from this man…

"I will keep your dirty secret." He said in disgust as he turned to leave the office. "You can carry on with your Order," He added in mock. "After all, someone needs to help Voldemort's rise to power." And with that he left, taking all the volume of the office with him. Instead it was just Harry and Dumbledore, both in silence. A minute passed before Albus spoke.

"I realise that this is also tough for you Harry. Being so close to Remus…Would you also like to return home to the burrow or your house for a few days?" He asked. "Harry?" He added a moment later after no reply.

Harry looked up from his seat, for the first time since he had heard the news, and in his eyes was a look which chilled Dumbledore to the bone, though he couldn't identify why.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea…"

"Yes… Well I'm sure all your friends will be very supportive. Remus was quit popular with the Gryffindor I hear, and of course Kingsley and Minerva had their role to." He said sadly.

"If its alright I think I just need some time to think. Some time alone." Harry said.

"Very well, I suppose my office fulfils those criteria. I shall be busy much of the day anyway." And with that he strolled out of the room, and down towards the great hall, where he would announce the situation.

Harry sat on his own, in the office, thinking. Indeed it was quit, so quit in fact that Harry didn't leave until after dinner had finished. He didn't know how the school had reacted to the news, and frankly he didn't want to. It wasn't important to them. It wasn't like it was someone they cared for. To them it was just a teacher going, as usual. In everyone else's eyes Remus could be replaced. A new teacher could do the job, but in Harry's eyes this were not the case. It did seem to be the case, that everyone he cared for always seemed to die. It was so strongly suggested that it made it difficult for him to care for anyone, in fear of ending their life. In the end what made him leave was when Hermione walked in, and by the looks of it she had been crying. It didn't make Remus come back, but it made Harry feel a little bit better, knowing there was someone else out there who cared, For Remus and him.

The next few days after that were hectic. Numerous lessons were being cancelled due to the teacher shortage that came from trying to teach the whole year defence against the dark arts at once. Not to mention that Tonks had also taken a few sick days off. Moody had a tough job, and in the end he gave up and merely sat watching the students, and trying to stop them killing each other. A few other teachers adopted this principle, and for a few days at least, teaching in the great castle of Hogwarts, ground to a stop.

It was on the fourth day after the deaths that, the first good thing seemed to happen. Harry had been awake early, having not been able to sleep from nightmares. He was eating some toast that Dobby, had prepared specially, since breakfast didn't start for another couple of hours. It was so dark outside that the sun hadn't even begun to rise, and the moon was still shining as if it were midnight. There was a bang from the distance, as one of the many doors of Hogwarts got caught in an odd breeze. A chill went through the hall, as if the great doors which shut out the cold, had been opened. And a moment later, there was the most silent of creaks.

At First Harry thought it was just dobby, come to check on how Harry was, or catch up on gossip in the house elf world. Then however, as he did not hear the rapid feet running across the stone floor, he turned his head, and saw a sight which sent goose bumps up his arms and down his back. A soaking wet and bloody figure was hunched against the door, and as Harry, stared, he swayed for a minute, before collapsing against the floor, unconscious.

Harry's plate clattered to the floor, as he leapt form the table, and ran to the wounded figure of Remus.

His heart pounded with relief as he ran down the hall, and yet at the same time there was still a sickening feel of dread. Why would Remus turn up now, and why did he look to be in such a sorry state? He pushed these thoughts out of his mind, Remus was still alive and that's what mattered. There was still something that could be done. He dropped down onto the floor next to Remus.

Harry rolled him over onto his back, as he had gathered was the correct thing to do at a time like this. Remus was unconscious that much seemed apparent. Harry certainly hoped it was unconsciousness, rather than its good friend death. Remus looked different, he was soaking wet, though the rain outside would be the cause of that. Also he looked very pale, he must have lost a lot of blood. He had cuts on his faces, that had started to heal, though not very well. His clothes were torn and he looked thin, as if he hadn't eaten in months, rather than the few days it had been.

Harry frantically looked round for someone better qualified to deal with the situation than himself. Give him a dark lord any day over a dying friend.

"Dobby!" He yelled out as he clicked his fingers several times. A moment later, which was a moment to long under the circumstances, Dobby appeared with a bang and a small puff of smoke.

"Can dobby be of…" He asked Harry, before his gaze fell down to the soggy figure. His eyes widened, if that was possible, and he let out a high pitched squeal of terror.

"Go and fetch Dumbledore immediately." Harry instructed in a tone much stronger than he felt. Dobby hesitated for a moment, as though he were scared of seeing Remus lying there in such a state. "Now!" He added as he pointed his finger towards the general direction of the headmasters office. With another crack Dobby was gone, leaving Harry alone with Remus once again.

He wondered if there was anything else he could do? He supposed Remus could do with some warm blankets or something, but he didn't have any at hand. He didn't have to long to worry though, As The doors swung wide open this time, knocking Remus on the ankle in the process. Dumbledore leant down, picked up Remus with seemingly no effort, and strolled out again without saying a single word.

It was going to be ok now. Harry thought to himself as he slumped back against one of the benches. Remus was back and Dumbledore was there. Remus would be fine, and everything could all go back to how it was before. He thought that for a minute, before exhaustion took over him, and he fell asleep for the first real time since the Orders stand.

Harry awoke what seemed a long time later. The sun seemed to be shining in through the windows and he could practically hear birds singing. In actual fact it had only been eight hours that he had been asleep, but it was a much needed sleep that made everything around him seem brighter, even if it wasn't. As his eyes fluttered open he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He obviously wasn't still in the great hall. After looking to his right and seeing a fold around curtain he recognised it as the hospital wing, his home away from home.

He heard some talking coming from nearer the other end of the wing, and curious to know of its cause, he climbed out of bed. He was pleased to see that he was already dressed, as he hated having to get changed behind the curtain. He always had horrible images in his mind of Draco Malfoy bursting in and the whole school laughing at him.

As he stepped out into the main corridor he saw that Dumbledore and madam Pomfrey were in discussion. Albus' eyes flicked up when he saw the movement of Harry, and he gave a brief smile before continuing his discussion.

As Harry neared he could hear what the discussion was about, It was about the state of Remus Lupin, who Harry could now see lying in a bed, with Tonks, Hermione and Moody surrounding him. His eyes were closed yet he seemed to be asleep rather than unconscious. He looked much better than he had eight hours ago.

"How is he?" Harry asked as he looked at the sleeping figure.

"Well, physically he is going to be fine it would seem he is going to be fine. He was suffering from exhausted and malnutrition, and he had a fever from some open wounds, but nothing that can't be taken care of with a bit of magic." Dumbledore explained.

"Um and not physically?" Harry asked, thinking it sounded better than suggesting he was now going to be a fruit cake or something.

"Well I expect that's what we are going to find out anytime now ."

"We are just waiting for him to wake up." Tonks said as she looked up form her position of being slouched against the bed. Harry could see that she had been crying.

It wasn't long that they had to wait for Remus to wake up, and when he did he looked at everyone around him, and gave a smile that brightened the very hospital wing itself. Madam Pomfrey shoved various objects at him and shone lights in his eyes, before declaring he didn't seem to be injured mentally. When asked what had happened, and how he got there, he said he had had a lucky escape. Apparently shortly after Kingsley was killed Remus found himself fighting off three separate death Eaters, and due to a strange combination of spells colliding, there had been an explosion.

He said it threw him all the way out into the middle of the ocean, which seemed hard to believe, though Harry wasn't about to doubt it. Remus hadn't got his wand on him, so he managed to use a chest of drawers he kept in his magic jacket as a life raft, which he had floated in for two whole days, being carried by the current. The salt water caused Remus bid dehydration problems, due to the fact he couldn't drink it, but at the same time the salt helped protect some of his open wounds form infection, though not all.

He told at one point how a shark that had picked up his scent had tried to attack him. He had managed to beat the beast by thwacking it on the head with an umbrella several times. Other than that it had just been a case for Remus to get close enough ashore to apparate, then after several more apparitions he was at the outside edges of Hogwarts.

That was all there was to it really. Remus left hospital that very day, and whilst there were celebrations in his honour, he asked that they don't forget all those others who had lost their lives. Remus had been particularly upset when he found out that Bill had died. He has felt that besides Harry and himself, Bill was the only person in the order with half a sense of humour.

The day after that Ron returned, still upset, but better now due to acceptance and understanding. He apologised to Dumbledore for what he had said and things gradually started to tick back at a constant rate like before. The funeral was beautiful, or at least as much as could be, given the circumstances. It was held on the on the grounds of Hogwarts, with the sun piercing through the cloudily sky above the tree lines, giving it a rather final feeling, as if the light itself was from beyond the great afterlife, or so some said. The bodies of professor McGonagall, Kingsley, Sera and Bill where all buried in the great memorial gardens for those noble wizards who died the against Dark Lords.

There were few greater honours than being buried there, apart form perhaps living.

They days poured on after that, with some lessons cancelled, and others being swapped around and taught by cover teachers. The snow poured in, leaving the forest canopy and grass covered in snow. Dumbledore had to forbid people trying to ice skate on the great lake, after the giant squid had to rescue three people in one day who fell through the ice. And so it was, at the start of December, just when things were starting to settle down, that Albus approached Harry, with some grave news, though it was not entirely unexpected.

"Harry, I have some news, which is rather grave, though I suspect it is not entirely unexpected." Dumbledore began as Harry sat down in the chair opposite him. They were in Albus' office, though why he was there he wasn't entirely certain.

"Is this about Cho?" Harry asked. He had seen her this morning, and while she had looked worse than ever, she was not dead yet, and Dumbledore said she would not die until near the end of the month.

"Yes Harry. I'm afraid it is."

"She's not…" Harry asked worriedly as he slumped back in his chair.

"No, Not yet. Though her time is short. Do you remember what I told you last time about my plans to try and help her? My plans to cure her conditions?" He asked as he reached into one of his drawers and drew out a piece of parchment and a rather traditional white quill.

"Roughly. Some potion or something wasn't it?"

"Yes Harry. I had two potions in mind, though I am afraid to say they didn't work. You see when the Dementor's drained away her happiness, the essence of her life, they must have convinced her that she died. Now that would explain why her spirit left her body, but from then on two things can happen. The first thing is that the spirit doesn't enjoy being dead, and so it tends to linger near the body, as though holding onto a part of its previous life. Cho did not do this." Dumbledore explained.

"Now What Cho's spirit did is what some others, though not as many do, which is embrace the fact they are dead, and leave their body behind altogether. Now normally these souls find themselves drawn to the Arc of Spirits, and with a quick passage through to the other side, there they reside peacefully. Now the thing that makes Cho's condition so awkward is that whilst she has embraced that she is dead, the force that draws spirits, the "Death" has not. I'm not suggesting there is an actual person who takes the spirits from one place to another. There may be! I don't believe there is, though if there was I would love to play him at chess sometime, I bet he would be good at it…" Dumbledore said as his mind started to wonder.

Harry gave a cough to draw the attention back to where it should be.

"Now as I was saying, due to the fact that Death has not guided her and drawn her to the arc, and due to the fact that she doesn't linger with her body, she has had to find her own way. It will take her longer, and it means she could literally be anywhere on this earth, but sooner or later, she will here the calls, fell the pulling, and she to will pass into the other world." Dumbledore finished as he put the quill down, although he had yet to use it.

"I see." Harry said as he sat in wonderment. Finding one person In the whole world could be pretty tough, especially with wizards. Finding a spirit though… It was no wonder Dumbledore was having trouble. "But what is the third way? You said it was dangerous?" Harry asked wonderingly. Maybe he had to steal venom form a giant spider or something, but then that would still be a potion wouldn't it?

"Well Harry the third option is rather dangerous indeed, though I suppose you are always in danger as it is. It will be a great risk, but it is the only way we can save Cho. I will fully understand if you do not wish to take the risk." Dumbledore said, as though he were persuading Harry not to go through with it.

"If you tell me what option number three is then I can probably decide." Harry stated as he stared at Dumbledore expectantly.

"Tell me Harry, do you know what a Rite is?" Albus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not the kind your using I don't think." Harry replied as he racked his mind for any time he had been told.

"A Rite is a powerful Magic ceremony involving certain items as well as certain conditions. It's a little like a potion in a sense, though more nonsensical, and far tougher to perform. It is a Rite which we must perform in order to save miss Chang." Dumbledore explained as he drew the paper in front of him, and in big scrawly text wrote, "The Rite Requirements."

"Ok, I understand that a rite is difficult, but why is it dangerous?" Harry asked as he stared at the paper, expecting it to give him an answer.

"Well one of the things about a Rite, is that some of the more complex ones can only be performed by certain people who have trained their mind, their body. People who have devoted everything they have into one particular branch of magic at which they excel at…Your going to understand I think when I said the person we need to perform the rite is an Exorcist." Dumbledore said as he watched a look of dawning comprehension pass over Harry' features.

"The one in the Veil of Darkness!?" He asked excitedly. Dumbledore had told him all about it, but since nothing else had come of it he though perhaps it was just something the headmaster seemed to have disregarded. It was evident now however that this was not the case.

"The Very same one Harry! The very same. You, along with some supervision must pass through the Veil of Darkness and into the Land of Pharaphax. I shall give you instructions and help the best I can, and with some luck you will be able to deliver him and the needed objects etc, to Cho. Do you think you would be interested in this, though I do remind you again it may be very dangerous?" Albus asked as he poised the quill ready over the paper.

"Good, I have already spoken to them about it and Remus And Tonks would both like to be the ones to supervise and protect you during your time in Pharaphax." Dumbledore said excitedly as he scribbled down their names, then ruled off and started another section. "There will be more time to tell you about Pharaphax before it opens on the twenty-sixth of this month. But for now I shall tell you a few things such as what your aim is to be, and one of the few reasons it is dangerous."

"Forgive me if I have told you any of this before" but my memory isn't so good these days and I sometimes repeat myself, or think I have told people things I have not. Now the Veil of Darkness weakens depending on planetary alignment, and on a few rare occasions it opens. The next time it opens will be the Twenty Sixth, where it will stay open for just over one full day, before closing again for some months."

" Therefore you must make sure not to be in their when the portal closes, for you to be trapped would mean Voldemort would have free reign over this world." Dumbledore explained as he started to do a rather detailed sketch without looking. Harry watched his hand sliding over the paper like an old dot matrix printer, gradually churning out a map of mountains and seas and a city.

"So I have just one day?" Harry asked slightly worried. Cho was due to die shortly after that, but to give him a twenty four hour deadline was intimidating to say the least.

"Not quite. You see time travels faster inside the land of Pharaphax, probably due to global warming… dreadful stuff you know… So basically for the twenty four hours you have out here, you have one week in Pharaphax. It should be enough time to perform the Rite, though please don't hold my word to it, for I am not an exorcist, and am far less qualified to comment on such things than the man you shall meet."

"The Exorcist, goes by the name of Marcus Pennywhistle. I have drawn you a very rough map showing the city he can be located in, once you are inside Pharaphax. I'm afraid you will need to find him yourself though, as he may have moved around." Dumbledore said as he circled part of the city he had drawn.

"How do you know he lives here?" Harry asked as he looked at it carefully."

"Truth be told I don't." Dumbledore said truthfully. "The Veil of Darkness hasn't been open for the last six years, and he can go awfully far in forty-two years I expect."

"Are you even sure he is alive? He must be quit old…" Harry asked sceptically. At this remark Dumbledore ginned.

"Strangely enough dealing with the dead every day doesn't make Exorcists think any more warmly of them, and they often tend to stick to life if at all possible. I'm most certain he is still alive."

Harry left that day with a faint sense of happiness inside him. He knew it would be tough, and he knew that there were no guarantees, but for now at least, he knew what he had to do, and that was a feeling he warmly embraced. Dumbledore had told Harry not to worry, and that all the arrangements would be made by the headmaster himself. Again, this was another thing Harry didn't mind. He knew that he wouldn't be much help, and so instead he devoted himself, or at least a tiny part of himself to arranging the school dance that had been sprung on them.

It seemed that there was going to be a Christmas dance specially put on due to the large number of students that had chosen to stay over the holidays. Unfortunately a large deal of the arrangements and planning fell upon the prefects and head boy and head girl. Other than a date and a time, they were free to shape it as they liked, but it seemed every male prefect wanted something rather different from every female.

"There should be an all you can eat buffet!" Ron had announced one lunch time. "With lots of meat."

"No, there should be a light finger salad, with no meat what so ever. Its greasy and inappropriate!" A Hufflepuff girl had argued.

And so in the end Harry just sat back during these long arguments over plans, for it wasn't something he cared to organise, or participate in. In fact without the pressure of being made to go he was looking forward to strolling in half an hour late, having a bit of meat (with and luck) and maybe, just maybe a single dance, if so his company was requested, though he doubted that would be so.

Unfortunately, this plan was far to good, and far to simple, and so the lumps in the metaphorical gravy came to surface. It was two days before the planned dance, and near the end of the term. Their substitute Transformations teacher had been in a particularly bad mood having been unable to control his previous class whilst they chatted noisily in a pre-Christmas excitement.

Harry had just been clearing up a mess from where he had tried to transfigure a slug into a flower, and accidentally succeeded in fusing the slug with his desk, which was now rather saggy and disgustingly gooey, When he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned round expecting it to be the short portly teacher giving him another telling off, when instead he saw Blaise staring at him. He stared back at her for a few moments before she looked away and stated.

"I'm not going to wait all day you know!"

"Wait all day for what?" Harry asked as he searched his mind for any possible thing she could want.

"For you to ask me to the dance stupid." She said as she turned her back to him to hide the fact she was blushing, though it was possible she was just red with rage. More often than not she was.

"You will have to wait a damn site longer than that." Harry laughed as he slung his bag over his shoulder and went to leave.

"Ask me damn it!" she said as she grabbed his bag and spun him round.

"No, why the hell should I. I don't like you and I most certainly don't want to go to a dance with you. Or anywhere with you for that."

"You don't have a choice." She replied, suddenly much calmer as she gave a frightening smile, which was uncharacteristically chilling. "You see all the remotely reasonable boys have been taken and unless I want to go with some boy called Justin who cries when his shoe laces are undone then its you."

"Justin sounds like a good choice." Harry said through gritted teeth before trying once again to walk away.

"Your going with me and that's that. I will jinx you and everyone you know otherwise, and I will get away with it to because professor Snape will back me up and say you did it." Blaise said triumphantly. Harry gave a sigh of defeat and sat down on one of the stool opposite her.

"But why me. You hate me." Harry sulked. "Surely you would rather not go than go with me. I know I would."

"No Harry, there are some things you don't quiet understand. Well… besides transfiguration. I'm A Slytherin and as a result I'm expected to go."

"By who? I wasn't expecting you to go."

"By the other Slytherin's. I don't know much about your house, but in ours every goes, and everyone competes to go with the best partner. I never loose!" Blaise said with fire in her eyes.

"So you think I'm the best?" Harry asked, even though he hated her. After all as any boy would agree (especially the lonely ones that had a terminally runny nose and a chronic case of lonliness), being told you were loved, or were great, was a fantastic thing.

"Haha you wish. Of course your not. There is no way I'm going to win, but as long as I don't loose that's ok. I won't be the but of jokes." Harry was about to say something more on the matter before she silenced him with a punch. "Be outside the Slytherin common room at half past six. Don't be late or I will hit you. I'm wearing red so you can dress accordingly." Harry muttered something about rather staying and playing cards, but another kick to his sore legs got him to agree to her demands. Anything to make her go away, and for the physical punishment to stop…

Later on that week Harry was sitting in the common room practicing his charms homework. Normally he managed to do all the class work with no problem, having spent heavy amounts of time during the summer reading through all the books. This one charm however, was proving to be the thorn in his foot. So far all he had managed to do was blow up his pencil case, set fire to his die, and put a first year in the hospital wing.

(Technically the first year hadn't been hit by any curses from Harry. He had merely been staring at Harry, asking him repeated questions, probably to report back to the Harry Potter fan club. The reason he was now in the hospital wing was because he slipped on the rug and clonked his head on a table. Harry still felt mildly guilty though, because he had been hoping it happened in his own mind. Either that or Buckbeak could crash through the window and wisk the boy away to a mountain top where he would be feasted upon by a hungry pack of young.)

"So Hermione are you going to the dance with anyone?" Harry asked conversationally. He was hoping perhaps she could give him some advice on what to wear this year, having not been lucky enough to have misses Weasley pick something out for him.

"Are you asking me to go with you Harry? If you are you could at least…" Hermione began to say before Harry butted in.

"No. I wish I was, well instead of who I'm going with." Harry said sulkily as he gave up on doing his charms and instead began to sketch a rather detailed picture depicting Draco Malfoy dying in several different ways at once.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a furrowed eyebrow.

"Well it's like this. I'm going with Blaise.." He said before Hermione began coughing violently, despite the fact she hadn't been eating or drinking anything.

"Blaise? As in Blaise Zabini. The girl who is so violent Draco Malfoy himself turned her down? Born in the wild and raised by wolves…"

"Um aren't you thinking of Mowgli?

"Quiet Harry, I'm talking. You mean your going with the Blaise Zabini…why?" She asked as if anyone who chose to go with Blaise was not only a few sandwiches short of a picnic, they still needed to buy the hamper and wait for summer.

"Yes. She forced me to go with her. I didn't have a choice." Harry explained, causing Hermione to laugh.

"Well I'm sure if you were adamant you wouldn't need to go with her if you didn't really want. Anyway was that it or were you hoping for my assistance in some manner, I wasn't planning on being round all evening as I am dreadfully behind on my homework. (Hermione's definition of being behind on homework meant she still needed to arrange it in chronological order.") I will however be around for a bit of it so worst comes worse you can sit around with me if you like Harry."

"Thanks Hermione." Harry said with a smile. "What about your date though?" At this point Hermione really did laugh, so much so that half the common room looked round in question and alarm.

"To put it this way Harry. I haven't had a torrent of invitations."


	60. The Dance

"To put it this way Harry. I haven't had a torrent of invitations."

After she finished arranging her homework she went to her dormitory and retrieved a catalogue of mail order dress wear for all fancy wizarding occasions. Harry had been dead set on a rather manly looking one (one without frills) that was being displayed on the back page. (As Harry learned later on this particular item was rather popular, and was being worn by no less than eight people. The reason was probably that it looked a lot better being modelled by a dashing bloke with a massive chin than it did being worn by Neville Longbottom).

In The end though Hermione had put her foot down and insisted that Harry buy something crimson to go with Blaise's dress. Harry cursed to himself about the price of it, but a quick look at the prices girls were paying silenced him. The rest of school past by quickly, to quickly for many, whilst not quickly enough for just as many not more. One of these people who wanted to go home was Ron. All the Weasley were going to be home at Christmas, except of course for Bill, who wasn't expected to turn up to Christmas anytime soon. (this was generally accepted to be a good thing. Whilst his death was unwanted, his lifeless body turning up would not be a joyous occasion anywhere outside Transylvania.)

Harry thought it was much to quick. The dreaded evening with Blaise just smacked him round the face on day, like the sloppy trout of destiny. Girls had been acting strange all that week, and especially strange that day. (It was also generally accepted by around half the world that girls had been behaving somewhat strangely since the dawn of time.) Harry and Ron had been out flying all that morning, to avoid being sent on numerous errands to fetch different coloured make ups and accessories from friends in other houses.

It was cold outside, with several inches of snow blanketing the landscape, though this didn't effect the flying much. Around mid day Harry and Ron retired into the castle for a hot chocolate followed by a hot bath, separately of course. They were rather adamant on that fact. Then they spent the next few hours slobbing around talking about the various idiocies of the impending dance. Ron wasn't looking forward to it, due to his recent break up with Luna Lovegood, though it was a little debatable whether or not she had ever known that they were in a relationship.

Harry on the other hand was looking at the evening, not with dread of how bad it was going to be (he could always run into a wall and knock himself out if it got that bad), but rather on how much time it wasn't going to waste. Thankfully no one had grilled him on this reason to much, because all he would have been doing instead of the dance, was studying, chess or sitting round hearing Neville Longbottom complain about various trivial things. He could do that any day of the week.

The remaining time past by in a storm of rushing people, panicking girls and moaning boys. The younger years were rather excited, whilst some of the older students who had attended the Yule ball, knew what sort of thing to expect. Never the less they all dressed up fancily. (Ron attempted to dress up fancily, but failed. Even though his robes were brand new, they didn't look like it. Perhaps his clothing had a divine sense that said if it looked to spectacular, it would make Ron seem grubby and old, or perhaps it was due to the process of osmosis. No one had fully probed either theory.)

Harry had dressed up, and even worn good socks. As Hermione had pointed out to him as she nipped down to the main room to pick up some items from a Ravenclaw merchant, "It's a formal occasion Harry. You cant just ass it up and go in odd socks. You're not Dobby you know"

Half past six ticked round on the clock, and so Harry slowly left the common room, and crawled towards the Slytherin common room. He had his wand in his hand ready. He was half expecting it to all be a big joke so that the entire population of the Slytherin common room could jump out and thrown eggs at him. Still as he finally drew close to the room , and found the door open, it became apparent this wasn't what they had planned.

He didn't want to stick his head in, so he slumped against the wall waiting patiently for Blaise to come get him. Hopefully a meteorite had hit her and she had died…. He could pray.

"Hello Potter." Said Draco smarmily as he stepped out into the corridor in arm with a girl wearing less material than the average house elf. Harry cursed to himself. But smiled anyway. "Expect the worst, that way you wont be disappointed. Harry though to himself."

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here aren't you Malfoy." He asked as he braced himself for the barrage of insults.

"Well I would have wondered if perhaps you came to admire my devilish good looks, had I not already known that you were here for…Zabini."

"Would you like to make a snide remark about that?" Harry asked as he tightened his grip on the wand in his pocket.

"Mm… well I can't really criticize Blaise. She isn't ugly I suppose… and I guess she is a Slytherin, he said as he hammed her up for all her glory. I guess if you really want I could say you're an idiot and I hope you fall over on the dance floor, but I thought that was a given."

"It is. But frequent reminders are expected."

Draco nodded, before strolling off with the girl. Harry considered the various possible outcomes of that conversation, and in the end decided it went quite well. He was probably trying to be all gentlemanly in front of a girl. Harry didn't know it, but most evil villains did so.

Several other couples left, as well as one or two lonely looking boys, Before Harry felt the presence of Blaise. It came in the form of a punch to his shoulder.

"At what point in this evening were you planning on telling me that you were here waiting?" She asked angrily as she stepped out into the dimly lit corridor. Harry "At the point when the dance finishes." Harry replied smart. He couldn't see in full detail what she was wearing, but it seemed to be a nice decent red one with enough material, unlike some. It fanned out a lot at the bottom, and had frilly bits on the edges. Harry guessed this was the only time Blaise has ever showed off her frills to anyone.

She was also wearing some kind of necklace, and long silk gloves that matched her dress. As she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along the corridor, Harry had a sense of awkwardness. Admittedly it was Blaise Zabini, but she was still very dressed up and looking lady like, and it made Harry feel small and uncomfortable, and rather young. He couldn't tell what she's she was wearing because of the dress, but he could tell by the noise they made as she walked that they weren't boots. This was good news for his shins, which would hopefully avoid the usual beating that came with her company.

"So how long do you want me to hang around with you for?" Harry asked hopefully as they caught up with other students ahead of them, and formed into a trickling river going towards the great hall. "do I just walk you in and then leave straight away or what?" Harry asked her as he looked into her eyes. For a brief moment he was surprised to see she wasn't frowning, but as she turned to face him that changed.

"You had better not! I didn't spend hours getting dressed up just so you can dump me as soon as we go in. I want to dance, at regular intervals, and be seen at least 2 times, to be talking, whilst not dancing. I know we don't like each other." She said in what almost sounded like a sad tone "But just for tonight can we please not argue quite so much as usual."

"Sure Blaise. I guess its no secret that I don't like you, but if you weren't so rude this evening may be half bearable. Do you think you can try being polite to me?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows. Blaise's knuckles tightened at this, and her teeth gritted together.

"I am being polite!" She said under great strain, as she didn't hit him or curse him or threaten him with the nearest pointy object.

They came to the doors of the Great hall which were still closed, though decorated with balloons. Harry stood arm in arm with Blaise, in silence. He didn't really know what to talk to her about, having not had much experience with girls. He considered about how he used to talk to Cho, and about how Quidditch had worked well.

"So What do you think Chudley Cannons new line up this year?"

"You think I want to talk about Quidditch?" She asked, almost sympathetically. As if Harry's naivety over conversing with girls was something to pity.

" You don't?" Harry asked disappointedly as he took a step forwards to avoid the crush of people forming behind him.

"No Harry I don't thanks. First of all its not a very appropriate topic to bring up during the company of a lady, and secondly I don't really like Quidditch. Except playing it…"

"Whats so great about playing it?"

"Well it's a good excuse for me to hit people without getting told off." At this Harry looked away, as though he suddenly remembered the girl he was with wasn't at all sweet, but the cold blooded murderer from Slytherin. She hadn't murdered anyone yet, but then there was always a first for everything.

Harry was about to make other small talk, but thankfully he was saved as the Great doors creaked open. They opened very slowly, deliberately, as if they had been tought a thing or two about showmanship, and understood that if they went in slow motion, the end effect would be that much greater. Finally they finished opening, and people anxiously rushed in. It was a few moments before Harry could see anything, because there a couple of exceptionally lanky people in front of him, but as the throng of people ahead dispersed into the hall, Harry and Blaise strolled in to admire all the work the prefects had put in, and see the end result.

The hall was shining with a bright radiance, that seemed to hurt his eyes for the first few seconds, after having been standing out in the dim corridor. The four tables were gone, as was expected. In there places were dozens of mismatched armchairs that looked as if they had been pinched from professor Trelawney's tower. It seemed someone had tried to transfigure them to look more similar to each , but half way through given up and gone home.

The floor was highly polished. So much in fact that in some parts it looked more like a mirror than anything else. Some girls learned to stay away from these spots very quickly. Clearly some house elf exploitation had gone on, though Hermione was biting her tounge on the matter. There was a large dance area on a raised up platform that hadn't existed before, whilst at one side of the hall was a large table laden with all sorts of food, including both meaty items and light salads to satisfy both parties wants.

The ceiling looked as spectacular as ever, with a clear sky showing and a full moon out and each star piercing through the darkness. Rather than having the usually candles floating in the air and dripping wax everywhere, they were replaced with magic chandeliers, each one decorated with a few balloons and shiny Christmas like decorations stretching from one to the other in a big zigzag across the room. It gave the impression that there was actually an extra ceiling, much lower than the real one.

The walls had been coloured by some sort of charm, so that you couldn't see the brick work. They also now gave off a warmer impression, perhaps due to the peach colour, or perhaps due to the fact you couldn't see a hundred tons of cold rock. There was a waltz type song playing, though as Harry looked round he couldn't see a band anywhere, he decided it must have been sound orbs, the latest craze to hit he wizarding world. (a lot like audio cassettes except not nearly as fun to unwind.)

Blaise took Harry by the hand and pulled him forwards, as impatient people tried to squeeze in behind them.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked sheepishly as he ran his hand through his hair. Hopefully this would be the bit involving sitting round with Ron and Hermione and eating copious amounts of food.

"We will dance now… You do know how to dance don't you?"

"Um a little bit." He lied as he quickly looked round at other people to see what they were dancing. It didn't seem to be to difficult. They were mostly just walking in squares.

"Well in that case let me lead, and make sure not to step on my feet." Blaise said as she took him by the arm and lead him onto the elevated stage. Harry fumbled with his other hand for a minute before deciding to put it on her waist. Which cause him to blush and flinch at the same time. Normally she would hit him just for invading her rather large personal space. For the first few moments in which he tried to dance he succeeded in kicking her in the leg, going the wrong way, and tripping over shoelaces he never knew he had.

"Just don't be so eager to move." She told Harry sternly as she tried to avoid being embarrassed. Try and imagine that your body isn't there, and its just your feet that need to move." Harry tried what she said, and ended up almost falling on his back, but after a few slightly adjusted attempts he managed to get it right, and a moment later he was doing a rather crude, yet essentially correct waltz.

After a minute in which they had been dancing in silence, Harry began to feel awmward. Perhaps it was the large number of people dancing round him. Several seemed to be staring at him as if he had done something wrong. He looked down and saw his robes were still fully done up, and he had trousers on underneath. That ruled out the possibility of this being the underwear nightmare.

"Are you wondering why they are all staring?" Blaise asked as she caught his eyes wondering to the people around them.

"Well… It is off putting to say the least. My dancing isn't that…bad is it?" Harry asked as he had to keep a lot of concentration onto what they were doing, whilst avoid bashing into other couples.

"They are staring because you are dancing with me." Blaise explained as she kept her eyes fixed forwards at Harry neck.

"Do we look that strange?" Harry asked concernedly.

"No, its just that they think its strange that you're dancing with me." Blaise said softly

"Why, you're not that popular are you?" He asked, which cause Blaise to laugh.

"No, it's the other way round. You see everyone here hates me. No don't argue. I know it, I don't mind. You see all of them, well the girls at least. They are wondering why would you want to dance with someone like me. You see your far more popular than I am." She explained simply

"I am?" Harry asked in surprise. It always seemed that people hated him.

"Yes. Of course that doesn't mean your better than me at anything." She reminded him.

Eventually the dance came to a finish and Blaise and Harry stepped down from the dance floor as another much more lively song started up. It was funny to watch as the area cleared faster than the classroom at the end of potions on a wet morning.

"What would you like to do now?" Harry asked as he put his hands in his pocket and played with a magical paper clip that had materialised.

"Well I suppose we could get a drink and have a sit down. These shoes are hurting my feet." Blaise told him as they began to make their way through the crowd of people towards the beverage table.

"but we have only had one dance, how can your feet be hurting already?" Harry asked as he looked down trying to see her feet.

"Hey you don't have to wear these shoes so you wouldn't know." She snapped at him.

After an hour later they had talked about numerous things and had several dances. They had also had a bit to eat, though Harry was still rather full up from some sweets he him and Ron had polished off earlier. Blaise had done most of the talking, whilst Harry sat and listened and drank some pumpkin juice or hot butter beer. Mostly she just talked about her everyday life at Hogwarts, a lot of which seemed to involve people getting hit, or being stupid. Harry asked her what she did out of school, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it, so Harry hastily changed the subject.

"You can go now." She said after one dance. "I will want to dance again in about forty minutes though." She told him as he helped her down from the stage.

"What will you do?" He asked

"Well I will probably go and talk to my friends now." She said as she started to leave. "I suggest you do the same. That Weasley boy looks pretty bored."

Harry looked round for Ron, before he spotted him sitting at the side of the hall, all on his own looking remarkably engrossed in his hands. Harry was about to go and join Ron, when he saw a hufflepuff girl walk over, and after a moment, Her and Ron got up and went for a dance. Harry was glad to see Ron's evening wasn't a complete disaster, because if it was it would be a long night of complaining in the Gryffindor dormitory, and a long day of complaining on the Hogwarts Express as they returned home tomorrow.

Harry walked over to the food table and had a few sausage rolls before he spotted Hermione sitting with Ginny on the other side of the hall. Harry decided they wouldn't mind if he joined them for a bit, so he went over to go and say hello. As he arrived they both stopped talking, which made him supicious.

"You weren't talking about me were you?" Harry asked as he looked at Ginny, who like Ron, was a terrible liar.

"No?" She ventured.

"We were Harry, but it wasn't anything bad. We were just saying you looked like you were quite enjoying yourself." Hermione explained as she took a drink from the glass in her hand. She was wearing a white dress which was slanted at the bottom so he could see one of her shoes, which were also white. Her hair was tied up though it didn't look like she had gone to any great effort to make it look straight this time.

"Well. I wouldn't say I was enjoying myself." Harry said, though he felt perhaps it was a little bit of a lie. "But its certainly going better than I expected. I was expecting to have a black eye or something by now." He added with a laugh. Hermione stared at Harry for a minute before her eyes went to the dance floor.

"Ron might get a black eye if he carries on." She said as she nodded over towards him. The Hufflepuff girl seemed to be rather angry about something by the looks of it.

"I'm not that easy." She told him as she gave him a quick slap around the face and stormed off.

"Wait, you misunderstood me." He said as he followed her out of the hall.

Ginny cursed under her breath at this as rather a large number of people had stopped to watch the spectacle.

"I tell you its embarrassing to be related to him sometimes." She didn't have time to say any more on the matter however as Adam Tiger walked over.

"Ginny I was wondering if I could perhaps have a dance with you. Don't feel like I'm at all pressurising you though, I won't mind if you say no." He flustered as blushed nervously.

"Yeah, I was supposed to be here with someone else but you know how boys are. They get bored after the first dance." She said as she stood up and took Adam's hand. After a moment in which they walked off Harry turned to Hermione.

"So how has it been so far, your evening that is?" He asked. Hermione seemed to consider this for a moment.

"It's as I expected really."

"What that bad?" He enquired.

"And who said my expectations were low. I don't believe I said anything of the sort." Hermione said rather matter of factly.

"You didn't have to. I could tell you weren't looking forward to this evening by the way you weren't ramming your way to the front of the line when we waited outside." Harry said as they both laughed.

"Sometimes you seem surprisingly astute to things. Why is that?" Hermione asked as she finished off her drink

"I'm not at all astute. Its just that when your standing there bored with a bunch if excitable girls fighting amongst each other there isn't much to keep your mind occupied. I noticed a lot of things actually, Like one of Ginny's shoes is bigger than the other. A faulty transfiguration Charm?" He asked. Again Hermione laughed.

"Yes, I tried to tell them that its a lot safer and simpler to buy the shoes, but when they try complex transfiguration just by looking at a picture that's what they get. I just hope that Michelle from Ravenclaw makes it back to her dormitory before midnight because her dress is transfigured from a pumpkin and some mice.

"Wow." Harry said as he looked around the room expecting to see a girl with an orange squeaking dress.

"I had to help her out with the texture." Hermione beamed proudly. "she couldn't get it to stop feeling furry and make it feel more like cotton and satin."

"Yeah…" Harry said as he got ready to go into one of his trances that saved him from many boring "Mione talks."

"Sorry you probably don't find that very interesting do you?" Hermione said as she looked at Harry calculatingly.

"I do!" He lied. "Why would you say otherwise?"

"Well it seems kind of like you were thinking about something else you see. Your eyes glazed over and you were muttering about Quidditch under your breath." She said with a smile as Harry shifted awkwardly.

"Was I really?" He cursed under his breath. He always thought it had been a lot more subtle than that.

"It's ok Harry. I know that you like other things, it ok. But you know what, if you were a girl, you would be fascinated!" She said knowingly.

"Have you had anything to eat?" Harry asked as the conversation fell blank."

"Enough, but feel free to go and get some more if you would like." Hermione said as she sat back in the chair and looked at the prefects hard work. It was worth it, in her eyes.

"No, I'm not really hungry. The only thing there that I really liked was those small sausages on the sword shaped cocktail sticks, but they went pretty sharpish. I suppose I could always get dobby to make me some if I wanted… In exchange for clothes." He added as he realised Hermione might start to complain about elf exploitation.

"It's kind of loud in here, and I don't have to be back for about another thirty five minutes. Don't suppose you fancy going for a walk do you?" Harry asked as he stood up form his seat.

"What, outside?" Hermione asked with wide eyed surprise.

"Yeah, outside. That's not a problem is it?"

"No, it's just it will be a little chilly."

"You don't have to if you don't want to Mione, its just I'm finding it a little stuffy." Harry said as he started to leave. Hermione jumped up from her seat after him.

"Oh what the hell come on then before I change my mind."

Harry stepped out into the night air, and he had to admit it, Hermione was right. It was cold. The snow had been cleared on the path that ran round the school, and since Hermione footwear wasn't suited for walking through snow, he decided they would just stick to the path.

"I'm not one for strong language Harry, but damn! Its freezing out here."

"Well its also refreshing isn't it?" He asked as he tightened his robes to try and prevent the breeze getting down his back.

"Yeah, though its only refreshing because we are practically dying." Hermione said through chattering teeth as she stuck close to him, hoping the heat radiating off him would over power the cold winter blast. It didn't

"Oh you big girls blouse." Harry said as he made tutting sounds.

"That's easy for you to say Harry. I don't think I'm dressed in decent attire for such weather." She said as she started wondering why she had come out here in the first place.

Harry had built up a sort of natural resistance due to cold weather, due to long wet Quidditch matches, but he could see Hermione had done no such thing. He fumbled in his pocket before drawing out his wand. He cleared his mind, and pictured what he wanted. The material, the texture, the smell, the rigidity, the taste. Everything about it he planted in his mind. It would be tough to create, and undoubtedly use a lot of energy, but it was nearly late and he hadn't done much all day, he would be fine, he hoped.

"Crelatio." He said as he flicked his wand as the book and professor Flitwick had taught him. A shapeless blob appeared in front of him before stretching and thinning and changing into exactly what he had pictured. It was a cream coloured coat with fur edging and brown toggles on the front. He was going to go for suede but he decided it would have been to tough. It fell into his arms as he stumbled forward for a moment. It had taken a lot of energy out of him, more than he would have thought.

"Wow Harry that was impressive." Hermione complimented as she stared at the coast longingly.

"Don't be silly Hermione. Its nothing you couldn't do better." He said as he inspected it for holes or textural flaws. Hermione laughed at this.

"No Harry, I couldn't do that. Everyone knows you're the best in the year at the Crelatio Charm. Its probably because you know Occlumency and Legilimancy that you are so good at it. Your good at most magic." She said truthfully.

Harry was beginning to feel a little self conscious from being complimented so much.

"It's for you. So you don't complain so much." Harry said teasingly as he changed the subject.

"Hermione held it up so she could admire it. Wow thank you Harry. This is better than that rubbishy note book you got me for my birthday." She said as she quickly tried it on. Harry pretended to cry about the insult of his present.

"But it took forever to choose…" He said before he burst out laughing. Hermione gave a small laugh as well, before finally fastening the last toggle.

"It's certainly warm, though I think it's a little bit to big for me." She said as the bottom came half way down to her knees and the sleeves came down to cover her hands.

"Sorry Hermione but I don't know you measurements." Harry said with a cheeky grin. Hermione's mouth opened wide in mock shock.

"Mr Potter! I don't think your behaving entirely properly. What would Ronald say?" she asked rhetorically. As they both fell into a round of laughing which only subsided when their sides began to ache.

So Harry how are you this evening?" Hermione asked as they carried on round the path.

"I suppose I'm quite good all things considered. I mean Cho isn't doing nearly so well. She is going to die very soon. We don't know when but Dumbledore says around new years." Harry said, not with sadness but with determination.

"Wow Harry, I didn't know that… I don't know what to say. There is nothing that can be done?" She asked concernedly.

"There is something that can be done Hermione, and we are going to, but we don't know if Cho will live long enough."

"We?" Hermione asked

"Yes. Meaning Tonks, Remus and I. I don't know all the details of it myself, only the basics that I have been told by Dumbledore."

"Why haven't you done whatever it is your going to do, sooner?"

Harry paused at this in many ways he could consider it unlucky that the Veil of Darkness opened so late, probably to late, yet at the same time he was lucky enough for it to open at all. He supposed he should be thankful for that.

"Tell me Hermione." Harry began as they rounded the corner of the castle. "Have you ever heard of The Veil of Darkness?" She considered for a moment.

"No Harry I can't say I have. Should I?"

"No, not many people know about it apparently. How about Pharaphax then?" He asked as he looked at Hermione who shook her had slowly, almost as if she was disappointed to know Harry knew something about the magical world that she did not.

"Well I'm sure you will quickly find out more than I do, when I tell you for you will undoubtedly find it intriguing." Harry said as he decided where to begin. "Now my understanding of it is basically this. There is some sort of portal I don't know what it looks like, but it is called the Veil of Darkness. Now this Veil of Darkness, this portal, only opens every so often. When planets are in certain places or something Dumbledore said. When it opens people may pass into another land, known as Pharaphax."

"Another land? Hermione interrupted. Like, a parallel world?" She asked in disbelief.

"A what?" Harry asked. (The Dursley's had never subscribed to the science fiction channel)

"A parallel world. Its exactly like ours except slightly different. There would be another Harry another me… except a few things are different, and there is more than one, there are millions…" Hermione began to say excitedly. Harry frowned. That was wrong.

"No. It's not like that. There is just the one Dumbledore said, and there isn't another me. I think its just kind of like another earth, only its also smaller he said…he said a couple of things actually… well anyway yes this place called Pharaphax. He said I will need to speak to a man there who specialises in a magic which will return Cho's soul to her body." Harry finished. By now they had reached a bench, which Harry decided to sit down on. Hermione took the seat next to him.

"Well what's wrong with that?" Hermione asked him questioningly.

"Well, Dumbledore seemed to think it was very dangerous, and he didn't want me to go. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going, and make sure you are alright with it." He asked as he looked down at Hermione. She gave a small laugh as she swung her legs back and forth.

"Well I don't know why it would matter what I think. All I can say is good luck with it. I hope it goes well."

"That's it?" Harry asked in surprise. He had expected her to give him some sort of lecture on how careless he was being.

He was being careless, if he thought about it really. If he was the only person who could stop Voldemort he shouldn't be risking his life for some who he cared for. He should be training for the battle against Voldemort, and staying safe.

"Well Harry the way I see it is this. Your going to go, because it's the only chance you have to save Cho, and although I only know what you have told me about this other world, it can't be that dangerous, after all, it doesn't have Voldemort!"

Little did they know, that many miles away, in that building in the old forgotten town there was a dark lord stomping up and down in a furious rage. He threw his suitcase against the wall causing some Robes and swim shorts to burst out.

"How the hell am I meant to go to Pharaphax without my god damn sunglasses!?" He roared.


	61. Runic Message

"How the hell am I meant to go to Pharaphax without my god damn sunglasses!?" He roared.

"So he really didn't know anything about it?" Harry asked in surprise.

"No, nothing." Hermione replied through bursts of laughter. They had been talking for about half an hour now, about all sorts of things, ranging from homework, to practical jokes (Harry talked, Hermione listened). However they stopped talking when they began to hear footsteps coming down the path. At first Harry worried that it would be a couple who had drunk to much butter beer, But as the sound dre closer it became it was just one person.

"I thought I would find you out here." Blaise said as she stepped under the circle of torch light.

"You did?" Harry asked as he looked down at his watch. Sure enough it had been about forty minutes.

"Well I did see you walk out, so it wasn't an amazing insight on my part." She admitted. Hermione slid along the bench further away from Harry.

"You had better be going back to the dance Harry. You did come with Blaise after al, and you don't want to appear impolite."

"Yeah I guess your right Hermione." Harry said as he got up form the bench causing his knees to click from sitting still for to long. Blaise rolled her eyes.

"No need to be enthusiastic you know."

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that Blaise. I am looking forward to it." Harry said whilst wondering if that was true or not. He quite enjoyed the actual dancing part. Once he had been told how to do it. Admittedly he was doing a lousy job, but it made him feel rather knowledgeable and sporty.

"You sure you don't mind me just walking off?" Harry checked. Hermione shook her head.

"I'm sure Harry, Ginny is probably looking for me anyway, and my legs are frozen out here."

The three of them returned to the dance which carried on just as before, in a series of dances and food and discussion and general merriment. Forgotten was the world of Voldemort. No one there at any point, was going home and expecting to be killed, or loose their parents. It just wasn't something that was expected. Its what made it all that much harder for people.

A few hours later the dance came to an end, with one last slow song that everyone could dance to.

"I suppose considering you're a stupid pig boy, and stupid and selfish, this evening hasn't been entirely bad." Blaise said as they danced.

"Yeah. And since you're a violent un-lady like and thoroughly rude girl, I think you did ok." Harry said with a smile. Blaise took this opportunity to give Harry a gentle kick in the leg, just to remind him where they stood. Enemies, and loving it.

Harry went to bed as soon as he got up to his dormitory. He was more exhausted than he thought. Perhaps dancing and coat making took more energy than he thought. Either way he didn't awake until late the next morning, with Neville shaking him awake.

"Come on Harry, your going to miss the train if you don't hurry." He said, before dashing off after Trevor the toad, who was trying to climb behind a wardrobe.

Harry rubbed his eyes as he sat up in bed and put his glasses on. He glanced down at his watch and realised it was half nine. Cripes! He only had half an hour before he had to be on the train. "Where's Ron?" Harry asked as he glanced round the dormitory and realised it was empty except for the two boys. Usually with Ron and Harry the rule was that when one woke up, we woke up the other.

"Ron? Oh, he tried to wake you but you didn't seem in the mood…He went for breakfast." Neville panted as he heaved the enormous wardrobe aside a few inches.

Harry quickly got washed and dressed in his usual tatty muggle clothes, before showing his things in his trunk, and dashing down towards the breakfast hall. By this point he only had ten minutes until the train would leave so he grabbed to pieces of plain buttered toast, put them in his mouth, and dashed out of the hall, luggage in arm and bits threatening to fall off at every step.

As he emerged into the clear yet cold morning, He saw Ron Hermione and Ginny waiting by one of the last Thestral drawn carriages.

"Honestly Harry what took you so long?" Ginny complained as he drew closer. " We have been waiting for ages. Mum would be dead angry if we were late. She is cooking dinner and everything!" He paused for a minute as he ran this through his mind.

"She's already cooking dinner." He asked in disbelief.

"It's going to be a large group." She explained.

Harry didn't press them on the subject anymore as his arms were aching from carrying his luggage. He threw his cases up into the carriage, and stepped in after Ron and Hermione.

The carriage started to roll down the hill, drawn by the skeletal creature. Everyone sat in silence for a minute. Harry wondered if Ron and Ginny would be quite all the way home, because undoubtedly the Christmas with the family, would remind them that their family was no longer as large as it once was.

This turned out not to be the case, as once they were on the train, and Harry had purchased a large amount of sweets, Ron eagerly ran through the train trying to collect all the latest additions to the magic wizard cards found in Chocolate frogs. Ginny went into great detail about how her evening at the dance had been, whilst Hermione nodded and listened. All in all it would be fair to say that life carried on as it always did, and the journey went smoothly, unlike last time.

As the morning wore on the sun rose higher, though it certainly didn't feel summery. The mountains surrounding the landscape around Hogwarts disappeared, to be replaced by forests and meadows. Harry had a short sleep in the afternoon. Which caused Hermione to try and give him a long lecture on why he was so tired, and why he shouldn't try and create such large objects. He probably should have thanked her really, because if anything it helped his fall asleep.

He awoke an hour or so later, to see that the clear sky was quickly turning cloudy. If he stuck his face up against the glass he could see that in the distance it looked so dark it was almost as if they were driving into night time itself. (Also, if he stuck his face up against the glass he could obtain pig like features which made him look remarkably like Dudley.

"Wow I hope it isn't raining when we stop." Hermione commented as a crack of thunder went through the air. Ron however seemed to be thinking something slightly different.

"You know what would be funny?" He asked rhetorically as he rubbed his chin in a manner that suggested wisdom beyond what he possessed. "If when the train was coming into stop, if we all got attacked by Dementors." There was a long silence that followed this statement in which the only sound that broke it was Ron's laughing.

"That wouldn't be at all funny!" Hermione said sternly. Causing Ron to shut up rather quickly. Cho nearly died in the last attack, not to mention Dumbledore isn't around to help out like last time. Harry looked between Ron and Hermione, to see if they were going to break out in fight. Although he didn't want them to it would be good entertainment if they did.

"Yeah I guess your right… I'm sorry Harry for being insensitive, about Cho and stuff." He said quietly.

"That's ok Ron. It would probably be funny if you said it later, but right now it just could happen, and that makes it more worrying than funny." Harry said with a laugh. Deep down he knew though that they wouldn't be attacked by Dementors. No dark lord would stoop as low as to try the same plan twice. It just wasn't proper!

"So how is Cho anyway?" Ron asked after moments silence fell between the group.

"I will tell you later. Now isn't the right sort of place." Harry said, with suspicion of his surroundings great enough to make Mad Eye Moody proud. Later on a few of their friends dropped in and gave out some Christmas cards, and in the girls cases, some presents. The boys didn't get any presents from their friends, but boys and girls both have different mentalities, and most boys would rather spend their own money on a present for themselves, and save the risk of getting something they didn't like.

Before to long the train came to a halt, and they all piled out of the train, and onto platform nine and three quarters where where a large number of parents were waiting to greet their children. Including Mr. and misses Weasley.

"Was the train journey all right?" Molly asked as she drew Ron into an embarrassingly large hug. Hermione and Ginny quickly joined In and began to tell stories about all the things that had happened at school. Harry meanwhile, struggled with his luggage. Eventually he managed to get trunk down onto the platform, though Hedwig looked rather disgruntled over the whole affair.

Blaise was just waiting for the crowd of people to thin outside. Only idiots would leave straight away she thought to herself. There was a wizard slowly letting out the children and parents back into the muggle world, so as not to raise suspicions. Why would anyone want to wait out in the cold when they could sit inside in the warm for an extra five minutes?

Of course Blaises opinion might have been a little different if there was anyone to actually pick her up. It wasn't that Blaise didn't have parents. She did. It was just that they were rather busy, and she only lived a short walk away. Many Christmases she had stayed at Hogwarts, except this year she had decided to come home. After all her mother still missed her. Even if her father didn't. She cast a glance out of the window to judge whether or not it was time to go yet. In the end she decided it was, so she put away her copy of "Grimlock the Great" and walked out onto the platform with her luggage.

"Oh buggar." She thought to herself as she spotted the person just down from herself. It was Harry Potter. Great! Just the person she wanted to see before Christmas.

"Hey Blaise." He said as he struggled to get everything balanced. His broom was falling out from under his arm and a bundle of parchment that had been wrapped with a leather belt was blowing in the wind.

"Not keen to go home?" Harry asked as he saw that the platform had largely emptied except for the Weasley family and a few others.

"Where's Harry?" Misses Weasely asked as she looked round for him, before spotting him talking to blaise.

"Or he's just over there. Said Ron who had an immaculate sense of finding Harry without even looking. "Shall I go and get him?"

"No, don't do that, he will be over in a minute anyway." Said misses Weasley who had read a wizarding celebrity magazine that morning (some things interested wizards and muggles alike.)

"What?" Blaise asked angrily as she wasted her time standing talking to Harry Potter rather than getting started on her walk home.

"I was just saying, most people are eager to see their parents. Are yours not here?" Harry asked as he craned his neck round expecting to see two angry looking people. "It's not your business." She said as she walked past him without looking.

"The Weasley's would probably drive you home if your like. I'm sure they wouldn't mind." He volunteered

"It's only a short walk." Blaise lied. Harry considered for a minute. Even though they had been to the dance together they weren't exactly friends or anything.

"Ok if your sure."

"I am."

"Merry Christmas!" He called after her. She stopped for a minute.

"Yeah, whatever…" And with that she tightened her coat, and walked off into muggle London whilst wiping the tears out of her eyes.

The Weasley's were just as Harry had remembered them. Arthur was still as obsessed with muggle things as ever, whilst Molly was still trying to turn him into a half respectable person. Alastor Moody was still the same.

"We will go via Scotland to loose any death eaters." He said as he continued with his abysmal driving.

"No we just came from there, lets just go vie the country side root." Remus told him as they argued over the most effective way to drive.

For some reason miss Weasley kept acting slightly strangely to Harry. He wasn't sure what it was , but everyone now and then she said something slightly odd.

"So your school term ended well then did it Harry?" She asked him as they bounced round in the car as far as their many seatbelts would allow.

"Not particularly." He replied truthfully. She shook her head as if she had heard it all a thousand times before.

"Come now Harry no need to be shy, I'm pleased for you."

"Well I suppose Snape has been nicer during potions this year." Harry said as he racked his brain for why anything would be any different.

"But isn't it the greatest thing in the world Harry?" Molly Weasley said dreamily as she placed a hand on her heart.

"What potions?" he asked, totally bewildered by what she was on about. If he didn't know better he would think she had been smoking some of the more curious ingredients from Snape's cupboard.

"No!" said misses Weasley, as though she had been personally offended. "I'm talking about love Harry." She said, as though he were very simple. A bolt of panic went through Harry as he realised a mother type figure was about to broach a mildly taboo topic. It was going to be horrific. A lot like when Arthur tried to explain sex the year before.

"Sorry you lost me." Harry said as he tried to edge his way away form her. The others seemed to be a little confused as well. Or at least the children were.

"I'm talking about you and Blaise Harry. You don't need to be shy. We know." She said as she reached over and patted hi knee. Harry panicked. What did they mean. Him. Blaise. Love?

"What do you know?" He asked suspiciously. When people claimed to know things that didn't exist it worried him slightly.

"We know about how you and that nice girl from the train we saw you with, Blaise, are dating."

"Well you know a damn site more than I do. Last time I checked we most certainly weren't going out. In fact we are practically enemies. You only need to ask Hermione that.

Everyone seemed to round on Hermione, who after a minute under everyone intense gaze, gave a shrug and went back to looking out of the window.

"Why would you think that?" Harry asked misses Weasley, who looked rather taken back.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm not the only one that thought so. Remus and Nymphadora…"

"Tonks." Snapped Tonks.

"Remus etc thought it as well." Miss Weasley explained. "You see it was in Wizard Weekly.

Molly fumbled in her handbag for a minute, as it was rather difficult to retrieve anything when the car you were in was bouncing through the street, ricocheting of buildings.

Eventually she found what she was looking for, and passed a magazine to Harry, which showed Him and Blaise dancing together, and looking rather couple like. There was a big long side article discussing a fictitious secret love life which Harry apparently led. It even went into detail at one point how he had been caught in a broom closet in a state of semi-undress.

"That's a load of rubbish." Harry said as he threw the magazine at the floor. As they went over a speed bump, or a dog, the car lurched up and the magazine slapped back in Harry's face much to his annoyance. "I went to the dance with her because she didn't have anyone to go to and because she didn't want to look unpopular going on her own. But you know what. This is great." Harry said sarcastically through gritted teeth. The beginning of the Christmas holidays and everyone thinks I'm going out with a psychopath Slytherin girl.

As Harry said this, Moody, who had been keeping at least one eye one the road (and the other on the car floor), slammed on the breaks. The car came screeching to a halt after flipping over several times. He swivelled round in his chair. And stared at Harry with a venomous look. In fact he was so close to Harry that his wooden looking nose was poking Harry in the nose. "Are you trying to tell me, that people out there, normal stupid magic people, think that you are going out with some GIRL!" He asked as his eye vibrated wildly on the floor.

"It would seem that way." Harry said as he rolled his eyes, partly in annoyance, and partly to make a point to moody, who couldn't (At least not at the moment).

"I see… interesting." Said Moody gruffly as he turned back to his seat and started driving again.

"What's interesting about that?" Harry asked, knowing he may not enjoy the answer.

"And you say you aren't courting this girl." He asked thoughtfully.

"No." Harry replied indignantly.

"No plans to elope or anything?" Harry didn't respond to this, so Moodt took it as a no. "So you wouldn't mind if she died then?" He asked seriously.

"What?" Harry asked as he almost choked in shock.

"Well Harry, maybe I'm just getting paranoid, but if I were a dark wizard, and I believed you were emotionally attached to this girl, then I would kidnap her for blackmail or something. Or maybe I would just kill her straight out to get to you. To push you one more step along the path to insanity." Moddy said licking his lips. Harry gulped as he realised he had jeopardised her life. "Of course I could be wrong. I'm just saying what I think." Moody said with a small laugh. "Hat hat hat."

The rest of the journey went by in silence. Which Harry supposed was a good thing. After all everything that had been said so far was bad. It wasn't as if he was friends with Blaise, but he would feel guilty if she died or something happened to her because of him. He supposed in some distant part of his heart he would also feel bad if Malfoy died because of him. It was tougher to imagine, but he could still believe it.

Eventually they arrived back at Harry house. It seemed strange to think he owed a house. Even though it was his house it still wasn't his home though. Spending a few weeks there a year didn't earn the building such a title. Plus as he went uptp his room to unpack it bought back painful memories of Sirius, though he was both worried and relieved to find that it didn't hurt as much now as it had done. At first he was worried because it felt like he was betraying Sirius' memory by forgetting about it.

But then as he thought more about it, he decided he hadn't forgotten anything. The only thing that had changed was that he had become used to the situation, and accepted it, and so after that he didn't feel guilty about not worrying about it as much as he used to. Besides, it was a Christmas holiday. The Weasley's would probably be gloomy enough without bill. Harry didn't need to join them.

The remaining few days past before Christmas, and before Harry knew it he was tucked up in his bed, anxiously waiting to fall asleep. So far he had yet to be told anything more about the mission that would take place in two days time, but Dumbledore said he would tell Harry all he needed to know on Christmas evening, when he stopped round for dinner (and probably to pick up presents from people).

Harry was anxious to know more about Pharaphax, but he had a feeling that perhaps Dumbledore was leaving it so late, because it wasn't going to be good things that would be said, and Dumbledore didn't want to spoil Harry's Christmas.

He awoke early the next morning to Mr Weasley's round beaming face.

"Its Christmas." He said in an excited whisper. Harry looked around him for a confused minute as he got his bearings.

"Is that so?" He asked as he put on his glasses and sat up.

"Yes it really is." Arthur continued like an excited school boy. "The others are stilol asleep but I thought we might go downstairs and grope the presents a bit! Try and guess what we have got. What do you say Harry?"

"Um. Are you sure you want to ruin the surprise?" Harry asked as an excuse to not have to get up yet. It was only half past seven.

"Are you kidding Harry?" Asked Arthur as he shook his head and went to open Harry's curtain. "Molly gets me rubbish presents half the time so I need to find out what it is, and I can practice my pleasant surprise face. She thinks she can get me just any old muggle thing and it will be exciting. She just doesn't understand me sometimes. You know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah I guess I know what you mean.2 Harry said slowly as he remembered some of the boring stuff Hermione had gotten for him, compared to some of the cool things Ron had given. Arthur's theory proved to be correct.

"Yeah I think your right. Women can't choose presents." Harry said as he jumped out of bed. As his children had learned, Arthur Weasley's behaviour was contagious, as well as his way of thinking.

"Yes! But you see the problem is Harry they insist on buying so many things!" They spend perfectly good money on rubbish. I mean what would you rather have for Christmas, the latest racing broom or some nice new clothes?"

"Well my current ones still fit." Harry said worriedly. He wouldn't mind a Weasley sweater. They were nice and warm, but if it meant sacrificing a decent present in exchange.

"Every year I ask for a racing broom…" Arthur complained as Harry drew on some socks and a dressing gown over his pyjarmas. "But she seems to think I can't have one because it would turn me into a boy racer. I have never been a boy racer, and if I go much longer I wont get the chance be a boy racer at all. I will just be a middle aged man with saggy joints trying to look young and hip."

The conversation with Arthur carried on like this for a moment, until Harry was ready. They made their way quietly down the stairs, across the hallway, and towards the living room.

"We need to be quiet, because I think Molly is getting suspicious of me. Hang on a second let me practice my excited surprise act." He cleared his throat. "Ooooh my that looks…interesting. Its what I have wanted all my life. It really is…Really?"

Harry nodded that it was ok (miss Weasley wasn't the swiftest fox in the pack.).

They pushed the door open, ready to check the presents before sneaking back to bed, but unfortunately for them Molly was already there, standing in front of the Christmas tree.

"Oooh so its like that is it!" She asked angrily as she marched forwards towards Arthur.

"Molly, dear, what are you doing up so early? You should be in bed. Eager to open your presents were you?" He asked as he shot a warning look to Harry, telling him to keep back and keep quiet.

"Well you see it's like this Arthur. When I'm lying in bed, and I hear my husband, very slowly, very quietly, and rather sneakily, sliding out of bed, before tip toeing to Harry's room to try and corrupt his mind into sabotaging Christmas, I find myself in a situation where I have to stop him. What would you say to that?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at him expectantly.

"I love you?" He ventured.

It was the wrong answer.

Over the next half hour there was a lot of shouting from misses Weasley, which woke everyone up, and as a result began Christmas. There were a lot of people around, and Harry doubted that they would have been able to afford all the presents without Arthur's promotion. Remus and Tonks Both happily exchanged gifts, although they didn't look entirely relaxed, as they would be setting off into the Veil Of Darkness in under a day now.

Harry got many more presents than he expected, which he was happily surprised about, and despite what Arthur had said, most of them were useful. Hermione had even surprised him (and scared him a little) by buying him a great big hunting knife.

"I know you often end up having to fight for your life Harry." She said as he stared at it in shock. "And often you don't have your wand. Remus helped me pick it out and I still have the receipt if you want to exchange it. It's always tough to buy presents for you." She confided as Harry turned it over and examined it. If nothing else at least it could annoy pesky muggles who didn't appreciate how dangerous twelve inches of wood could be.

After they had finished unwrapping presents Tonks and Molly began work on breakfast, whilst everyone sat round discussing their presents, or playing with them. Harry played a particularly addictive board game that Charlie had gotten. There was a player on each side of the board, and by pressing a series of buttons little magical dragons would battle it out in front of them. Charlie won most of the games, as Harry had very little experience in non muggle games. He just couldn't remember that egging on your dragon would actually help.

After breakfast Remus insisted that Harry go and pack his things, even though there was plenty of time later. He also advised Harry to pack the knife, which was slightly worrying. After that Harry returned downstairs where he found Ron and Hermione cooking marshmallows by the fire, much to misses Weasley's annoyance.

"I'm cooking dinner and you stuff yourselves with those things. You won't be able to eat it all you know." She said, as Ron looked at her as if she was crayzee (an extreme form of craziness that only a few people such as Moody had ever been able to achieve.)

"Just let them eat what they want." Moody said as he sat in a large brown dusty chair in the corner of the room. "They should make the most of life. After all a hundred death eaters could burst in and kill us all here and now!" He said causing everyone to go silent.

"Aren't you the spirit of Christmas." Tonks eventually said as she went back to blowing bubbles in her chocolate milkshake.

Lunch was superb, but then that was to be expected. It was easily on par with the Hogwarts cuisine, and maybe even above. Plus it had the added bonus that Hermione didn't mention elf exploitation at all. Moody made gave every mouthful a series of sniffs to make sure it wasn't poisoned, which greatly aggravated Molly.

"Why on earth would I try to poison you Alastor?" She snapped after a few minutes of this.

"Dunno. Perhaps you would do it as a favour, keep me on my toes kind of thing, so I don't get careless in my old age." He said before munching on some turkey out of the side of his mouth.

Tonks kicked up a big fuss when she saw that some of her gravy had lumps in. Eventually Remus managed to convince her to eat it after explaining that it wasn't alive, it wasn't going to try and eat them all, and that it tasted exactly the same.

Shortly after lunch was finished Albus Dumbledore dropped round, bearing presents of gold frankincense and myrrh, or at least that's what Ginny thought.

The afternoon wore on in much the same manner, with to much food, fun and friendly banter. There was one particularly interesting point of the day that Harry hadn't been expecting. Hermione had been spending the last few hours in a saggy sofa by a pile of books, which she kept checking, and cross referencing with others. Finally, after a long period of this, in which she had scribbled down some notes. She closed one of the books. Got up, and walked over to Harry.

"Can I speak to you in private?" She asked, before quickly walking off before anyone realised they had said anything.

Harry wondered what it was that couldn't be said with everyone around, so after a minute he got up and walked upstairs. He saw Hermione sitting on the bed in his room at the end of the corridor. And made his way towards her.

"What is it Hermione?" He asked curiously as he put his hands in his pockets and sat down on a plain wooden chair by the desk. "Anything interesting?" Hermione sat in silence for a moment, with a smile on her face which told Harry she was dying to share whatever it was that she knew.

"Well I think its interesting and I'm pretty sure you will find it interesting. I finally figured out what it means!" She said triumphantly. Harry stared at her questioningly. "Magike o ti Deorc Aetas" She said with wide eyes. Harry just continued staring back at her, completely lost as to what she was talking about. After a moment she rolled her eyes. "I mean that book you got out from the restricted section. The one written in ancient runic symbols. I figured out what the book says, or at least part of it. It seems it had water damage so only the first chapter was readable."

Harry got off from the chair and scooted over closer to Hermione, so he could hear exactly what she had found out better.

"Well Harry, you sure picked an interesting book, I didn't know any of the stuff in it. I hadn't been able to work much on it at school, and also we aren't taught about runic symbols that old. It was only just now when I saw an old dictionary on the book case that I managed to figure out what it said."

"And what did it say?" He asked impatiently

"OK." Hermione said as she took a breath. "It is a history book, that describes the origins of magic itself."

"The origins of magic?" Harry asked in disbelief. "You mean there was a time without magic?" Hermione shushed him.

"This is my story, and there is a bit to tell, so if you don't keep quiet I will just take my knowledge and tell you nothing."

"I''m sorry Hermione." He apologised. "Please tell me."

"Well ok then, she said excitedly, as she unravelled the bit of parchment she had, and glanced down at her notes."

"Well lets begin with the title _Magike o ti Deorc Aetas_. Now that is a form of Latin, which means magic of the dark ages. Now originally there was no magic what so ever. However, around four thousand years ago that changed."

"Now, here's the bit your going to love." Hermione said as she quickly glanced at Harry to make sure he was listening. "The thing that happened four thousand years ago, was the Veil of Darkness opened." She explained


	62. Into the Veil

Sorry for the long wait guys, my computer broke down so i had to get a replacement. This chapter may not be properly formatted, as well as the next couple, because until i can get ms word on my computer i cant save as a webpage as i need to. anyway hopefully you will still enjoy it. thanks

"The thing that happened four thousand years ago, was the Veil of Darkness opened." She explained.

"You mean the veil of Darkness makes magic?" He asked.

"No, the Veil of Darkness doesn't make magic. Magic comes from Pharaphax! Now the book seems to say, that there was some sort of ocean, a magic one or something. Its difficult to tell. Apparently this magic ocean in Pharaphax is where the first magic of ever came from. In Pharaphaxian times we are talking about twenty eight thousand years ago."

"Now it seemed to say that anyone who could travel through the Sea of Magic and would return, would be blessed with God like powers. The only problem was that everyone who tried to travel the magic Ocean, never returned."

"So How did magic ever begin if no one could return?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Someone did. After centuries of trying someone finally managed to return, and they bought magic back with them."

"So that's it then? Why is it called magic of the dark ages? It doesn't sound particularly dark?" he asked as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Because the magic he bought back was nothing like the magic we know these days. It was pure magic Harry. The real stuff!" Hermione said, causing goose bumps to appear on Harry back and arms. "To put it this way Harry, all the magic in all our world, and all the magic in Pharaphax, was under his control. He could shake the universe and tear apart the world if he wanted. He very nearly did."

"Why would he want to do that?" Harry asked. Hermione looked at him as if he were a little slow.

"Well Harry, someone who would risk their life for power generally doesn't intend to pull rabbits out of hats or end world hunger. So this man returned, He didn't have a name in the book, he was just referred to as The Wielder. He returned with all the magic at his command, and began to oppress all of Pharaphax. No one could stand up to him. He could kill them just by thinking it." Hermione said in awe. She was probably thinking how quickly she could do her homework with power like that.

"So how was he stopped?" asked Harry eagerly

"Well" Hermione continued. "He wasn't not for nearly a year, then things began to go wrong. You see he was quiet literally to powerful, and you know how magic tend to distort the world a little…" She said as he shook his head. "Ok well it does. Imagine it like gravity. He was a black hole." His powers were to great, and so things began to go wrong. The earth around him would bend and change, even when he didn't want it to."

"Then one day, the power became to much for his body to handle, and he exploded." Hermione finished off dramatically

"Exploded?" Harry asked unsurely. People generally didn't explode.

"Well that's what the book says, and that is basically the end of the dark age. After that all his magic power, rather than returning to the source, was spread out. It randomly went into life forms, human and non, and so the difference between wizards and muggles arose.

"So how did magic come to earth then?"

"Well you see his powers only discharged to a dozen or so people. No one knows exactly how many since after how The Wielder had behaved people hated magic. It seems that towards the end of his days, when the universe was at that, he stretched the fabric of reality. That is how the portal between our world and the world of Pharaphax began. Muggles found out about this, and when they learned it only opened every so often, they decided that all wizards should be banished to our land. Many wizards were, and so that is how we have magic. Some wizards however remained in Pharaphax, and so now they have wizards and muggles just as we do."

"Dumbledore did say that they didn't like wizards there." Harry commented. "I guess they have yet to get over their hatred of them. Was that all that was in the book?" Hermione looked down at her notes.

"Not entirely, but other than that there was just a little bit about how they constructed the Veil of Darkness, so it wasn't just a hole in air. Also on the other side they build a fortress to guard it, in case the Wizards tried to come back through."

"Where was it?" Harry asked. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything about having to break into a fortress.

"It's in London." Hermione said with a smile

"that close?" He asked in surprise.

"Yup. Nowadays they call it the Ministry of Magic."

"Wow. I guess that's pretty safe." Harry said with a laugh as he stood up from his bed. "That was a lot of useful stuff. Not essential for life, but its nice to know, especially since I'm going to Pharaphax tomorrow. Thanks."

Your welcome Harry, and its not as if I didn't enjoy finding out. Those runic symbols were a challenge, but I don't let things get the best of me."

Harry returned to the living room just in time for Dinner, which was rather nice. This quest to save Cho was sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. Every time he wanted to put a piece down he had to look at and learn about the pieces around it. After dinner however, Dumbledore bought the topic round to Pharaphax, just as Harry had been expecting.

"Would you please excuse us Molly, I need to go and give Harry, Nymphadora and Remus some details for their journey tomorrow.

Molly excused them, and they all got up from the table. Dumbledore led them out of the dining room, and down into the study. It was dark, and a little musty, so Harry didn't go down here very often, except perhaps when he was playing hide and seek With Ron and Hermione. (hide and seek was by no means a childish game in the wizarding world, as magical spells to enlarge places gave a near endless number of possible places.)

There was a large table in the middle of the room, which Dumbledore stood on one side of. He reached into his robe, and drew out a very large roll of parchment which he set upon the desk.

"Ok you three. Here I have a rough map of Pharaphax." He said as he unrolled it. "Now as you can see it doesn't look much like earth, and that is because its not. Now the Veil of Darkness comes out here." He said as he pointed to a miniature sketch of a Stonehenge looking object. "Now I will say this now, and I will say it again later, because it's the most important thing you must remember, and the number one reason why wizards who go into Pharaphax, don't return. Not all magic works there!"

"Try some of your spells out before you need them, because if you get into a dangerous situation, as I fear you may do, you will need to defend yourself. You don't want to be shouting a spell that wont work whilst a dragon tries to eat you."

"There are dragons in Pharaphax? Harry asked worriedly."

"You would consider yourself lucky if that's all there was. Now at no point do I want you walking outside of civilisation. There are all manner of beasts, and so you will be flying most of the time."

"I'm not certain of the exact location of Marcus Pennywhistle, whom you must contact. I'm afraid you will have to find out for yourselves. You shall fly across Pharaphax, to the grand city of Harmonia. From here you must travel to the national databank, and find out where he lives, from then on you shall fly to where he is, tell him of our predicament. He should not need paying for his services, as he knows me, but take this just in case." Dumbledore said as he threw down a large bag of gold.

"Remus, you already know of the other minor details." Are there any other questions to be asked?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at Tonks and Harry.

"Why is the world split up into five sections like that?" Harry asked as he pointed to the fact that there were five lines running towards the centre, where the city of Harmonia was located.

"That's a good question Harry." Dumbledore said as he drew out a pen. "along time ago there was a powerful wizard, and in his quest for power he almost caused the world to be destroyed. He managed, either deliberately or by accident, to separate the forces of nature. Each one of these sections marks the boundary. Consider each section like a different country."

"There is one covered in mountains of ice, another, burning with the heat of a desert, one that is flooded with water. That one is quiet nice actually. Also it is where most of the magical population live" He said reminiscing. "They make fantastic tea there. Anyway, this country…" he continued as he pointed to the second last one. "…is desolate except for an underground city. The last area is one blessed with wind, and inhabited by scholars. It floats miles above nothing. Of course you have no reason why you should have to travel through most of these."

"You will have to travel through the desert sector." Dumbledore said as he tapped on the drawing of the Veil of Darkness, located in that sector, far away from the city. "The only reason you will have to travel to any one of the other sectors is if Marcus Pennywhistle is living there, though I suspect he will live in the city, or maybe the water sector."

"I think that's all there is to know on that matter. Anything else?" once again Harry had another question.

"So the world is flat is it?" he asked. Dumbledore smiled. "Yes. Don't try to think to much about it though, because as with all situations in which reality is distorted, if you try and make sense of it you can end up breaking it altogether."

"So what is past this land mass? nothing?" He asked as he looked down at the map. It was roughly circular, with water surrounding every side.

"No, I'm afraid that's it, its all just ocean other than this."

"A magic ocean?" Harry volunteered, to puzzled looks form Tonks and Remus. Dumbledore smiled at Harry.

"you have been doing your homework I see." There was a moments silence, before Tonks suddenly said triumphantly

"So that was what I set my class to do last week!"

Dumbledore rolled up the map and passed it to Remus, who put into his magical cloak.

"You have seven days, but it should only take you about a day to fly to Harmonia. Once you are inside the Veil of Darkness I'm afraid all forms of contact will be severed, therefore there will be no way to contact me for help should you need it. This is one of the reasons why it is so dangerous. That concludes out business. You may leave, except you Harry, I need a word with you." He said as he held Harry back for a minute.

"Have I done something wrong sir?" He asked as he stood awkwardly under the headmasters gaze.

"Perhaps Harry, though no one can blame you for the little part you played in it. I just thought you would like to know that last night Miss Zabini and her mother were attacked by Death Eaters."

"Are they alright?" he asked in shock as he suddenly expected to see Death Eaters coming for him now.

"Don't worry Harry, they will be fine. I just wanted to tell you that it had happened."

Harry went back to being silent for a moment. He knew his friendship came at a price, but it had never happened before, so why now? It must have been because of that damned article in that magazine.

"This is my fault isn't it?" He asked bitterly. "She wouldn't have been attacked if it wasn't for me." Dumbledore gave a sigh of defeat.

"I'm afraid to say your probably correct. I think the best thing you can do now, is concentrate on the mission, and try and avoid any unnecessary contact with miss Zabini."

Harry nodded in agreement. After all he only really saw her in Transfiguration. There was no reason why it had to become a big thing.

"ok sire I will do my best."

"I'm glad." Said Dumbledore as they both began to make their way up to the main part of the house. "Also get to bed early tonight because you will be having an early start tomorrow. Even though I don't see how it could take a week to retrieve Marcus Pennywhistle, there is no need to go taking risks. You will be going into Pharaphax the very minute it opens.

Harry joined the others, where they all sat around and watched a film on the amazing television, about lots of men digging tunnels during the second world war. It was a long movie, and it ran on late. Harry didn't get to stay and watch the end of it, as Remus insisted Harry go to bed. He did in the end, but it was a strange feeling, to be going to bed on Christmas whilst you could quiet clearly hear that everyone else was still awake.

Eventually he did manage to fall asleep, though it wasn't a particularly pleasant sleep. For the first part of the night we dreamt about Pharaphax, where the Wielder though Harry wanted to challenge him to a dual, then after that he dreamt that he was being kidnapped by the people of the earth sector, and being forced to mine for them, before he finally had a strange dream that Voldemort was getting ready to go on holiday. All in all it was a very strange night, that caused him to weak up, with his duvet wrapped around his head.

"Come on Harry, you need to be ready." Remus said as he gently shook Harry awake.

"You need to get ready, then we need to go to the ministry, it is quite a journey." Harry sat up in his bed, and rubbed his tired eyes before looking at his watch and reading that it was still five in the morning.

"Go away and come back in twelve hours." He complained as he curled up in a little ball on his bed. Remus sighed as he thought back to his Hogwarts days. It was amazing how children could take after their parents, even when they didn't grow up together.

"Breakfast is ready." He tried as he lent over Harry and whispered it in his ear. It caused Harry to wriggle a bit, but not wake up. Hmm, he would need something stronger. He didn't want to have to resort to it, but they couldn't afford to be late.

"There is a girl downstairs and she is taking off her clothes." Remus said, jumping back as Harry sprung awake.

"did you say anything?" He asked as he looked at Remus questioningly.

"Me? No. I just said you need to get up."

Harry did get up after that, because as Remus had learned, if you say something to someone whilst they are partially asleep, they often think it is themselves who is thinking it. Therefore although to Harry, Remus had said nothing of the sort, he had, what he hoped a strong expectation of their being someone downstairs besides Dumbledore.

"Would you like breakfast?" Tonks asked as Harry walked into the kitchen half an hour later after a thorough, and slightly cold shower. "There are sausages and eggs and hash browns and everything!" She said.

"Mm I do like sausages, and hash browns." Harry said as he took a seat at the table.

"I made them myself." Tonks added proudly as she picked a plate out of the pile and went to serve some up.

"Actually I think toast is probably a best bet." Harry said as he quickly considered just how edible the food would be.

Tonks stared at him suspiciously.

"That's the same thing Remus said." She said as she gave each of them a calculating glance. You two aren't up to something are you?" She added, being more insightful than usual.

"No, its not that. It's just that with the long flight and everything my stomach might not agree." Harry said as he rubbed his tummy as if it were in great pain.

"He also said that!" She said as she now rounded on them.

Remus worried for a minute, that Tonks was going to discover most people thought her food was damn near inedible. However, as she went back to the sink, whilst bouncing on her feet, that fear disappeared.

"I guess that must mean it's true. After all you never have two people telling the same lie."

"That reminds me… I think I left the oven on." Harry said as he dashed out of the kitchen before Tonks cottoned on to his suspicious behaviour…

"Errr." Said Remus as he started backing out of the doorway. "I need to go and clip my toenails." He said as he to dashed off.

A few minutes later Dumbledore knocked at the front door, and came in. He checked that everything was ready, and explained to them a few more final things.

"This is a wizarding tent that I just picked up a few weeks ago." Whilst you should only need to spend one night in Pharaphax, there may be eventualities which change that, therefore if you do not manage to make it to Harmonia by night fall, or if you do but can't find lodgings, then this will accommodate all your sleeping needs. Its equipped with all the latest charms, which I'm fairly sure will work in the Veil of Darkness.

"Observe." Said Dumbledore as he took it out into the back garden. He put it on the ground then made everyone stand back quite a way. "Simply press this button here and it will unfold." He said as he took out a small box the size of a match box, flipped open the top, and pressed a button. Instantly the tent began to spring into life, as it involved itself, and began to rise into something the size of a small house. For some reason despite the fact it was clearly magical, as it erected itself it made a sound like that of a motor car from the forties

After about three minutes, it stopped moving and went silent. Everyone cautiously walked closer, not knowing what to expect, Dumbledore included.

"The truly useful thing is that it has the most power space and weight charms available on it. In other words you can put just about anything you want in there, and it will still fold up as small and as light as it was before." He finished

Harry was about to have a look inside, when, without warning Dumbledore pressed the button, and the whole contraption began to shrink again.

"Hope you don't mind not looking inside for now. We are running a little later than I thought. We don't want to get caught in the rush traffic to the ministry, it can be murder can't it Nymphadora…"

"Tonks!" She snapped. "And yes, it was awful last week, there was this great big fat bloke who got stuck in the chimney and…" she began to tell excitedly, before Dumbledore ushered them all back inside. "And they had to get the magical removers…" Remus picked up his luggage, which was in a large backpack, before passing Harry's slightly smaller one to him. Harry was about to go and pick up his Blue Storm, when something sprung into his mind.

"you weren't going to ride the same broom as you did at the Quidditch try outs were you?" He asked as he remembered the log like object which could barely defy gravity.

"No, You will be using these broom." Dumbledore said as they walked into the kitchen to find three new looking brooms on the table.

"They aren't nearly as fast as your broom Harry, but they are more comfortable,. Easier to control and they have far better endurance and running time." Dumbledore explained as he handed one to each of them. Harry muttered under his breath about how his broom was better.

Arthur Weasley was lying in bed, pleasantly asleep, when his alarm clock went off. He sprung awake, and quickly grabbed his alarm clock. Molly hated being woken up earlier than was necessary. He dashed into the bathroom where he filled the sink with water, and submerged the ringing device. After a few moments the noise stopped, and Arthur let out a sigh of relief, he had gotten away without waking up Molly. As he put the clock in the bin though he turned round to see Hermione creeping past the open door way.

"Are we ready to go then?" Albus asked as he reached for the pot of floo powder by the fire place, and passed it round to everyone.

"All set." Remus said as he threw his pinch of powder into the fire, which roared up and turned green. He stepped into the magical furnace and yelled out

"Ministry of Magic." And in a crackle and a puff he was gone.

"Have you got everything?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at Tonks who had left her backpack on the floor by the door.

"Yes." She said as she went to walk into the fire. Dumbledore stepped in front of the fireplace to stop her leaving

"What about your backpack." He asked her. Tonks stopped for a few minutes, displaying a puzzled look. Eventually she reached round her back, and waved her hands around before concluding it wasn't there.

"I've lost my backpack!" She said worriedly. "We will be late and its all my fault."

"No one will be late." Dumbledore said as he calmed her down. "You left your backpack by the door." Tonks smiled happily as she walked over and picked up her backpack.

"I would loose my head if it wasn't charmed on." She said before throwing the floo powder into the flames. Dumbledore gave her a pitying look which said it was all to true.

"Thanks captain." She said as she walked into the flames.

"I'm not your captain." He said briskly

"Ok drill sergeant." She saluted, before called out before saying loudly "Ministry of Magic." She disappeared as Albus shook his head in disbelief.

"I trust you have everything Harry." Dumbledore asked in a tone which suggested he was relieved it wasn't Tonks he was dealing with again.

"Yeah I'm ready to go." Harry said as he was about to throw his floo powder into the fire. He stopped however, when he saw Hermione standing in the kitchen door way.

"What are you doing up?" Harry asked as he stared at her in her pyjamas and dressing gown.

"I didn't want you to go without me wishing you luck. I would feel really guilty if you died." She said as she blushed. Harry laughed.

"Like that will ever happen." Hermione didn't laugh.

"No, seriously Harry, good luck." She said as she gave him a hug.

"Thanks Hermione. I will need it." He said as he extracted himself from her hold and threw the floo powder into the fire. He gave a wave, and with the words "Ministry of Magic" he was gone.

Harry felt the nauseating spinning feeling as he was sucked into the long dark void of the floo network. Harry hurtled forwards as hundreds of fireplaces rocketed past him on either side. At one point he got a blast of steam from a fireplace where someone was boiling water in an old copper kettle. Thankfully since Harry was already in London, it didn't take long in the floor network, and so after about thirty seconds he saw the fireplace he needed, with a big queue of wizards going towards it from all directions.

Through either will power of sheer luck Harry managed to slow down before he bashed into the portly wizard in front of him.

"We will be there in just a jiffy Harry" Remus called as an arm waved up from further forward in the queue. At the sound of his name many people turned to face Harry, so he quickly occupied himself by examining the dark nothingness around him.

As the queue moved forwards, it seemed to get more condensed, with people squashing in from both sides. There was even a sharp thump on his back as a young witch in her mid twenties bumped into him.

"Sorry about that." She said as she readjusted her hat. "I have only been working here a few days, I haven't quit got the hang on things yet." She said as she peered round at the throng of people in front of them. "Its selfish of them to get all these people to work on boxing day. Half of them are probably drunk anyway."

"Yeah…" Harry said, as he realised that if they were drunk, then it would be best not to say it, because they would undoubtedly be violent.

"Do you work here? She said once she had straightened her robes. You look to young." She examined him thoroughly, whilst Harry made sure not to look straight at her in case she saw his scar.

"No, I'm here on, er foreign business." He said simply, wondering if perhaps he should put on a victor Krum accent.

"Is it confidential?" She asked as she rummaged in her pocket. Harry nodded. "would you like a jelly bean?" She asked as she offered one forward to him.

"No thank you. I had a baked bean for breakfast so I'm set till lunch." He said, as he considered it mildly amusing. The woman however did not. She burst into a horribly loud, horribly annoying laugh, which made Harry instantly regret trying to be at all funny.

By now they were right by the fireplace, with Remus already having gone through. Harry wasn't sure where Tonks was, but he would be at all surprised if someone she had ended up at the wrong place.

"Well it was nice talking to you." He said as the portly man in front of him disappeared.

"Yes, you to. Do drop by sometime. I work in Magical Catastrophes division. Everyone there is a dead bore, it would be nice to have someone to talk to." She said, before Harry fell out of the network, and into the Ministry of Magic. He looked around for Tonks And Remus, before he felt a hand reach round and grab him.

"You shouldn't stand in front of the fireplace." Remus said as several people bolted out of it and quickly ran off. "You could get crushed to death if your not careful." Tonks was standing besides Remus, Harry was glad to see, which meant that they could leave shortly, as soon as Dumbledore arrived. A few moments later, after the woman Harry had been talking to came out, so did Dumbledore.

"Good to see you all made it through." He said as he ushered them all into an elevator. "The traffic these days is dreadful. They are thinking of installing a second fire place to deal with it."

Once they were all in the golden grilles clattered closed.

"Where about is it Albus?" Remus asked as his fingers hovered over the buttons.

"Ninth floor." Said the headmaster, as Remus pressed the button and they began the juddery decent. After a moment the lift came to a stop, and the grilles slid open as the cool female voice said "Department of Mysteries."

They all stepped out into the corridor, which was relatively deserted compared to the atrium above. There were a few people hovering about by offices and one by the water fountain, but they all had a habit of avoiding been looked at. Probably the Adiverto Charm.

Albus led the way down the long corridor, towards the door that Harry had seen so many nights in his dreams. Strong flashbacks of last year came to his mind, and made him feel sick with dread.

"You alright Harry?" Remus asked as they approached the door.

"I'm fine." He lied. "Just that my last time here wasn't the most fun it the world." There was a moments silence that followed this before Dumbledore pulled open the large door that led into the circular room.

"Well this time I don't expect anyone to die." He said with a smile.

They all walked into the dark black room, which was just the same as before. The candle still flickered blue, and every door was exactly the same. Once they were all in Remus closed the door. Dumbledore closed his eyes, and began counting under his breath. Harry wanted to know what the headmaster was doing but he didn't want to risk breaking the concentration. Once the room had stopped spinning, Dumbledore opened his eyes, and seemingly without effort he walked over to a door diagonally forward from them.

He pulled open the door, to reveal a corridor much like the one they had just been in. Harry couldn't see the end, for it turned off.

"Nearly there." Dumbledore said as they strolled along the thin corridor. When they finally reached the turning Harry was shocked to see that it opened out into a massive room, where the ceiling has nearly twenty foot high. There were massive Maripappu doors. Each one was flanked by a guard with a wand in his hand, And as soon as they spotted the party they raised their wands defensively.

"We are quite alright." Said Gariberes Ridley, as he motioned for the guards to lower their wands. "You're a little late Albus, was it the traffic?" He asked as they walked forward and shook hands.

"Partially. We also had a little delay in the kitchen. You know how stray magic is. Always makes things go wrong when you need them."

"Indeed." Said Gariberes Ridley. "The Veil shall be open in approximately twenty minutes, so I won't keep you for long, though I still am curious as to what exactly it is you need in Pharaphax." Dumbledore smiled

"I already told you Gariberes. I can't tell you exactly what it is they hope to achieve, other than it will help stop Voldemort." He said in a way that suggested Harry shouldn't say otherwise. The guards would have shuddered at Voldemort's name had they not been highly trained to resist all forms of torture.

"Well then I wish you good luck, I won't be here to greet you when you get back, for I am rather busy, The world takes a single day off and its amazing how much of a mess it gets into." He said to himself rather than anyone else. "open the gates." He instructed. "Harry stood back as both guards pocketed their wands, and ran to either side of the room where they began turning a winch, which very slowly, began to open either of the doors. There was what seemed to be a piercing light coming form behind the door, though as the Gap widened Harry realised it was just the sun.

Suddenly the guards stopped winding and the door stopped moving, when there was only a few feet of space to walk through. Harry supposed this was so that they could close it quickly in case of an emergency. It just didn't seem very proper though. Dumbledore walked through into the light on the other side, along with Remus and Tonks. Harry hung back for a moment.

"Sir." He said, to Gariberes' surprise. "Be careful that no one else tries to get in." He said as he listened to the gut feeling he had. If that stray magic that Dumbledore had mentioned was about, then Harry knew what it was going to do.

"But of course." Said Gariberes, as he looked at Harry with a calculating stare. "And be careful, if your still in when the Veil of Darkness closes, it won't open again for another three months. We don't need you to go missing now do we." Gariberes finished with a small smile. As much of a smile as a strict minister of magic could get away with anyway.

Harry followed the others through to the other side of the doors. As he walked past them he was surprised to see each one was at least two feet thick, with what appeared to be metal plates and other things embedded within. As soon as he had passed through the gates closed behind him.


	63. Pharaphax

Ok chapters should appear between once and twice a week, so keep an eye out. .

"So this is Pharaphax?" Harry asked confusedly as he looked down at his watch. He shouldn't have been able to walk through for at least another fifteen minutes.

"No Harry, this is just a part of the ministry, under the ground of muggle London. Dumbledore said as he gestured to the surroundings. They were standing in a large open field with clear sky all above. There was long grass on either side of them, but for some reason there was a walkway cut through the middle that went over the rather hilly ground, to where Harry couldn't see.

"But how is that..?" Harry began to ask before all three adults quickly hushed him. Dumbledore pointed to a sign to the side of them, it read:

"_All those of logical mind may not enter this small plain, for it is fragile like glass. If you try and understand, it shall end this other land."_

"Remember what I told you Harry." Reality can be stretched if one knows how. It is like a rubber band, it can be stretched only so far before it snaps. If you try and make sense of it you will break it, so please don't think about it." Dumbledore warned.

The four of them set off walking down the grassy hill. Harry would have asked to fly, but he supposed there was some rule against it here.

"Will we be there in time?" Harry asked as they started up the next hill.

"I should expect so Harry, it isn't far really. Just a little way ahead if my memory serves me correctly." Albus said as they carried on walking. They went over a few more hills, before finally, in the distance Harry saw what looked like a wooden cabin, a few hundred feet from the stone figure of the Veil of darkness.

"That's it!" Harry yelled excitedly as he wanted to break into a run. The others however carried on walking.

"Calm down Harry." Remus said with a laugh. "It's not going anywhere." They carried on as they slowly made their way down to the log cabin. It was a very beautiful place, with the Veil of Darkness being on a small island of land in the middle of a shallow lake in which he could see fish darting about.

As they approached the log cabin Harry half expected someone to come out and greet them, but no such thing happened. Instead Dumbledore simply explained.

"I shall wait here for you three to return. I should be here when you get back, unless of course I have been called away on immediate business, which isn't likely since it is Boxing Day, and Voldemort's Death Eaters don't like to work on public holidays." Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh at this statement or not.

"Are you sure you have everything Harry?" Remus asked as would a worried father.

"I'm sure." Said Harry for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

"Have you got your wand?" Remus asked skeptically. James always forgot something, and he had no reason to believe Harry would be any different.

"Yes, I have my wand. Both of them." He said as he felt for one in each pocket. Normally he didn't bother carrying round his spare one, but Ron had said he probably should. After all no one ever checked for two wands.

"Good." Remus said as he failed to think of anything else. Dumbledore reached into his pocket, and after a moment drew out a shiny watch with a brown leather strap.

"Remus, I want you to take this. It's got a new battery, so it won't run out, and I have set a timer on it that will tell you when the Veil of Darkness will close again. I set it in Pharaphaxian time so it says you have a week. It shall be accurate as long as you walk through when the Veil first opens." Dumbledore said as he handed the watch to Remus. Tonks looked like she was about to ask why she didn't get the watch, but after a moments consideration concluded the same fact Harry and Dumbledore had.

Harry Tonks and Remus all made their way over to the Veil of Darkness. They waded through the water surrounding it, and although Harry was annoyed about getting his shoes wet, he had been assured by Dumbledore that they would dry out quickly in the hot weather on the other side of the Veil. Dumbledore remained by the log cabin, where he was now sat out on a deck chair, reading the daily prophet.

"This is your last chance to change your mind Harry." Remus said as the Veil was due to open any minute now. "No one will think any less of you if you don't want to go through with it." Harry didn't even need to think about his answer.

"No, we are going. I don't care how dangerous Dumbledore said it may be, if we try our best we will be fine, and so will Cho. She will die if we don't do this, and I can't let that happen." He said seriously.

Remus nodded in understanding. "I thought you would say that." He said. "Now Harry when the portal opens I want you to walk through, and as soon as you're on the other side, mount your broom and fly after me. There may be danger waiting for people to come though, so we can't afford to hang about. Is that clear?" He asked as he looked at Tonks and Harry. They both nodded. "Good" he said as he held out his broom, ready to jump on as soon as the moment came, which would be and second.

Harry did the same, as he stood staring into the Veil. It was a curious sight. He had expected not to be able to see anything, but he could quite clearly see another world on the other side. He could see things that he knew weren't there is he walked round the other side. There was a kind of thick pearly mist which swirled in between the three giant stones, giving the whole of Pharaphax a ghostly whiteness.

Just as Harry was watching this, suddenly the mist began to clear. It was just like fog on a sunny day, only speeded up. One moment it was foggy, and impenetrable, and the next it was clear. Remus instantly dashed through into the other world, and a second later he had mounted his broom and soared off up into the air. Tonks quickly followed, as did Harry. It was a strange experienced as he passed through, like he was stretching for a second, or as if he had just walked through a kind of thick goo. The first sight that greeted Harry's eyes, were parched looking ground, with wild dry grass here and there. He didn't concentrate on it however; as He followed Remus' instructions, and flew up after the other two.

The wind was cooling, just like in the real world, though he wasn't sure if he had expected it to be different. Remus was a few hundered feet ahead of Harry, for whilst he had only gone into Pharaphax a second earlier, that second was now several seconds. Harry pulled his broom forwards as fast as it could go, which felt only to be about fifty miles an hour. "This is exciting isn't it." Harry said as he flew up besides Remus, who smiled back

"It is now Harry, but I bet after a day of this it wont be nearly so fun."

Now that they were clearly out of dangerous Harry took the opportunity to have a look around. The Veil of Darkness now looked small and unimpressive. All around then, for as far as they could see just about, was parched dried earth. Baked hard by years of intense sunshine. Occasionly he copuld see there were some trees, many dead, and those that weren't were hardly in a healthy condition. A few hundred feet away form The Veil of Darkness, there was a log cabin, which looked identical to the one on the other side. Remus didn't seem keen to go near it incase it was inhabited by guards.

Far in the distance, away form the where the city of Harmonia was meant to be, Harry thought he could see a murky blue outline, perhaps the edge of the magic sea, or else merely another part of the sky. He didn't swell on it. After they had been flying for about ten minutes, and the Veil of darkness as well as the cabin had disappeared form view, Remus slowed down a little so they could talk. First of all he checked his watch, which had started counting down. Then he checked the compass attached the handle of his broom which was spinning madly. That was hardly a surprise.

"Hmm looks like we haven't got any directions to help us. Anyone got any other ideas so we don't end up flying round in circles?" Remus asked. Harry had heard that people could navigate by using the sun, but since they knew nothing about the direction of the sun in this world, it ruled out that possibility. However as he considered the layout of the world he realized they could probably figure out where to fly anyway.

"Remus, I know perhaps how we could do it." Harry said loudly over the wind that was blowing against them. "Each section of the world is a bit like a slice of pie, so therefore if we started to turn too much, we would see that we have drifted into another section. Would we not?" He asked. Remus considered this for a moment.

"That might work Harry, but the only problem is if we turned too much, then we might end up going back on ourselves before we even see any of the other sections." The boundaries could be hours and hours away." He said with a lack of belief.

They flew on for a moment more as Harry and Remus both tried to think of something, whilst Tonks tried as well, but ended up thinking about milkshake.

"I see it like this." Harry said after a while. "We can either carry on flying, and probably end up going the right way, or we can turn back."

"Yeah." Said Remus as he considered that. "Besides, your good at flying aren't you Harry. You will probably know if we are going the wrong way wont you?"

"Yeah, I expect so." Harry lied, as the increased their speed and carried on.

Just as Remus had said, it did get boring the more they carried on. There was only so long that the novelty of no longer being on earth was enough for entertainment. All they could see for miles and miles, was desert ground. There weren't even any animals, let alone dangerous ones. After three hours of non stop flying, in which even these long journey brooms were getting pretty uncomfortable, Remus called for them to land soon and have a lunch break.

It was five minutes before Remus found what he considered a suitable spot. He didn't want anything that was to open, incase they saw someone and needed somewhere to hide. Eventually they found a spot where there were a few alive looking trees, and a very small river running into off into the distance. There were a few rocks that they could sit on whilst they ate. Harry Remus and Tonks all bought their brooms in to land, before Tonks began setting up lunch and Remus went to check the map. Harry went over to join him.

"I think we are probably about here." Remus said as he pointed to a little dot about a third of the way from the veil to the city. "Albus said we would probably reach the city by nightfall, and considering the amount of hours we have been flying we should be a certain distance from the Veil. He said as he drew out a pencil and began writing down some calculations. "However, if we consider that we may not have flown in a straight line, then we can be anywhere along this line." He said as he drew an arc."

Harry looked at it carefully, before concluding something. But if we are between the Ice and sector, and the floating city then we will definitely know when we see it. If we can't see it at all at the moment I think we can rule out the possibility of being anywhere here." Harry said as he took the pencil and used the eraser on the other end to remove an inch of the line from either side.

"The close we get towards the city the easier it will be to make sure we aren't going the wrong way, because the distance between the other sectors is getting less."

"You're quite the mathematician Harry." Remus said appraisingly. "I guess that means we are sorted, I shouldn't think we could end up making a sharp enough turn back on ourselves now, if we are here.

"Do you think you could go and refill the water canteens?" Remus asked as he passed his and Tonks' to Harry. I'm going to go and see if Tonks needs a hand.

Harry walked off a little way till where the river was slightly larger. It was clear looking, and flowing, which meant it was probably safe to drink. Harry hadn't realized it whilst he was flying, but it was remarkably hot. He was only wearing some jeans and a long sleeved t shirt, but he was swelteringly hot now as he sat under the sun. He refilled his flask, then emptied it again as he drank it in one go. After he had filled up all three and tightened the lids he reached into the shallow water and splashing some over his face.

In all his leisure Harry hardly saw the bear that had lumbered up towards him. It was only as he looked up that he saw the colossal mountain of brown fur as it stood on two legs looking down at him.

"Harry, get back." Remus yelled as he ran to the scene with his wand drawn. Harry who had fallen on his back in surprise, scuffled back on his hands and feet. The bear looked at them curiously for a moment, as if considering which one it should eat first. "Back away." Remus said as he pulled Harry to his feet, and they both walked backwards, away from the bear.

After a moment in which the bear's very limited brain got bored with the humans, it stuck its head down to the river, took a long drink for a few minutes, and then lumbered off, as quickly as it had come. Harry let out the breath he had been holding, and slumped onto the hard ground. The bear was scary, Harry wasn't afraid to admit it. It could have been the teeth that did it, because they certainly suggested that it ate something other than porridge.

"You must be more careful in future Harry. Never let your guard down." He scorned as he made sure the bear wasn't coming back. "If my spells hadn't worked or that bear had been hungry you could be in very serious trouble. Are you okay?" Harry looked himself over, he had skinned his elbow as he fell over, but other than that he was fine.

"I'm fine." He said as Remus began to walk away.

"Well that's good at least. I'm going to go and practice my magic and find out what spells don't work. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes." He said as he went over to a pile of rocks.

"Is Remus angry at me?" Harry asked as he sat down on the corner of the rug. Tonks looked up form the pile of sausage rolls she had been putting out.

"No, I don't think that's it. He is probably more worried than anything else. If anything happened to you, especially now, he would blame himself. You know how he was best friends with your father James. Well I suppose he feels he owes it to him to look after you, or else maybe he feels he could have saved James, but he didn't so by helping you it's making his conscience clear." She explained as she looked at him blasting rocks some way away.

"I don't know all about it. About his past and what he is thinking. There are some things he doesn't even tell me, so it can be tough to know what he is thinking. But it's sad really, how he blames himself for James and Sirius. No one can save anyone. If he can accept that I think he would be a lot happier." As she said this Harry thought of himself, for he had to admit that was always his attitude that if you were good enough you could save everybody. But then he supposed there were some things that you couldn't help with. He just hoped this situation wasn't one of them.

After Remus had returned they began lunch, which was quite nice considering they were in the middle of a life saving mission. Remus had made a list of spells that he had found out didn't work. Unfortunately no levitating charms worked, nor did the usual stunning spell that Harry liked to use in combat. Good news was that he didn't think the unforgivable curses worked, although it was tough to tell because it might just have been the ants in Pharaphax were immune to it. There were still more spells they needed to try out, but Remus had written down spells that did work, and given one to Tonks and Harry to learn after lunch whilst they flew.

Once everyone had eaten enough the remaining food was packed away, and everyone had to mount their brooms (which still didn't feel any more comfortable) and carry on with their journey. The next few hours passed just as they had in the morning, crawling slowly, with not much to see. Shortly after they had taken off they saw a large group of desert trees, which was probably where the grizzly bear was living according to Remus. It wasn't until the afternoon came that they saw anything else interesting.

The sun had started to sink, and Harry was practically falling asleep on his broom as they flew onwards. It was a dreadful pity that apparition didn't work, and that none of them knew how to make portkeys. Harry was just staring down at the ground as he slumped over his broom, one arm dangling on either side, when Remus who had been flying up ahead dropped back. The three of them came to a stop as he turned to face them.

"There appears to be a house up ahead." He said as he pointed to where Harry could just about make out something that wasn't a rock.

"What do you think we should do?" Harry asked as they hovered in mid air.

"I think we should avoid it." Remus said as he looked at Tonks to see she agreed. "We have enough food and we will hopefully make the city by nightfall, and if we don't then we still have the wizarding tent. If they are living all the way out here then they probably don't want company either. I think the safest thing for us to do is just fly around them and ignore them."

Harry was a little disappointed that perhaps they couldn't go and investigate the house. After all it was nearing dinner time, and Harry would murder to be able to sit down on a real seat. One with cushions and not some lousy charm trying to be something it isn't.

"Can we stop for dinner in a bit then afterwards?" Harry asked as he tried to get comfortable.

"Yeah this broom is hurting me Remus. Make it stop!" Tonks complained.

"I'm afraid we can't risk landing anymore now until nightfall. If there are people here then there could be people anywhere, we can't risk and unnecessary stops, lets just try and make it to the city of Harmonia where we can sleep on beds! That should be enough of a dream to keep you going."

"But im in pain now!" She protested. Remus however ignored her, and carried on flying. They both grumbled for a minute about how Remus was a big meanie, before following him as he took a long was round the house.

At the point where they were close to it Harry could see that the house was a wooden one, painted white. There was a barn and some stables as well, though they didn't get close enough for Harry to see if there were any animals. There was also an old looking swing outside which suggested there was either a child living there, or there had been. That probably meant it was safe, but Remus was still determined to press on and make it to Harmonia by nightfall.

As the sun sunk lower in the sky Harry began to wish that Ron or someone was here. As great as Remus was, he wasn't Harry's best friend, and in a sense Harry felt there was no one to talk to. Remus and Tonks could talk about adult things, but Harry had no one with whom he could share school stories with at the moment. It was selfish of him to want to put his friends in danger for his own amusement, but Harry was exceedingly bored.

However as the evening finally turned to night, and the sun disappeared behind the horizon, he could look forward to a nice long sit down, followed by a sleep. Remus was planning on setting up the wizarding tent as soon as they found a suitable spot, after concluding that they weren't going to make it to Harmonia in time. However as Remus finally found a place that he deemed safe to sleep, in the very distance, barely even visible, was a line of darkness and lights that represented the city of Harmonia.

"We made It! I don't believe it, we made it!" He yelled as he pointed frantically to the horizon. Harry and Tonks squinted their eyes to see it.

"Are you sure that's it?" Tonks asked skeptically. "It could just be the northern lights or something."

"No it's definitely it." Remus said as he had extracted his binoculars from deep within his bag. "Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me." He passed the binoculars back to Harry, who held them up to his eyes, and after a little bit of adjusting, managed to make them focus.

He couldn't see it very well due to the darkness, but he could definitely make out several large buildings with lights, as well as some large towers in the middle

"He's right Tonks. That is definitely a city and according to the map it's the only one there is."

"Oooh yeah look at that." She suddenly exclaimed as she pointed, not to the city, but somewhere far to her right. "It's the ice sector. The sectors are closer together nearer the city. I can't see it through all the cloud but I bet the Wind town is visible over there. She finished excitedly.

"So do you guys want to fly on ahead to the city tonight or camp here and finish the journey tomorrow?" Remus asked them. Harry and Tonks exchanged glances, before Tonks said rather passionately

"I want a real bed!"

"Ok then Harmonia it is" He said with a laugh, as all three of them grabbed their brooms, and raced off into the distance.

As they went each one of them talked about what they were going to do when they arrived.

"I'm going to order the biggest meal there is." Tonks said enthusiastically. "With milk shake and everything."

"I'm going to go and buy a sofa so I can finally sit down properly." Harry added.

"And I'm going to go to an inn and get the room with the biggest most comfortable bed there is, and I can just be bouncing up and down on it all night long." He said with a laugh. Tonks turned serious

"You wish." She said.

The three of them flew threw the sky as they headed onwards into the town of Harmonia.As they drew close Harry could see many people out walking the streets, and trying to sell various items for prices that sane people wouldn't pay. It was so busy in fact that he would have sworn it was day time, except for the fact it was dark. Another observation he made as he looked down at the city, was that Harmonia perhaps wasn't the most fitting name in the world. It suggested a peaceful and tranquil city, not one where people were lying on the pavement on every corner, drunk or worse.

"We had best land soon before anyone sees us. Im not sure how many muggles use brooms, but we want to appear like one." Remus called as they looked at the huge iron gates ahead of them, marking the entrance to the city. "Lets land over there, then we can put our brooms in my travel cloak, they should fit, although it is already quite full."he said as he signaled for them all to land by an outcrop of rocks. Harry, Tonks And Remus touched down on the hard earth a moment later. As Harry stepped off his broom he fell onto the ground as his legs refused to support him for a moment.

Remus reached down and helped him back up. "I want you to keep your wand in your hand at all times Harry. This doesn't look like the most friendly of places." He instructed as he tucked the brooms away. They silently walked towards the gates, and into the colossal city. Harry hadn't expected the roads to be paved with gold, but he had at least expected concrete. Instead it seemed that the hard earth had merely been covered with a thick layer of grime, worn hard by years of heavy wear. Now it ha formed into something rather like tarmac.

There were two city guards by the gates, but they were both passed out with beer bottles around them.Harry had yet to learn, but the job of these guards was not to keep the city to safe, but rather the other way round, to keep the world safe from the trouble within.  
"Lucky charms." Called out a gypsy woman as she waved a fistful of wooden objects in Harry's face. "Only tuppence each."  
"No thank you." said Remus as he quickly ushered Harry away from the woman. She looked at him with a look which suggested she hated everything about his being from the few words that he had said.

"Well, you need luck if you want to walk the streets at this time." She called after them as they carried on.  
"Let's find a place where we can spend the night that doesn't seem to dangerous." Said Remus as they walked onwards past several buildings clearly labeled things like "We av rooms!"  
"I don't care how safe it is." Tonks complained. "As long as it has food and im the only person in my bed i dont mind. We can just jinx them to bits if there is anyone dangerous." As she said this they walked past a pub where someone jumped out of the window, being pursued by a man with a stick with a knife blade stuck in it.

"Mmm lets not go there." Harry said as he moved closer to Remus for protection. "Are we going to try and find Marcus Pennywhistle tonight or tomorrow?"  
"I expect the data bank is closed at this hour Harry." Tonks said hopeful, despite the fact they had yet to pass a single shop which wasn't open. As citizens of Harmonia knew, it was much safer, and much more profitable to open your shops at night, and shut during the day, when all the drunkards had managed to stumble back home where they would sleep until four o clock in the afternoon.

"Well it might be open, but i think we should call it a night anyway. We have plenty of time, and truth be told i don't want to hang about on the street." He said as they passed an alleyway with a man, possessing what was quite possibly, the most revolting odor he had ever smelt.  
They walked on in silence for another ten minutes, as they went down numerous streets, each one appearing more dirty and dangerous than the last.

"Perhaps there are so many drunk people and stuff because its a special day and they are celebrating." Tonks suggested. She looked round for someone she could ask, before spotting an old lady carrying a handbag in one had and a knife in the other.  
"Excuse me is it a special day today?" She asked as politely and non threateningly as possible. The old lady stopped for a minute as she considered this.  
"Its half price night at Burdnards Meat Barn." She said before continuing on her way.

"This looks like a good place." Said Harry as they walked past the first building where all the words in the name were spelt right, and were there didn't seem to be anyone fighting yet. Drunk, certainly, but not fighting.

"Yeah i don't think we are likely to find better." Said Remus as he examined the building in great detail. "Might not be as good as the leaky cauldron but im pretty hungry, and i could do with a long lie down, my lower back is killing me." He complained as he twisted, causing his back to click loudly.

"Cool do it again." Tonks said excitedly.

They walked into the building, which was was painted cream inside, or at least it was cream now. There were a few dozen small circular tables populating the area, with a thick aroma of alcohol and cigarette smoke waffting off the inhabitants. It made for a rather combustive gas, in the right ratio. Over by the bar where half a dozen men of varying ages, and a few women were sitting, there was a bar keeper rubbing a glass with a very dirty glass, for effect rather than anything else. It made it look like he knew what he was doing running a pub, and it made it look like if there was ever a bar fight he would reach down and pull out a baseball bat, rather than running out of the back door with the insurance papers.

Remus cleared his throat as he sat down.

"Excuse me but have you a room you could let us?" He asked as several people looked up from there drinks. Thankfully there vision was to blurred for them to be able to start a fight, let alone hit the right person.

"Let you what?" The bar keeper asked as he put the glass down and scratched his chin, causing flakes of something to fall off.

"Stay in." Remus said un-surely. He had assumed the way of staying at an inn was the same as on Earth, but now he was thinking perhaps this wasn't the case.

"Stay in what?" The bar keeper asked as though his brain was begging to hurt from to much thinking.

"I want to sleep." Complained Tonks as she slammed her fist down on the counter. Perhaps it was the bluntness or her words, or the tone in which she said them, or maybe she had even stumbled across a foreign form of sign language, but for some reason the bar keeper understood her.

"Oh well why didn't you say so." He said in a manner as if he were possessing of a great secret. " There is no need to book in advance though, come back in about six or seven hours." He said as he picked up his glass and returned to wiping it with the filthy rag which resembled house elf clothing.

"What? We can't have a room now?" Remus asked in dismay. "Its only an hour shy of midnight!" At this statement the bar keeper dropped his glass which would have shattered had it not landed on a rather mossy floorboard.

"You mean you want to sleep... now?!" He asked as he lent closer to them incase anyone overheard.

"Yes!" Remus said, he was becoming rather indignant about being expected to stay up for several more hours. "I'm a teacher!" He explained as if this were justification.

"A what?" The bar keeper asked.

"Never mind." Snapped Tonks. "Just give us a room please." She said as she reached into her pocket for money.

"Whatever you say miss. I was just saying your braver than me. Sleeping at night time! What would you do if someone attacked you?" He asked as he picked a key from some hooks on the wall.

"We won't be attacked though will we?" Harry asked, as causing the bar keeper to look at Harry, noticing him for the first time.

"Oh i shouldn't think so." He said as he realized the wrong answer may result in the loss of a sale. "After all it is only Tuesday."


	64. Inns and Clerks

Thanks for all the reviews i have been getting lately. Its great. it seems every day i have one waiting for me .

the end of this chapter marks something that i feel is special (to me at least.)

not only does it mark the start of chapter 73 (not that its going to be a great chapter) but it means the story has finally hit the 400 000 words mark. I would like to thank all the people that have read through it all, im grateful.

anyway lets get down to business shall we. .

Harry, Tonks and Remus stood and stared at the room, if it was a room, it was more of a box, or a cell. It was a painted with thick lime all over, and the only item of furniture was a double bed, which didn't look to be the cleanest in the world. Harry desperately hoped They knew some good cleaning spells that would work, because he didn't feel comfortable sleeping in that room. The strangest thing in all the room though, was the windows. quite simply there were none. The whole room was lit by a single bulb which hung from the ceiling in as dirty a manner as possible for a light bulb.

Harry walked into the room over to one of the walls where there was what appeared to be a very crude window, drawn with a ball point pen.

"haven't you got any real windows?" Harry asked skeptically as he examined the stick figure on the sunny hill that he could apparently see out of the window.

"Nope. none of the real junk." Said the barkeeper proudly as Tonks and Remus edged in.

"But what if we want a real window?" Tonks asked as she stood of something that crunched.

"Dear god you don't want one of them. Someone could burst through and murder you in the night. At least with solid walls you can hear them scratching before they break through!"

"How much is the room?" Tonks asked as she counted out some money in her hand.

"four korn and nine pence." The Bar keeper said as he looked as respectible as possible. tonks displayed a puzzled look before she held out a sickle. The barkeeper smiled.

"Yes that will do." he said as he took the coin and pocketed several times what the room was worth."

"Will food be provided?" Remus asked as he threw his travel cloak down on the bed post.

"For another one of those shiny coins it can be." Said the barkeeper hopefully as he turned back to Tonks and stared at her like an expectant dog. she threw another coin his way. "Thank you miss. I will have the food bought up in about half an hour."

"This place is a pig sty." Harry said as he looked for a path of wall to lean on without any chewing gum or swear words written on it.

"Well I guess it will have to do. I guess this city doesn't have much to offer in that way. Still it was cheap, and it seems safe enough, especially after a few charms." Remus said as he drew out hi wand.

"Shh Remus, the walls have ears." Tonks cautioned.

"No don't worry, that's just mould." He replied.

For twenty minutes harry swept the floor with a brush that Remus had deep within his cloak, meanwhile Tonks and Remus cleaned the rest with magic Harry had yet to learn. Remus seemed to be focusing on the walls, cleaning them, and putting up protective spells, whilst Tonks sorted out the bed. It took a lot of work but finally the room looked mildly usable and safe. They had to stop however as there was a knock at the door and the bar keeper came in carrying a tray with three plates of food on, and a jug of cloudy water. They quickly pocketed their wands.

The man placed the tray down on the bed and looked up. It was at this point he realized the room was cleaner.

"E gad have you cleaned in here?" He asked as he scratched his chin again.

"Just a little." Remus lied as he hoped he hadn't offended the barman.

"Well you needn't have done that for me. You did pay after all, and it was just cleaned last year." He said as a smile spread across his face. "Well i guess at least now i can call this place the honeymoon sweet. Hope you enjoy your dinner, and if you need the toilet in the night then the street is just outside."

Once he left everyone sat down on part of the bed, and began eating their dinner. Harry guessed it was quantity over quality here, as he looked at the massive amount of food in front of him. There was a large mountain of mashed potatoes, which wasn't mashed quite enough to merit that name. There was also some sort of meat pie, which was quite nice. Tonks seemed to enjoy suggesting all sorts of repulsive animals which it could be, which didn't make the meal any more enjoyable. Harry just wanted to think of it as a beef pie, despite the fat he could taste at least three different meats, none of them identifiable.

The whole thing was stopped with some sort of gravy, which seemed safe enough. Altogether Harry didn't think the meal was bad, but then anyone who was fussier than himself or Ron wouldn't have agreed. After they had finished their dinner Tonks took down their plates.

"I don't expect their are really any wash facilities here." He said as he looked round the room as if expecting a door to appear, leading onto a secret bathroom.

"So i'm just meant to become all smelly like boys then am I?" Tonks asked as she returned. Harry and Remus both exchanged glances and had a conversation without words.

"What does she mean Remus?" Harry thought.

"I don't know Harry, i don't smell do i?" Remus thought back

"No i don't think so, what about me?"

"No Harry you smell pretty acceptable to me."

"What is she on about then?"

"I don't know, it must be a woman thing." Remus finished as he turned back to Tonks

"Well all the wash stuff is packed away in the wizarding tent and there is no way we could open it out here. If it really bother you that much Tonks we can unpack the tent tomorrow and you can use the shower thingy that comes with it." Remus explained.

"The tent comes with a shower?" She asked in suprise. Remus considered the funny bucket device he had seen that morning with holes in the bottom.

"Yeah im fairly sure it does." He replied as he decided it was best to put of the storm until the last minute.

"Fine, but we still need to make this bed larger, its far to small for three people." Tonks said as she drew out her wand. "A simple enlargement charm should do it." She waved her wand and muttered under her breath. Harry and Remus both stared expectantly.

"Well?" Harry asked after a moment. Tonks cursed

"The stupid spell wont work. Stupid Pharaphax, none of the good spells work.

"Let me try." Remus said as he climbed up form the bed and waved his wand in the same manner. "Nope your right after all." He said as he rolled his eyes with his back turned to her. "Looks like one of us is going to sleep on the floor then. Good job we cleaned it." Harry and Tonks both shot him looks which stated exactly who the someone was going to be.

"But since im kind i guess i can go without a bed tonight." Remus said with a sigh, as he sat down on the floor. He really didn't have a choice in the matter.

Harry and Tonks both climbed into bed whilst Remus rolled up his travelling cloak and tried to use it for a pillow. They turned the light out and tried to settle down for the night. After a few minutes of fidgeting Remus sat up.

"This is ridiculous." he growled angrily. "Im going to go and ask if i can buy a mattress or something.

"I wouldn't advise that." Said tonks who continued to lie down with her eyes closed. "When i took the plates back down i saw someone getting stabbed and three people tried to start a fight with me. I'm not sure it would be safe for you to go down there without a wand, and you cant use it because we would get thrown out." She said as if the subject was closed.

Remus mumbled some more before there was a loud scream from outside the door. That caused Harry and him to sit up quickly.

"I'm not going to get any sleep, i might as well stay guard." Remus said as he scooted himself over to the edge of the room where he sat against the crumbly wall. He had his wand pointed at the wall, and a shotgun which had come from under the bed apparently. There were several more unpleasant noises, but after ten minutes in which no one had murdered them Harry decided to give up and go to sleep.

Not that sleeping was easy. There was a problem that confronted him, which was while they were both fully dressed, there was still a real woman sleeping in the same bed as him. A real one!!! not the inflatable kind that Dean had. Harry made sure to stay as far away from her as possible, Incase he should accidently roll during the night. Apparently girls could arrest you if you touched them, according to Fred and George.

The next morning they awoke late, which by everyone else's standards was a few hours after they had gone to bed. Tonks had awoken earliest, and had seen to breakfast. (maybe it was the fact it was a pub, or maybe it was just the Pharaphaxian way, but breakfast was rather like dinner, except slightly scaled down.) Remus was the last one to awaken, having been keeping watch for some time that night. As Harry climbed out of bed he had to smile to himself, he had half expected someone to break in during the night.

He was tempted to let Remus sleep some more, but in a situation where every minute counts that wasn't possible. Dumbledore suspected Cho would pass away late that night or early next morning, in the real world. That meant that although they still had six remaining days in Pharaphax, Harry didn't want to take any chances.

As they sat round on the floor eating breakfast they discussed what they would be doing for the day.

"Well in an ideal situation Harry, we will go to the data bank, and look up in the archives to find out Marcus Pennywhistle location. We may have to pay a small fee to look him up, but we have plenty of money. "Then depending on where he lives we should be able to fly to him today, give him the details of the situation and pay him, and be back as soon as tonight, although maybe not until tomorrow mid day. It really depends how far away he lives. Lets just hope he doesn't live in either the Underground City or The Wizarding nation of the flooded plains, because then we will be flying away from The Veil of Darkness.

"What about in a non ideal situation." Harry asked skeptically.

"Well for all we know he may not be listed, he could even have died. Pharaphax is a big place and to expect to find him that easily is perhaps a little but optimistic. Its good to be optimistic Harry but I don't want you to be disappointed if things don't work out as well as you had hoped.

"Stop being so depressing Remus." said Tonks as she finished off her breakfast. "Let's get going, because the sooner we are done the sooner there is milk shake!" she said excitedly.

The three of them packed up the few things they had used, before setting off. As they went downstairs they saw that it was completely empty. Even the barkeeper wasn't their, which they were quite surprised about. They front door was locked so they let themselves out of the backdoor, which was also the main one.

"So where about in this city is the data bank?" Harry asked as he got hi first proper view of the buildings in daylight. They didn't look any better. In fact they looked worse. At least when it was dark all you could see were the flickering lights, not the grimy walls or pavement with blood stains.

"Mmm im not entirely sure, but i should expect it is quite large." Remus said as he looked round for some sort of map. "I didn't think finding it would be an issue." he added as he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess at the moment we aren't that far into the city, and any of the older buildings will be nearer the inner city, so we should head that way then." It was still early in the morning, and the sun was only just rising above some of the high roof tops. According to Remus watch it was about eight thirty.

They set off across the cobbled pavements into the city. Harry half expected that Harmonia was going to be effected by the zones, but he certainly didn't see any flying bits, or ice covered buildings, so he concluded that the inner circle within which the city lay, it was just normal world, but very dirty. It was amazing how quiet it was as they walked along. The threat of death was practically off their mind as they moved further into the city, and the buildings grew up around them. As the sun grew a little higher Harry could tell it would be a warm day, with the thick pollution hanging over the city and capturing all the heat like a giant greenhouse.

After fifteen minutes of walking they finally came across a map of the city. it showed a river which ran through the entire thing, and nearly looped round in the middle. They needed to cross over the river onto what was essentially an island in the middle, before they would come to the data bank. It took them much longer than that though to figure out where they were. There were hundreds of streets all linked together like a great spiders web.

"Mmm so i think." Said remus after much thought. "That we must be about here, with the turning to drummer street up ahead."

"How can you tell?" Harry asked as the street seemed to have a distinct lack of sign posts.

"Well it says that there is a brewery past drummer street, and i have seen several carts with beer rolling past, which means we must be heading towards it. Therefore we must be down gronial alley at the moment." he said with a grin and a wiggle of the eyebrows which suggested he though he could be the next Sherlock Homes.

It turned out Remus' direction were correct after all as after another ten minutes of walking they came to a bridge over a rather mucky river. Once they had crossed over the giant stone bridge they came to what was the resepctable part of the city, if such a thing existed. There was the palace of the Governor which was flanked with many guards, as well as several other important buildings. Each of them were so important that they were actually made of stone, and not wood with lime and grime.

There was a tower measuring several stories high which was what they were looking for. It was still a strange tower. It seemed that rather than building the whole thing straight, they had done it rather like a block tower, so after building one floor they would look and see if it was tilting, and then build the next floor to counter balance that. It gave the whole building a sort of wobbly effect, rather like a snake reaching up into the sky.

"Is it open?" Harry asked as the area seemed deserted of beggars tramps and criminals. Also it was empty of the one or two respectable citizens of Harmonia.

"I would have thought so. I mean it is nine o clock but then im not sure what time shops and things open around here." Harry would have been listening to what Remus was saying but he had noticed something rather strange. A magic shop. By the looks of it, they sold wands.

"Wow magic does exist after all." Harry said as he pointed over to the small stone building which looked like it had very few customers.

"Well what do you know... Perhaps people don't hate magic as much as Albus made out after all. i mean it has glass windows that haven't been smashed or anything. Of course thats not to say people haven't tried." Remus added as an after thought. "A simple shatterproof charm would probably do the trick. Anyway lets get on shall we. none of us need wands, so lets stick to what we came for shall we."

The three of them made it across the street, and upto the large building which jutted up into the sky. There were large cast iron gates surrounding it, as well as several guards. As They approached the guards stopped slumping against the wall, and stood up straight and threateningly.

"What do you want?" one of them asked, which suggested it wasn't something he asked every day.

"Information." Remus said as he waited for permission to pass. The guard scratched his head, as if remembering what it was they were guarding. After a minute he walked over to his college.

"These people say they want information. Do we have any of that?"

"I dunno, are they gonna torture us for it?"

"No probably not." said the first guard as he looked over at Tonks who was bounding on her feet. "You think we should say no then?"

"No, let them inside. I used to have a teacher once, and she said it was everyone had a right to knowledge."

"I thought everyone had a right to die?"

"yes that as well, but i don't want to have the scrub the blood of the pavement. Let them through.

The guard walked back over to them.

"You can go in, but be quick." He said as he waved his spear just to show it had a pointy bit. The three of them walked through the gates, and up the steps leading into the enormous building. Harry stopped as he looked around. It was just like an enormous library. There was a desk on one side, with an elderly looking man with a great mess of grey hair, who was writing down on some paper. On the other side there were rows upon rows on musty old looking books, and a staircase leading to upper and lower levels of the building, where many more books and documents were kept.

Remus walked over to the old man by the counter who continued to write. They waited for a minute for him to stop, but after he didn't they realized perhaps he wasn't the most alert of people. Harry gave a sharp cough, which caused the man to jump and look up.

"Good god why are you sneaking up on people like that? Trying to give me a heart attack..." He said as he moved aside a few papers whilst keeping one hand over his heart. "What do you want anyway?" He asked as he suddenly became suspicious.

"You had better not be from the Harmonian Law Enforcement. I didn't know about it, and you can't prove it!"

"We want information." Tonks said, as she resisted the great urge to pretend she was a police woman. The old mans eyes widened.

"You mean... someone actually wants information?"

"Yes." Replied Remus un surely as he reached for the wand in his pocket.

"You mean you don't want to burn the books and throw bricks at me?" The clerk asked with detectable levels of relief in his voice.

"No, we want to know something." Harry said as he considered that this man was quite probably insane.

"Bless my soul. I didn't think people wanted to know things these days. Haven't had anyone come here for knowledge in almost a year now. Dam stupid people in this city. He said as he put the lid on his pen and made his way round to the other side of the counter.

"you don't have much faith in people." Harry said as he stared at the clerk, who still looked like he suspected them of something.

"You're right, i don't. Still you learn to be suspicious when you have done what i have done.

"What have you done?" Remus asked slightly unsure of whether he wanted to know the answer or not. The clerk whispered something to quiet for them to hear. "Pardon?"

"I was a teacher." The man said as though this was a great crime.

"Oh." Said Tonks and Remus as a wave of understanding passed over them.

"So what sort of information would you like?" the clerk asked as his eyebrow furrowed and he picked up a folder form behind the counter and began flicking through the pages.

"We need to find someone, we want to know where they live, and anything else you can tell us." Said Remus, as the clerk stopped near the back of the books.

"Ok then that will be in the personal archives section... on the fifth floor." He said as he snapped the folder shut and returned it to his place. "Well follow me then, this is a large place and its easy to get lost, especially when its dark."

The three of them followed the old man as he walked down between two large rows of books. He left a series of footprints on the dusty floor as he went.

"We do clean here." He said without turning back to look at them. "Its just its a large building, and since not many people are interested in knowing things, the governor only gives us enough funding for the one cleaner, the guards and myself. Pity really, this used to be one of the greatest buildings in the city, I guess now its just the one with the most books. Its also one of the cleanest buildings, though no foreigner would guess so."

"Mmm" said Remus in agreement as they carried walking on. It was a very long room indeed, as he looked back he realized it must have been deceptive from the front. Perhaps it was that there was such a large number of books, the sheer weight of them was bending reality. Either that or Remus needed glasses.

"Its a pig sty really, this city, though i doubt you will agree with me. Its just like a sewer, except the rats have all run away in fear of being eaten." Harry laughed at this, but quickly stopped as he suddenly realized it was true.

They reached the end of the room and began to climb up a long spiral staircase which seemed to go on forever, as they made their way up five floors, each one of them being large, and with a high ceiling.

"Its quite a feat of ingenuity you know. Making the floors strong enough to support all the weight without support pillars on the lower floors. There's no magic involved. Not that it would be the end of the world. a lot of people hate magic, i don't know about you but me personally i got nothing in particular against it. I used to have a friend and his grand daughter knew a bit of magic, and she didn't go killing people. Don't know what happened to her, you know how it is with friends. you loose touch. Still when it comes to buildings and things i prefer things i understand." Said the Clerk as they made their way down another pathway between two bookcases.

"Male or female?" He asked them as he got to a cross junction in the books.

"Male." Tonks replied, as they turned left and headed onwards.

"What do you think of magic?" Asked the clerk as they carried on walking. "If you don't mind me asking that is?"

"Well i have nothing against it myself." Remus said truthfully. "It can be used for good and for bad. I can live my life without it, as long as no one forces it in my face I don't care."

"Mmm good point of view." said the clerk. "Good point of view. Still you must be the few in the city who think that. The magic shop across the road gets all sorts of things thrown at it."

"You would think that after all these years people would forgive magic for making the world as it is, but they carry a grudge as if its no bodies business. Never mind the fact that the people in all the other sectors are living happily. The people up in the Floating nation of Calmera choose to live there for a reason... Not that im supportive, as i said nothing for it nothing against it. Just making conversation. What name was it?" The clerk asked as they reached the section they needed.

"Marcus Pennywhistle." Tonks said as she fumbled in her pockets for her bouncy ball. It was pink and bouncy and she had lost it. She was very sad.

"Now that's a name i haven't heard for a long long time." Said the Clerk with a laugh.

"You know him?" Remus asked excitedly.

"I knew of him." The clerk corrected. "He was one of those magic folk. Worked for the Harmonian Law Enforcement if my memory serves me correctly. Anyway i haven't heard anything of him in the last twenty years. Most people who still remember his name think he is dead, so you might be out of luck im afraid.

"We don't think he is dead." Harry said as he stepped forwards. "We are quite sure he is alive." He lied. Dumbledore seemed quite sure, but then as he said, Marcus Pennywhistle had been very old, and that was years and years ago.

"Hey, I'm only saying so." He said defensively. "You might be right, we shall see. Now if there is any information on him or his where abouts then it should be somewhere here. What do you want him for anyway, if you don't mind me asking."

"We need him to help us with something." Harry said as he began to grow suspicious of this figure. It was wrong to say that Harry suspected him to be a spy. Who would he be spying for?

"Oh. Well fair enough. Careful about saying his name though. people might start to think you are one of those magic folk, wouldn't want to see decent people such as yourselves getting bricks thrown at them for nothing. Darn shame it would be!"

"Pennywhistle." The clerk said as he walked along slowly by a shelf, running his finger across a series of folders. "Peniguine, Penine, Pennsom, Pennyguth,Penomo! Oh. Well that's a darn shame. Look like there isn't anything on him. Strange that, i would have thought there would be at least an address. All i can figure is someone must have moved it. He was definitely a real person. I remember the name.... Oh well sorry i can't help you."

"Are you sure there is no way we can find out anything? Perhaps another part of the data bank? Is there a section under magical history i could check?" Remus asked as he looked round the hundreds of towering bookshelves.

"I shouldn't think you will find anything under that." Said the clerk as he ushered them away form the bookshelf. "I will keep an ear open for anything i hear of him, though i dare say there will be any. Are you going to be in town long?"

"Well we were planning on leaving as soon as we found him." Tonks said with a sigh of defeat. They had really been banking on this working out. They were at a loss as what to do now. Harry wanted to check the magical history section, because other than that they would have to resort to asking people on the street.

"Well if you come back in a fortnight then i can tell you if i have found anything, if you are still interested when..." he said before he was cut off.

"Pennywhistle!"

"Pardon?" asked the clerk confusedly as he spun round to see Harry staring at the shelf. Right at the end of the P section was "Pennywhistle, Marcacialius".

"I think this is it." Harry said as he reached forwards and pulled the folder down off the shelf. "If Marcus is short for Marcacialius. Someone must have moved it for some reason.

"How strange." said the clerk as he walked over and looked over Harry's shoulder. "Misplacing a file is a crime punishable by a tuppence fine"

"Hmm there isn't much." Harry said as he looked down at the folder. He was hoping for a photo and hobbies and all sorts. All there was, was an address.

"Hmm i hope this is still valid. It says he lives at "Ocean Gardens."

"Where is that?" Asked Tonks as they all crowded round the folder.

"I don't know." Harry conceded. "But it probably is somewhere near the water sector, we can ask some of the people there about it. I'm sure they would know."

"I don't expect they would." said the clerk as he doused their hopes. "I'm afraid to say i have never heard of it, and i pride myself on my knowledge of the five sectors. Its probably a fake address, altered by someone and then put back in the wrong place."

"Still, its the best bet we have." Remus said as he nodded to Harry. "I think we will go with your plan. We are bound to turn up something." He said as he made to leave the library.

"I doubt you will turn up anything. You are probably wasting your time, and those wizards can be awfully mean. As decent people i advise you stay away from them, and just make do without this Pennywhistle chap."

"We have nothing to loose from trying." countered Remus. "We know how to handle magicians, and as you said earlier, they are nice enough.

"Even if you did find him he probably wouldn't want to help would he?" the clerk asked slightly desperately.

"Well we can pay him for his services." Said Tonks who was about to jingle the bag full of money, before realizing that someone would probably whisk it out of her hand in a city like this.

"Pay him?" The clerk laughed. "Wizards don't need money. They could probably make a load if they wanted to.

"I'm sure we could convince him anyway." Harry said optimistically as he placed the file back on the shelf.

"I doubt you could." Said the clerk as he shook his head.

"No, im sure we could." Harry said as he was starting to get annoyed by the clerks lack of faith.

"Really, i don't think he would be interested."

"He will help us!"

"He won't."

"He will, i know he will." Harry said angrily.

"I will never help you!" The clerk shouted back angrily. There was a long silence which followed this.

"Oh buggar." Cursed Marcus Pennywhistle mentally.


	65. The Plan

The four of them stood and exchanged looks for a minute, before, something happened. It was so fast that Harry didn't have time to react. Marcus Pennywhistle grabbed remus by his collar, lifted him up and threw him against a bookcase .

"What the hell do you want?" He asked with a ferocity he had not possessed before as he drew out a wand and pointed between Remus' eyes. Tonks made to draw out her wand, But Marcus quickly repointed it at her.

"I wouldn't try that if i were you. I don't intend to hurt you unless i must. "Now what do you want?" He snapped again

"We need your help. You need to perform a rite." Remus chocked out.

"I need to do nothing. I didn't spend years being nobody, just so three people can show up and try to expose me. Now Tell me, who the hell sent you?"

Harry considered lying, but then as he thought of Dumbledore's description, he realized the headmaster couldn't really misjudge someone that much.

"Dumbledore." Harry said as he took a step closer. "Albus Dumbledore sent us." He said simply, as Marcus looked at him with a look of confused disgust. After a moment he released his hold on Remus.

"God damn that old bastard, he always chooses the worst times." He said to himself rather than anyone else. "You can lower your wand, im no going to hurt you." he added as Tonks still stared at him shiftily.

"I need a cup of tea. I'm to old for this." He said as he made his way back towards the staircase. the three of them followed in silence. In fact it wasn't until they had gotten back to the counter at the front of the building, they went into a small room at the back which was barely furnished with a simple wooden table, chairs, and a cupboard containing tea bags and other various items.

"So tell me what it is that Albus wants this time? I can't see why he would need my help though. He's the best wizard i know.

They all sat around a table, and Harry took one of the biscuits which he was half expecting to be stale.

"He needs you to perform an Exorcism." Remus said as he stirred his tea. At this Marcus laughed. "Don't tell me he has finally decided to get rid of the ghosts at that school of his.

"No, there is a young girl, and her soul has become detached from her body. We do have payment should you require it." Remus said as Tonks chucked the bag of money down on the table.

Harry looked at the clock which was ticking in the corner of the room. It read half past nine in the morning. It had been a stroke of luck really, that they had managed to find Marcus Pennywhistle so easily. He just hoped it would be another stoke of luck that they could be on their way

"Mmm now i know Albus better than that, and i know he wouldn't send three people, one a child, into Pharaphax if this wasn't a damn important person he needed help with. So who is it?"

"She is a good friend of Harry's here." Tonks began before she was cut off by a stare from Marcus.

"Potter?" He asked as he stared at Harry forehead.

"you know me?" Harry asked with a vague wish that this wasn't so. It was one of the strange things about being famous that he had never quit gotten used to. People knowing who he was, when he didn't know them.

"I know of you. You had just started Hogwarts, and Albus spoke most highly of you. It has been so long since then though. Must be... oh about forty-two years by Pharaphaxian times. So what is it about you that makes Dumbledore take great interest?" He asked as he gave Harry a calculating yet friendly look.

Remus and Tonks both mumbled for a second before Harry answered much bolder than them. "The Dark Lord Voldemort has returned, and it has been prophesied that i must be the one to defeat him."

"Now that is interesting." said Marcus as he took a sip of his tea and tapped his chin with a finger. "And therfore Dumbledore believes that you do not need any, unnecessary worries." he added. Harry thought it was a slightly rude, maybe even heartless way to put it, but perhaps there was truth in it. After all what did Cho mean to Dumbledore? Admittedly she was a student, and headmaster didn't like students to die, but perhaps the reason he had organized this whole trip was so that she would live, and Harry would not be upset.

He tried not to think like that. It generally suggested the worst in people.

"I suppose thats one way of looking at it." said Tonks who looked down at her tea unwantingly. There wasn't enough milk in it, and there was to much hot water and at some point there had been a tea bag. To top it all off there was no chocolate in any of it! "So will you help us then?" She asked, as she tried to distract herself from the drink, hopefully when Marcus Pennywhistle wasn't looking she could pour it in a pot plant or something.

He considered this for a long moment. "I don't really do that branch of magic anymore. A lot of work involved. Still i suppose if Albus requested it, and if you are paying then i could help."

"Thankyou..." Harry began to say before he was interrupted.

"I didn't say i would help." Marcus said sharply, I said I could help. A subtle but large difference that you should pay more attention to. Tell me, all about the girl, what is the exact condition.

"She is seventeen." Remus began as Marcus drew out some paper and began scribbling notes in much the same way as did Dumbledore. "Her soul was seperated some time back, one the first of September to be exact."

"How did it happen?" Marcus said without looking up as he began drawing a series of complex lines all inter-crossing with angles drawn between and lots of words which were barely legible in the rushed writing. It looked to Harry more like maths than anything else.

"It happened because of a Dementor."

"If her soul was eaten then there is nothing that can be done im sorry to..."

"It wasn't eaten, we are quiet certain of that. exposure to a large number of them, as Albus said, caused her to think that she was dead, so her should left her body, though she is not yet dead." Remus continued.

Marcus pulled out a calculator from his pocket and began typing in as he carried on holding a conversation at the same time.

"And do you know where her soul is now?"

"Um, not exactly, but she is expected to pass away within the next twenty four hours in Earth time.

"That means she will be in the final quadrant." Marcus said as he shook his head. "That's not good news im afraid. not good at all. Normally if it was in the first quadrant no problem. Albus would have been able to solve that himself. Second or third quadrant and it gets tougher, but as for fourth. It must have been a good one hundred years or so since i have done one of those. Don't know if i would still be able to." Marcus said as he began scribbling down more lots of numbers

"But you have to try." Harry pleaded with him.

"as i said earlier, i have to do nothing." Marcus said in a flat voice that reminded Harry of Dumbledore. "But i will try anyway." There was a long silence which followed this. "Im just shy of eleven years old, by Pharaphaxian years that is." He said, as Remus jaw dropped.

"Do you have skills in Legilimancy?" He asked as that was certainly the question he had been about to ask.

"No, but it was the obvious next question. when you live to be my age you learn to expect certain things."

"As for how I reached my age, thats part mystery myself, though i strongly suspect it is to do with the fact my house is located just off shore, in the ocean. The raw magic has kept me alive i expect., after all us wizards do tend to live longer, so i suspect that is the case. We must be quick on our journey though. I daren't stay in your world for more than a few hours, for if i do not return to my house before long i feel i may pass away, and i have yet to become a great singer as i have always dreamed to be." He said with a small laugh.

"Now if all that you tell me is correct then i may be able to help her, though its all luck really. Don't be surprised if she died. In my experience its always best to expect the worst, that way you are usually right, but when your wrong your pleasantly surprised. I should have the things I need in my shop across the road." Marcus said as he finished off his tea and placed his mug down on the table.

Suddenly he stood up and went to walk out of the room. Harry and the others quickly got up and followed him, as he walked out into the street.

"Finishing are yer sir?" asked a guard as he walked past the gate. "Yes i think we are about done for the day. Why don't you two boys head off down the pub?" he asked, as the guards both exchanged happy looks. Neither of them were going to complain.

"This is your shop?" asked Remus as they made their way over to the small magical shop that looked rather dusty.

"Yes, though i dare say we will be having a customer in the near future. Most wizards who do pass through Hamonia, such as yourselves, don't like to draw attention to themselves. Still i don't blame them. Someone threw a dead dog at my shop last week, stunk up the front door something rotten. Took me ages to get cleaned." He said as they walked in. Marcus briefly stopped to have a furtive look round the square incase anyone was watching, before closing the door after them.

"Why do you try to hide who you are?" Harry asked as Marcus dissapeared somewhere into a back room where there were lots of clinking sounds of glass bottles knocking into each other.

"Mmm that's not relevant now Harry. I shall tell you later perhaps, but now we must be as quick as possible. Every second could count." There was a crashing sound, before the clinking continued. harry decided to occupy himself with looking round the shop. It was old, and reminded him of Olivanders, except it was more fusty, as if the whole shop had been merged with an old book. It was dark inside, with various objects and bits of wood hanging from the ceiling. The windows were dark, and little light penetrated through. There was a loud clock ticking above the old wooden counter, which other than the crashing sounds coming form the back room, was the only thing to break the silence.

Harry wondered over to a shelf by the side of the room, where there an old rusty looking rat trap device. He was about to play with it when Marcus emerged from the back of the shop.  
He had a large black velvet sack in his arms, which by the shape of it contained several bottle and objects.  
"We shall use a portkey to return to the Veil of darkness." He said as he pulled out a length of string from his pocket which he laid upon the counter. He took his wand, and after some complex movements the portkey was ready. "It shall avtivate in one minutes time, so please take hold." He said as he held it out to Harry, Tonks and Remus.

"I thought that portkeys didn't work here." Said Remus as he held onto the string. "I tried yesterday but I didn't seem to get any results." He said confusedly.  
"mmm well although it's the same result, the spell itself is comprised of different compound parts, and is therefore different to cast. I would teach you how to make portkeys here, but I don't expect I will be seeing you again after this." He said as he glanced over to the wall which ticked off the final few seconds.

Harry felt a shove, rather than a push, as he fell forward into a void that hadn't been there. It was as if he was stretching, whilst he travelled through somewhere stuffy, and yet cold. He couldn't breathe, though he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. As he looked round carefully, he could vaguely make out in the dark blueness, objects that were flying past, trees and rivers, rocks and lakes. Even a few mountains. Finally they came to a stop as Harry stumbled forwards and practically tripped over Remus.

"Where abouts on earth is she?" Marcus asked as he stood in front of the portal, showing the site of earth, which seemed so long ago now, even though it had only been a day. Harry was about to say he didn't know, when Remus replied.  
"Good, lets just hope that everything goes well." Marcus said as he walked up to the veil, took a deep breath, and passed through.

The others followed through after him, and Harry was once again met by what appeared to be a sudden change in time. It seemed to have jumped forwards a few hours, as the sun was now at its highest point in the sky. It was probably just gone lunch time, about three in the afternoon if Harry was any good at maths.It looked as it had last time Harry was briefly here, with Dumbleodre still sitting on the porch reading the newspaper. He was a little confused though. He had flicked to the back half of the paper ready to do the crossword, only to find out it had already been done.

This led him to one of two conclusions. Either someone at the Prophet printing devision had been rather bored that morning, or the owls that delivered the paper had become suspiciously clever. He looked up from his paper as he felt a change in the breeze. He glanced over to the Veil, and to his surprise he saw the three travelers, plus someone he knew very well as Marcus Pennywhistle, who always looked exactly the same as he ever did. They were still looking round, so intrigued by the landscape Albus wonder briefly whether an enormous gravitational build up had caused a worm hole and teleported him onto the porch of the house in Pharaphax.

"Hello Albus. It's been a few years." said Marcus as he walked over the water from the small island, towards the large log cabin with the smoking stone chimneys.

"Yes, more so for you than me, but it has been a long time."

"Indeed."

"Your in good health." Albus said as the two wizards both looked and behaved as if they were cast form the same set. Harrry, Tonks and Remus waded through the water after him.

"I must say you have made excellent time." Dumbledore said as he looked down at Harry, who beamed brightly at the remark. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least. I would have had some food prepared for you, but as i said your early. Your friends are here Harry. I didn't seem to be able to convince them to stay when i told them when i expected you back."

"Why would my friends be here?" Harry asked with some confusion. Dumbledore sat back down. "Well either outcome would require them to be here. Either Cho is saved, and there would be some sort of celebration, though i myself am a little out of touch with what exactly is hip these days.. And the other outcome would be that Cho isn't saved, in which case you may want comforting. Either way, Ron, Hermione and Molly and Arthur Weasley are inside. Also miss Zabini is here."

"What's Blaise doing here?" Harry asked as he was now even more confused.

"Please Albus, if i am going to help the girl it is essential that we be quick." Said Marcus as he placed his black bag down on the wooden floorbaords and began rummaging through it.

"Harry you may want to sit down..." Dumbledore said as he didn't give Harry chance to do so. "Because i regret to tell you that Cho passed away a little over an hour ago." Dumbledore folded up his paper and put his hands together as he looked at Harry.

Harry wasn't sure what he felt. there was a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach, like missing a step in the dark, only much more drawn out. There was also rushing feelings of guilt, more than both of those was anger. Anger that Voldemort had done this, anger that it was his fault, and most of all anger that he could do nothing about it. He tried to think of a curse word strong enough to express it all as his mouth began to form around several words.

"OH... WEASLES!...Goddammit. Why does everyone keep dying!" He asked as he ran a hand through his hair and leant against the wooden rail running along the front of the porch area they were under.

"This is my fault." Harry said matter of factly. "If i hadn't been on that train It wouldn't have been attacked.

"Is that so?" Asked Dumbledore in a manner that surprised Harry. "Perhaps your right, but then there are other ways of looking at it. Perhaps its your parents fault for giving birth to you. Perhaps its 'Voldemorts fault for sending the death eaters, or the ministries fault for loosing control of them. I suppose it could be my fault, for inviting you to come to Hogwarts, or maybe its the driver of the Hogwarts express. Without a train things surely would have turned out differently. In fact whilst we are at it maybe its the fault of the person who built the tracks. There are no ends to the number of people you could blame Harry, so don't try to blame anyone."

"Its a sad thing that has happened to Cho, but the one thing you must not do is blame yourself. You must be strong against Voldemort, and not give in every time he seems to have won at something. You did your best Harry. you did the best anyone could do, and at the end of the day no one can ask or expect anything more of you, and no one will do, except perhaps you, which would be a shame. I understand that you may need time, but i have a proposition, and a suggestion, both of which are urgent. you see Harry i would be lying if i said something like this couldn't happen again. you know as well as i do that your friends are under threat, though that is no reason to treat them any differently. They know it and they willing continue to be your friends."

"What i am proposing, is that you prepare yourself for the dangers that lie ahead, for your battle with Voldemort, as well as your friends." Dumbledore said, in a way which suggested it was very well planned out for the amount of time he had to prepare for it.

"I wonder who the proposition is going to be to." Marcus said sarcastically as Dumbledore flashed him a smile.

"Harry there is an ancient charm, known as hells blessing, which would protect you against the Avada Kedavra curse, as well as many lesser curses. It is only obtainable through a trial of deadly tasks in Pharaphax, so if you wish to obtain the charm you should do so now. I won't decide for you wether you want to risk your life in an attempt to save your life, but Ron Hermione and Blaise have all agreed that if you should say yes, they will go along as well."

"Why is Blaise involved in this again?" asked Harry as he tried to push aside the torrent of mixed emotions he was feeling over Cho.

"As you know Harry, Blaise's mother and herself were attacked by Death Eaters. I felt that her connection to you, or at least her apparent connection, puts her in enough danger to come along on this journey. She agrees as well.

"What if i don't agree?" Marcus asked with his arms crossed indignantly. "I'm old and i get exhausted theses days. I never said i wanted to lead a group of people on the most dangerous mission in all the land.

"You wouldn't deny an old teacher his one true wish in life would you?" Dumbledore said as a violin started playing somewhere in the distance.

"I'm old to!" Marcus complained as he pointed to his wrinkly face, something which Albus completely ignored. Harry remained deep in thought for a minute.

"Very well. I shall go." Harry said as he stood up from where he had been slumped.

"As shall we!" said Remus as he punched the air enthusiastically.

"Oh you enthusiastic sods. Looks like i don't have a say in the matter do I." Marcus sulked.

"Not even a little." Dumbledore said with a laugh

"Will i need my thermal socks?" Remus asked as they began making their way indoors.

"Harry! You made it back safely." Hermione said as she jumped up form a comfortable chair she had been sitting on, and ran over to give Harry a hug. "We were all worried about you, and im so sorry about Cho." she said with a sob. Harry hugged her back tightly as he realised just how much he needed it.

"Thanks Mione." He said as they parted a minute later. "I should be ok. where's Ron?" harry asked as he looked round for his other best friend. The room was large and spacious inside, with a ceiling the height of two floors and a large ceiling window in the middle. There were some stairs on one side of the room, which led upto the bedrooms which were located at the back of the house.

"He's in the kitchen. I think he's helping make preperations for dinner. He's impatient. I'm sure he would like to talk though, i will go and get him." she said as she walked off towards the kitchen.

Blaise was slouched in a chair over by the fireplace, where she was busy doing homework.

"Haven't you anything better to do on boxing day than homework?" He asked as he looked at the large stack of Transfiguration books. He wouldn't be half surprised if half of them were Hermione's.

"Haven't you anything better to do than be a nosy sod?" Blaise snapped back as she put the book down. Harry sat down and stared at her for a moment, making her feel the slightest bit of guilt, though only a little. "I'm sorry its just im angry at you at the moment, more than normal that is. I get dragged out here in the middle of nowhere so i can go on some stupid journey to save my life, which is only in danger because of you in the first place."

"Nice to see your still yourself Harry said." as he looked at his fingers. It was easy to argue with Blaise. Not only did it help distract him from thinking about Cho, but it also allowed him to moan at someone without getting told off.

"If you say yes to trying to get this charm thing ..." Blaise began to say.

"I have." He cut her off.

"Well you had better not be all sulky and crying all the time because that would just be annoying, and you will probably get into trouble and you cant see through cry baby eyes." She said venomously.

"Has anyone told you you don't have a heart?"

"Constantly, and you were half expecting it anyway, so it shouldn't be a shock to you or anything."

Harry considered this.

"I suppose it wasn't that much of a shock, but i still cared for her, and she's gone now. Dumbleodre said its not my fault, but i still feel guilty." He explained.

"Whatever, i don't care." Blaise said as she went back to her homework. "Haven't you got people to talk to that actually like you?" She asked after a moment in which he was still sitting there.

"Yeah, i do, but i was wondering if you were going to hit me or kick me. You usually do."

"There will be plenty of chance for that later." Blaise said angrily, as she shooed him away. at the same time Ron and Hermione emerged from the kitchen. Ron was wearing an apron with a cartoon piglet on, and a big chefs hat.

"I've been helping mum in the kitchen!" He explained with wide eyed excitement. "I never knew that bacon AND sausages came form the same animal."

"So does pork." Harry said with a little smile as Ron nearly wet himself with excitement.

"I'm gonna have to get a farm of those animals then."

"I'm going to leave you two alone for a minute." hermione said as she went over to join the conversation that Ablus, Marcus, Remus and Tonks were having. "I'm sure you have smelly boy things to talk about." She said as she stuck her tounge out at them.

"What do we have to talk about?" Harry asked as Ron and Harry wlaked over to the large dining table which was currently empty, and sat down on two of the dinging chairs.

"Well Harry, im not entirely sure but i suppose it has a good deal to do with the whole Cho thing. I know its going to bed hard on you, but if you want to cry thats fine by me. It doesn't make you any less of a man."

"I don't want to cry." Harry replied truthfully.

"Really Harry' if you want to cry go for it. I'm here for you." Ron said comfortingly as he patted Harry on the back.

"Thanks Ron but i really don't want to cry, im angry more than anything. What i really want is to kill Voldemort!" He said with clenched fists

Ron remained silent for a second.

"Ok that's not what i was expecting but hey, it should be easy enough. Looks like we are both back to usual though." Ron said with a small laugh. Harry gave him a puzzled look before Ron explained it.

"Back to being sad pathetic and single." He said as they both laughed. Over the next few minutes they generally chatted about things, as if they were old friends that hadn't seen each other in years. They finally stopped when Molly and Arthur emerged from the kitchen carrying several items of food.

"I know its a bit early but Ron helped us a lot and sped things up a lot. I hope your not to full up form lunch, or dinner or whatever meal everyone last had." Arthur said with a smile as he placed a bowl of potatoes down on the table.

"No its quite good Arthur, we can't afford to spend to much more time out here anyway, if the kids are to get on with trying to achieve hells blessing." Said Albus as he took one of the many seats around the table.

"Arr you must be Mr Pennywhistle. Pleasure to meet you. Arthur tells rather exciting stories about you." Mr Weasley said as he shook hands, and they began conversing excitedly about their professions.

Once everyone was seated, and had helped themselves to food, Albus called for silence.

"Feel free to eat whilst i talk, for i may be talking for rather a long time." Dumbledore said with a grin.

"You can say that again." Said Ron who was digging into a chicken and vegetable pie.

"Now basically Harry has agreed that he would like to return to Pharaphax to try and gain the protective charm Hells Blessing. Im going to be telling you the rough idea of what they shall be doing, and just giving one a better idea of what is install for them, so they can make a final more educated decision."

"What's with the satanic name?" remus asked as he put his hand up.

"That's a good question Remus, and basically it comes form the final part of the charm, which involves a dragon breathing fire on you."

There was a loud gasp at this, and Hermione looked as if she was going to faint. flying still scared her but dragons, they were in another league.

"Don't worry, that is the most dangerous part of it, though if all is done correctly it should involve no danger whatsoever.

"Now there are three vital parts to obtaining this blessing. The children, along with Remus and Tonks, would travel to the floating city of Pharaphax, where they would obtain the blood of a legenendary bird."

"Then they will travel to the underground city, where they will have to gain Venom of a spider." He said as Ron stopped eating, and went rather rigid. "Finally you will need the ink from a squid located in the sea around the wizarding town. After all of that Marcus shall mix together the ingredients, and you shall each apply some to yourself, before visiting the dragon on the ice mountain, where its fiery flames shall finalize the spell. Is that all correct Marcus?" Dumbledore checked as he looked to his left, and received a nod. "Good now the children shall be on a tight schedule. If they leave in about an hours time, they should arrive in Pharaphax around six o clock, meaning that after that night they will have five full days before the veil is closed.

"At no point do i wish for you to take the risk of the veil closing, because as i said you will be trapped there until the end of March, which is when it is next due to open. However there is no reason why you should get short on time, because if done correctly each part will only take around half a day, leaving you plenty of time to recuperate. I don't know some of the finner details, but Marcus will be there to guide you through the tasks."

"Will you not be going yourself?" Molly asked as she looked at Albus.

"No im afraid not, i dare not leave earth for even a day, for if Voldemort were to find out he could create quite a mess."

"I shall also not being going with them to retrieve the items, though i shall be helping them as much as i can." Marcus said whilst helping himself to some vegetables.

"You say it will be dangerous?" Asked Arthur, out of mere curiosity rather than worry. If there was danger involved then Fred might be up for making a bet. after all if you were going to loose a son you might as well make a fortune at the same time.

"Exceedingly." Dumbledore said truthfully. There is no point in lying, for it wouldn't be fair. as im sure Marcus can vouch for, if people find out our wizards, your life could be in great danger."

"Also each of the items will be dangerous to obtain, and if not done correctly the charm will be dangerous, though i assure you it will be done correctly." he said as he shot a look at Marcus which said there would be hell to pay if there wasn't. "However i do believe that it is possible, and that the benefits are far worth it. To be immune to the Avada Kedavra curse is the greatest protection you can have, and the only spell without an ulterior prevention method.

"Are the children really in that much danger from Voldemort?" Molly asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm afraid they are, yes." Dumbledore said as he looked at everyone. Harry was getting rather uncomfortable, because he knew that the real reason they were in danger was because of him. After all to Voldemort who were Ron and Hermione, just two Hogwarts students. Harry however was the one destined to defeat him, or be defeated.

"Mmm will the children have somewhere nice to sleep?" Molly finally asked as it seemed she couldnt think of any other objections.

"The tent is great . Fit for a king." Remus said in a manner which suggested he was lying.

"Well that's good. Ron gets a little funny sometimes if he's not got a comfortable bed." blaise probably would had laughed, if it hadn't been for the fact she felt rather out of place, and that misses Weasley could be like an angry rhino when she wanted to be.

Everyone carried on with their dinner, after all business of Pharaphax had finished. The children mostly sat in silence and listened to Marcus telling an exciting story about how some one hundred earth years ago, him and Albus had battled against a pack of hungry dragons with nothing more than toothbrushes and sack of spoons. (They had a strange eye for bargains.) After that story died down, and Marcus started talking about a story which didn't involve ridiculously large amounts of danger, Hermione turned to Harry and asked,

"So what is Pharaphax like?"

Harry considered this for a long moment.

"Well i only saw one sector, and the city of Harmonia. The sector we flew through was quiet for the most part, we saw a few animals, and a great big bear. I guess its a lot like the American plains." harry said as he remembered learning about it in history back before he had started Hogwarts.

"Were there many people there?" She asked eagerly, as if she were looking forward to the whole experience. Harry wasn't going to say so, but it would be a lot more fun with Ron and Hermione to keep him company. He didn't know about Blaise. She had a habit of sulking and hitting him

"There weren't that many people in the sun sector. there were a few signs that people had been living there, but we only really saw one house. Of course i expect that its because it must be quite difficult to live there, there weren't many rivers. If anyone was going to live there they would probably live right by the edge, next to the icy mountain where it would be cooler." Harry said as he tried to picture people lounging round in the sun, before getting up off the deck chairs, walking ten feet and chipping off some ice for their drink from a great big mountain that pierced the sky.

"No, i didn't see it, though all goes well we will get to. I don't know if it will look much different from earth ones, though i guess i have never really been up one to say if they are good or not."

"And what are people like?" Hermione asked as she took a sip of the fruit juice in front of her.

"Now they were a little different actually." Harry said as he lowered his voice incase he offended Marcus. "I expect it is just because the type of city that Harmonia is, but they were all very dirty, and they seemed to sleep during the day, and drink all night long. hmmm, do you know what stevenage is like?" Harry asked her with a smile.

"Yeah. I have been there a few times. I have a grandmother who lives a few miles away, why?" she asked

"Well its a lot like that, except that all the decency has been washed away."


	66. The Cave

Hi. Thanks for all the reviews i have been getting lately. its great. There were a couple i wanted to send replies to, but my email was playing up, and it wouldnt let me.

Anyway i really enjoyed writing this chapter, so hopefully you will enjoy reading it.

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After dinner finished they started on their desert, which in a way began to feel like a last super, as a tense silence went over everyone. Mixing with magic hating muggles was supposed to be dangerous, but collecting a giant spiders venom was in another league, and that league was on the other side of the world from Ron. After they had finally finished Harry, Ron, Hermione and Blaise all got up, and ready to leave.

"Will i need my coat?" Blaise asked Remus as she took a long cream coloured coat from the hook.

"Yes i should bring it incase. you may not need it when we first get there, but when your hiking up that mountain in a few days time i know you will want it." He said with out any sound of excitement in his voice.

"Look out for Harry and the others won't you Ronald." Miss Weasley sobbed as she hugged him goodbye. "I know they are all very capable, but you can never have to many people watching your back."

"Don't worry mum, we will be fine." Ron said as he attempt to pry himself out of his mother grasp before Blaise could notice. It didn't really work as misses Weasley had developed over the years an enormous amount of strength, after trying to keep Fred and George out of trouble. Blaise saw this but didn't say anything. Probably because she realized that if she were to go insulting everyone, she wouldn't be particularly popular. At least at school she would have Slytherin on her side. Harry was thankful for this, as he didn't want any arguments breaking out during the week ahead, though he knew that was being unrealistically optimistic.

"Come on now, time is ticking." Marcus said as he stared down it his watch, before his eyes widened. "We still have work to do tonight, so don't try slacking off. It won't be a picnic, and at this rate you wont be sleeping till morning." He lectured them all, as they finished saying their goodbyes, and stepped out onto the front porch area. Everyone had a broom with them, though apparently Marcus would be able to make them a Portkey for most of the time. They also had a backpack filled with food, drinking water, a few items of medicicine, and other things like sleeping blankets. that they may need in an emergency.

They began making their way through the shallow water, over to the small island on which the Veil was created. It was a warm night, and the shallow water was cool and refreshing on their feet. Each step they took sent splashes and ripples across the surfaces, breaking the reflection of the bright moon above them.

"Will you be alright for the whole trip Remus?" Asked Harry suddenly as he thought of something. "With your condition and everything..." They carried on as Remus considered this.

"I don't know Harry. That's something i guess we are going to find out. Will the moon be in its full phase during the next week?" He asked Marcus who was leading them.

"I can't say without looking it up in the charts. I don't spend much time looking up at the sky, there's to much trouble down on the ground, your a werewolf are you then?" He asked, not in a disgusted tone, but rather in idle curiosity.

"Yes." Remus said firmly. "I have a wolfsbane potion just incase."

"Well let's hope you don't need it because as a dog you won't be much use to us. In fact i don't even know if the Pharaphaxian moon will have the same effect on you. We don't have werewolf's, haven't done for as long as i can remember. Does it cause any problems if you take the potion anyway, and don't turn into a werewolf."

"No, not much. I can't say i have really taken it deliberately for no reason, but once or twice i got my dates mixed up and i took it a day early. All that happened was i felt rather tired, though that could just the side effect of being a teacher." Remus said with a small laugh. Marcus would have laughed had it been in his personality.

"well no use worrying over un spilt milk." He said as they finally made it onto the island. "Ok now im going to tell you what to do when we get back into Pharaphax." Marcus instructed as they all stood around and listened. "Now im afraid i won't be able to stay with you tonight, or any night, for i will need to return to my house in order to live."

"Can we not come along?" Remus asked hopefully. He was quite interested in seeing the magical see that Harry seemed to know about.

"No, im afraid not. It has protection spells which mean for as long as im alive anyone who goes within one hundred feet of it will die." he said in a way that left no doubt to the fact he was being serious. "However i know of a place that im sure you could spend the night, where i can meet up with you tomorrow. It's quite safe."

"And where is this place?" Asked Tonks curiously.

"Its a small house located here in the desert sector. Some way closer to Harmonia. Owned by a nice family called the Blights.

"Tell them that your friends with me, and that should do the trick." Marcus said, as he walked through the Veil, and into Pharaphax, everyone anxiously followed him. It was darker on the other side, and colder. It was no longer hot, as it had been that morning. Now although it was still warm, there was a cool humidity to it that clung to the floor like a smokey carpet.

"Now i will meet you tomorrow morning, with plans of the mission to obtain the first ingredient. Other than that, I hope you sleep well." He said as he pulled out a pencil form his pocket, turned it into a Portkey, and before anything could be said, he was gone.

"Mmm so you know where this house is?" Blaise asked as she kicked at the dry earth and looked around.

"Yeah, i think its that house we past on our way to Harmonia last time, but that will take hours to fly there." Remus said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We should have asked him to make us a Portkey before he left. I guess we don't have much choice now other than to fly there."

"Can't we just stay here?" Blaise asked as she pointed to the large wooden building just like the one they had left behind.

"No, im afraid we can't Blaise. It isn't safe. Now speaking of danger lets get on our brooms before we find any." Remus instructed. they all mounted their brooms, and a minute later the kicked up into the air.

"We will need to go quite high." Harry told Remus as he flew to the front. "Visibility doesn't look very good, so if we want to have a chance to see where we are going we will need to get above the mist." Harry said, as they continued to climb. Remus nodded in agreement, and on they went. At one point Harry felt his ears pop, but he dismissed it, and finally they leveled off, far above the sector.

"Damn its colder up here." Tonks said as they flew full pace forwards, trying to get to their destination as quick as possible.

"It will be, its the altitude." Remus explained to her, to little success. "Still we may be able to fly a little faster due to reduced wind resistance." Remus continued.

Harry looked round at the sight. the stars were all out brightly, and the moon was shining, though it wasn't full. Harry couldn't see particularly well, even though they were at such an altitude. He could see the floor, as the moonlight reflected off the sandy ground and pale mist, where as everything else just seemed to merge into darkness around them. Harry couldn't see a mountain, or a floating city, so he took that as a good sign that they were flying straight.

"Would you mind going to the back Harry?" Remus called back loudly, as he voice mostly got washed away by the wind. "It's just that your the best flyer out of us, and if anything should go wrong, it would be best if you could see it."

Harry nodded, and dropped to the back, where Hermione was flying, and doing her best to not look scared.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked as she gritted her teeth and stared ahead.

"Mmm its just we are a little higher than my liking Harry, and the fact that we are in a dangerous unknown land doesn't add to it." She explained. "I mean im fine with flying in quidditch now. You see i realised that there is always a trined wizard at hand to hela me or catch me if i fall, where as here, if i fall, im not even sure you could catch me on these slow brooms. Not to mention great flying monsters could swoop down and attack us or any sort of horrible thing." She said as she worked herself up into quite a state.

"Don't worry Hermione. First off if you did fall, i could catch you, and secondly, you won't fall, and finally i flew through hear all day and we didn't see a single bird or anything remotely dangerous in the sky." He said as he calmed her down.

"Maybe there are no birds because the giant flying monster ate them all." She volunteered a moment later.

"Mmm i suppose that is possible." Harry said teasingly. "But don't worry, your to little to eat. It would go for someone like me or Ronald. By the time it had finished peeling the skin off of us im sure you could fly to safety." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Gee thanks Harry, you sure put my heart at ease." She said sarcastically. "However can i repay you?"

"you could repay me by not worrying." He said, as they flew on in silence.

True enough Hermione didn't worry anymore, or if she did she didn't say it. They carried on for the next hour in relative silence, with only Remus and Tonks passing occasional notes about how they should be flying more one way than the other. During that hour it had become darker and windier, and whilst it was still warn down on the ground, up as high as some of the low flying clouds, it was cold, and more than a little damp.

Harry's hands slipped on his broom at once or two points as the air vapor had made the whole wooden object wet and slippery. Everyone else's brooms seemed to be having the same problem, and Hermione, said about how when they landed she would try to place a drying charm on the broom so it didn't happen in future. For now they slowed down, adjusted their position, and carried on the best they could do, whilst remaining safe. According to Remus's watch, it was eight o clock, though the cloud that seemed to have come over them, made it seem closer to midnight. Remus lit his wand and held it at the front of him so they could still see where they were going, though it didn't really help.

He slowed his broom right down, so that they could all hear hat he was saying. "Ok this is getting pretty dark. We need to keep going though, so if you all pair up into teams them we can make sure that one of you doesn't go missing at any point. Me and Tonks will lead, whilst Ron and Hermione, you can go in the second group, and Harry and Blaise. You two can fly in a pair. Did everyone hear that?" He yelled over the roar of the wind.

"Yeah." They yelled back to him. Remus looked at them for a minute, to see that they were all there, before he urged his broom onwards. Hermione moved forwards, whilst Blaise dropped further back.

"You know the good thing about all this wind?" She shouted to him, though he could scarcely hear her. "It means i can't smell you pig boy." Harry heard this, though he choose to ignore it.

"Me to, with all my heart." He said with a nod as they carried on flying. They flew for another half an hour, before Remus Finalyl concluded, that with the lack of visibility and near glae force winds it was getting to dangerous to fly.

"We are going to have to land." He yelled to them. "We are going to have to put the wizard tent up, if it stays up that is." He said as he signalled for them all to land.

They began to take their brooms down, but despite what he would have expected the wind was even stronger, and the brooms were struggling to move in a straight line. They couldn't see the land below them, and at times it even felt like they weren't going down at all, but rather they were leaning over at a ninty degree angle and going sideways.

"I don't know if i cn keep control of my broom." Hermione yelled shrilly over the howling torrent of wind, and now rain which was coming down on them. Harry watched as her broom was madly going from side to side as she tried to fly forwards, looking like a car skidding on ice. He braced himself incase she did loose control, though he didn't know what he would do, for he doubted he could perform a rescue in the storm. the best he could do was hope she got blown into him, and that he could keep control.

As they went lower Harry expected to see the ground below them, though he couldn't. Of course considering how high up they had been, and how poor visibility was, this was hardly surprising. As they came lower Harry began to make out some sort of object, a large object, to his right. at first he wasn't sure what it was, but then he realized it was a lump of rock, a rather large one, that seemed to go on for quite a long time. Then as he looked down, he saw something, and it all began to make quiet a lot of sense.

There was a raging river, or at least a rather wide river running below them, and the rock that he had seen had been the cliff edge.

"Go up." Harry yelled to them as a gust of wind came along and knocked Harry some feet back, though he kept his position on the broom." At the same time the others realized that something was wrong. They didn't know why there was a cliff face, but it was quiet evident that they didn't want to be going down there, and they didn't want to be landing on the water.

Remus, Tonks and Ron began to pull their brooms up slightly, before another gust of wind battered them back down. The cliff face seemed o be creating pockets of violently swirling wind, which made it darn near impossible to maneuver with any degree of accuracy.

"Head for the cave." Remus yelled as he pointed to a large whole in the cliff face, some fifty feet above the water, and about ten feet deep. They all pulled their brooms towards the shelter, as another great wall of wind hit them, causing Harry to begin to spin, thought he managed to correct it before being thrown off course.

Remus yelled something else back, though his voice was muted by the roaring of the wind and the crashing of the waves and the sound of rain pummeling against every surface in sight, Harry saw Ron and Remus dissappear into the cave, before the strongest gust of wind came up at them form below, and sent Hermione flying backwards. Harry reached out to try and grab her before she got thrown into the sea, or against the cliff face. He missed she she slipped by him by a few inches, and instead she went crashing into Blaise. Hermione managed to reagain control of her broom, and swung round just in time to see Blaise get thrown from her broom, and go hurtling towards the cliff, where her backpack caught on a long dead tree that had somehow managed to find life on the cliff face.

Tonks pulled her broom round and flew towards Hermione, who was still not looking fantastically stable, whilst Harry darted after Blaise who was hanging above her grave. The wind was blowing strongly,. and so Harry made it to Blaise without any trouble, stopping however was another matter. He let go off his broom with one hand, whilst the other gripped on as tight as it could, to the slippery wet broom. He took Blaises hand.

"I've got you." He yelled to her, as she hung blowing in the wind, with wide eyed fright.

Harry was surprised to find out however, that the tree was still quite strong. He had been expecting the branch to break by now, but the only thing that broke was her backpack. One of the plastic buckles went white as it bent under the strain, before snapping in half, leaving Blaise to fell out of the remaining strap. She fell a few feet in the air as Harry tried to keep ahold of her, and control of his broom. He cast a brief glance up to see where Tonks and Hermione were, to see if they could help, but the rain was splashing so strongly against his glasses that he couldn't see a thing in that direction.

He finally managed to pull Blaise up on to his broom, though in all the struggle they had blown some way down the cliff face, and Remus and the others, along with the backpack, had dissapeared from sight. Blaise threw her arms round Harry, and clung on tightly for life, as they broom continued to fly back in the wind. Harry desperately leant forwards, as he tried to urge the broom onwards, but to o avail. Another gust of wind blew them dangerous close to the cliff face, And Harry realized at this point, that returning would be impossible, at least for tonight.

He drew his broom round, and looked for something. He finally spotted it, ten or so feet below them, and a little way in front, was a small cave. Harry managed to steer the broom very roughly, when he wasn't fighting against the wind, and with all the effort and control he could muster, he finally managed to steer the broom into the small cave. As soon as he was in he relaxed, let the broom fall to the ground, and let his hands go loose. his fingers seemed to have locked in place as his knuckles remained white from gripping and fear. His arms had cramped up most painfully, and in the midst of all the exhaustion and fear, Harry fell asleep.

He awoke, with no idea of how long he had been asleep. He looked out to the cave mouth to see it was as windy as ever, which meant it had either not been that long, or else they would be lucky to ever get out alive.

"How long was i asleep for?" Harry asked as he spotted Blaise sitting by the wall, holding her knees to her chest.

"About thirty seconds. I just dragged you in a little so you weren't getting wet in the rain." She said quietly. Harry pulled himself up, and looked round at the cave he had chosen. It wasn't very large. Only about five feet wide, and no more than six feet deep. The ceiling was just high enough that they could sit up without banging their heads. The first foot or so of the cave mouth was getting wet from the rain driving in, which meant that usable space was even shorter.

"Mmm are you alright." He asked after a minute as he thew off his soaked robe, leaving him in just his trousers and t shirt. He had a few bruises, and he had a small cut on his knee from when he had landed in the cave, but other than that he expected he would live through the night, hoping they didn't die of pneumonia first. Blaise concidered this fora several moments, as her brian was still a little slow from the shock and fear of nearly loosing her life. "Blaise?" Harry asked after a moment more went by.

"Ohhh. I think im fine." She said as she shook her head and tried to get her brain functioning properly.

"I don't think Remus and the others will be able to come and help us." Harry said as the wind continued to howl outside. "At least not until the storm dies down, and im afraid to say it doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon.

"They did a great job of protecting us." Blaise said as she got back her sarcastic self. "First night and they already fail." She complained as she started shivering.

"you knew this mission was dangerous when you signed up." Harry said as he tried not to gt angry with her. "Look we might be stuck here for a while so the bet thing we can do is try to get along. If you want to be angry at Remus and Tonks then you can b, but i don't want to hear about it." Harry said firmly

He looked round for his backpack, before realizing he was still wearing it. He took it off and opened it up and poured the contents across the floor. There were some biscuits, along with some chocolate bars and a tin of peaches. Other than that there was some medicine, which didn't look much like use at the moment, and a blanket which would be worth its weight in gold. You will get ill if you stay wearing those clothes." Harry said as he blushed at the thought of it.

"Well i guess i will get ill then." She said defiantly as she knew exactly what the alternative was.

"You can be stubborn as you like, but i know that you will get ill, and so will i , if you dont get dry." Harry said as he pulled off his t shirt. he was very embaressed. He would admit that, but he knew the dangers of being cold, and he wasn't going to take the risk. He laid his t shirt out on the floor , before finding two small rocks and placing them next to each other. He then drw out his wand, waed it, and a drying spell began, Harry carefully balanced the wand on the rocks, and sat back to admire the makeshift fan heater.

"I don't know how long that will last, but if you want your clothes dry i suggest you get them in front of that now, as he began removing his trousers.

It was one of the few times Harry had ever been thankful for not wearing the underwear with the bears on it, as cool as they were. Harry sat back near the wall, though not against it. "You can wear this." Harry said as he passed her the blanket that was at the bottom of the bag. It was rough, but quiet warm. Blaise eyed the blanket enviously for a moment before snatching it out of his hand.

"Ok then fine. I suppose your right, but don't you dare try to look at me." She said as she wrapped it around herself and took off her coat.

Harry turned his back to her as an extra precaution whilst she undressed down to her underwear.

"I tell you if you try anything, i will throw you out of into the rain." She said as she laid her clothes down in front of his wand.

"I know." Said Harry truthfully with a smile. It was funny in a way. The predicament they were in. Not that it was fun by any means, but if anyone had told him that Blaise Zabini would be sitting in her underwear a few feet away from him, he would have thought they were madder than Moody, and he was nuttier than a large dundee cake.

"You can have some of the chocolate bars." Harry said as he pushed them towards her, still keeping his back turned. "But im afraid i will need to have the biscuits because that wand is draining my energy in order to dry the clothes and keep the cave warm." He said as he reached behind him for the biscuits. He felt around for them for a minute, unable to locate them before Blaise put them in his hand.

"Thanks i guess." She said as she began eating one of the chocolate bars. She drew out her wand a moment later, and pointed it at the cave entrance, after a bit of wiggling and an incantation there was a small fizzing sound.

"What was that?" Harry asked, as he couldn't see what she had done.

"I just put a small static charm on the cave entrance." She said as she put the wand back in the trouser pockets. "It's not great but its the best i know. It should stop some of the cold air getting in and some of the warm air getting out." She explained.

"Wow i haven't heard of that spell before. Must not be in the syllabus." Harry said impressed.

"Well its just a charm i picked up last year. You could probably do better...pig boy." She said more out of habit than spite.

"Maybe. I hope that spell of yours works though. Its fricking freezing in here. I never knew a bunch of rocks could be so cold." He said with goosebumps all over his body. "Hogwarts must be made of magic bricks because they were never this cold." He said with chattering teeth.

"Well as i said it should warm up a little." Blaise said although the lack of certainty in her voice was detectable.

"Mmm, i wish i hadn't given you that blanket now." Harry said a moment later. "I was trying to be gentlemanly, i mean you had a scare any everything, but now... Pity the Crelatio charm doesn't work here." Otherwise i could just try and make some warm dry clothes, or a thermal sleeping bag." He said fondly, as he cast his mind back to a non existent time when he had owner the worlds largest thermal clothing collection. "I wonder how the others are, and what they are upto?" Harry asked as he tried not to think of things relating to temperature.

In the other cave Remus, Tonks, Ron and Hermione all sat around a conjured smokeless fire, cooking a few sausages. It wasn't large enough to open out the tent, otherwise they would have had a whole variety of food to choose from, not to mention comfy beds to sit on. Still, it looked like they would just have to soldier through it all. With the glass wall that tonks had transfigured, and the fire and the food it wasn't that bad comfort wise. There was still the issue of Harry that needed addressing however.

Tonks had said that she saw Harry grab hold of Blaise as she fell from the tree, but after that they got blown in into the distance where they couldn't be seen. Hermione wasn't very confident in the whole matter, and seemed to fear the worst. She was crying whilst Ron was trying to comfort her.

"Are you honestly thinking that the great Harry Potter was finished off by a bit off wind and rain?" Ron asked as he tried to remind Hermione of all the amazing misses Harry had escaped in the past. "Compared to a dark lord i bet this is a walk in the park. He's probably sitting in big cave just down form us with champagne and a television." He joked.

Ron was doing a good job. Remus could see that. He had calmed Hermione down considerably, and not once had he let his doubt show through. Still he had wanted to go and look for Harry. Remus practically had to tie Ron down after Tonks flew in and told them what happened. Ron had jumped up and was ready to charge on out before Remus managed to grab hold of him and pull him back.

"It's to dangerous Ron. If Harry alive he will stay alive. you risking your life to go out there looking for him wont do any help. Wait till the storms over, then spend the next five days looking if you wish, but you can't go now." Remus said sternly.

"You can turn around." Blaise said after a minute. "Im all wrapped up so there isn't anything to see, even though i know you want to. Pervert!" Blaise said as she started on a second chocolate bar. although she had eaten a large dinner, only a short while after lunch, she felt hungry from all the flying, and after a near death experience she felt she could do with some indulging. Harry turned round to see Blaise sitting next to her clothes looking at them, like a master chef waiting till the food is cooked to just the right perfection.

Harry scooted a little closer to his wand where he could just about feel the heat coming off of it.

He purred in appreciation of the warmth, causing Blaise to give him a mildly disgusted look.

"God damn how long does it take to get my clothes dry?" He complained as he felt them and saw that they were still rather wet. The only difference now was that they were warm and wet.

"You don't need to keep the wand running, i know it must be using all your energy. I wouldn't want to get blamed for you dying." She said in a manner which suggested that was the only reason why she didn't want him to die.

"No, i need to keep it going, if i don't get the clothes dry i will freeze to death."

"you will freeze to death if you use up all your energy as well."Blaise said, though Harry chose to ignore this.After a moments silence, in which Blaise had several internal arguments, she spoke.

"You can share the blanket if you like." She said with embarrassment and self loathing. Harry wasn't listening as she said this.

"Pardon?" He asked as he finished off his packet of rich tea biscuits.

"I said..." Blaise repeated through gritted teeth. "That you can share the blanket if you want."

"Really. are you sure?" Harry asked in stunned disbelief.

"Welll you can carry on sitting in the cold if you would rather." She said as she looked down at her clothes.

"No, it's not that. Im just surprised... I mean, your not decent or anything1" He said with a whisper.

"I am a very decent person i will have you know." She said angrily. "I try and be nice and you insult me." She said as she looked for a rock to throw at him.

"No, i didn't mean it like that." Harry said defensively as he shielded his face. "I meant your not decent as in appropriately dressed.

Blaise put down the rock as Harry explained this, and blushed.

"Yeah, i know that. As long as you try not to touch me much i guess we can share, since it i your blanket and i wouldn't want you stinking up the cave or anything if you died!" She warned. Harry gulped as he scooted over, and with as much caution as he could, joined her under the blanket. His leg rubbed a bit against hers, as did his elbow and hip. He tried to keep as far away form her as possible, whilst still keeping the blanket wrapped around them. It wasn't entirely large enough for two people.

"You can put your wand away if you like." Blaise said to Harry, who panicked for a moment before he reached forward, and stopped the spell. "Hopefully we will get rescued soon, and if not our clothes should dry out on their own by morning, and we can go and look for the others then." She said as she slumped back, causing Harry to quickly do the same or else risk getting told off for trying to look at her, something he was not mad enough to do.

"Thanks." He said as he laid there under the warm blanket with her. It was wrapped underneath them as well so that they didn't have to lay on the cold stone floor. Unfortunately this meant there wasn't much room, and they could help but touch a little. Harry reached over and pulled the backpack towards them so Blaise could use it as a pillow. He used his shoes, which were uncomfortable, but better than rocks.

"Just shut up and sleep." Blaise instructed as she rolled over so her back was facing him. Harry rolled the other way, and closed his eyes. the last thing he could remember, before he drifted off into sleep, was the steady breathing of him and Blaise, before she whispered almost inaudibly.

"Pervert..."


	67. Under the Sun

This is a little bit longer than the usual chapter... though only by a little. I just wanted to say that i have a new job now... not many more hours, but it is still more. Therefore if i dont add 2 chapters a week like im tending to do at the moment, then please don't get angry.

another thing, if you read the chapters, please review them.....Michelle... -.-

Thanks .

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The night passed by coldly, with the rain going on outside for many hours, but like all great storms, they are only great for so long, before they loose their ferocity and subside into a blustery damp day. Harry awoke as he tried to roll his head. Sleeping with his head resting on his shoes had done a terrible thing for his neck, which now felt stiff and aching. It took him several seconds to remember the events that transpired the day before, that had led to him sleeping in a cave, next to Blaise, in just their underwear, with him hugging her. Her gently moved his arm off of her, and back to a safe place, as he cast his eyes to the cave entrance to try and get some idea of what time it was.

It was still a little dark outside by the looks of it,which meant it must have been early morning. He was tempted to go back to sleep for a little while longer, yet now that he was awake he was feeling cold again. He guessed that Blaise's charm must have worn off because he could feel a gentle breeze blowing in from outside, though it wasn't as bitterly cold as last night. The sun had begun to rise, and the water was warming, and rather than driving rain, instead the only thing the breeze carried was a little sea spray from the gigantic river running outside the cave.

He carefully managed to slide out of the blanket without looking at Blaise, He cursed inwardly as his feet touched down on the cold hard stone of the cave floor, which would probably take hours to warm up. He quickly moved over to where they had left their clothes drying, to find that they were now mostly wearable. They were a little wet in some parts, such as the pockets and the collar, but they would be pleasantly wearable, and in the desert sun they would probably dry out in no time. Harry slipped on his t shirt and trousers. His clean change of clothes had been packed away in the wizarding tent, so Harry would have to make do with smelling a little, he though to himself, though he would be hard pushed to find anyone in Pharaphax who would notice.

Blaise groaned a little as she drew the blanket tighter round herself,and rolled onto her back. Harry would let her sleep a little longer before waking her up, after all even if they did have an early night, Harry knew it wasn't wise to wake a girl up before they were ready to wake up. He wanted a drink of water, but it was in the backpack that Blaise was using as a pillow, so until she woke up it would have to do. Instead he decided to inspect his broom and see that it hadn't received any damage during the storm, or when he had landed it. The bottom of the handle was scuffed, and the glass of the compass was shattered but it seemed that it should still be able to fly, so they could plan on going after the others soon.

Blaise opened her eyes, and found herself staring at the cave wall. Harry had been holding her a minute ago, until she woke up. She was tempted to jump up and hit him, but she supposed if he was asleep then perhaps he couldn't help it. Besides, it was a sensation she had long given up on feeling. One of being close to someone, and feeling wanted. She knew it was stupid, and she hated to admit it, but at the same time she knew it was true and there was no point in denying it.

It had warmed up a little, though Blaise was still cold. She would have gotten up and got dressed, had she not wanted to give away the fact she was awake. When she was asleep it was peaceful. It was peaceful now, but when she was awake she had a habit of being shouted at, and shouting at other people, and it was generally not a fun experience. She waited till Harry had finished dressing, and then a few more minute for luck before she began to appear to wake up.

"Finally awake are you?" Harry asked with a smile as he sat against one of the smoother walls, massaging his neck.

"If im not im a damned talented sleep talker." She said back sarcastically. She glanced down to make sure the blanket was still drawn tight around her neck. "would you mind giving me a little privacy whilst i get changed." She asked, as Harry blushed, before quickly nodding and turning his back to her. After pretending to move for a minute, and seeing that he hadn't turned round, she quickly moved over and grabbed her clothes before redressing underneath the blanket.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked politely

"As well as can be expected, the backpack was bit lumpy, but i guess its a damn site better than the shoes by the looks of the neck ache you have." She said as she watched him. Harry laughed and stopped. There was a moment silence that fell between them as the only sound that could be heard was the distant splashing of the water against the rocks, and the wind blowing across the rock face.

"Do you hate me?" She asked, which took Harry back a bit.

"Why would you ask that?" He asked as he began to turn round, before he stopped himself.

"Well i can tell the others don't like me. Hermione and Ron, and most people actually. Yet I'm not sure about you. Your nice to me is that just so that we aren't constantly shouting, or what?" She asked as she finished pulling on her trousers. She felt her coat, which was still quite wet, so she left that to dry some more.

"No i don't hate you." Harry said truthfully. "The way i see it is that we need to spend time together in lessons, and he did at the school dance and we have to for the next five days, so we might as well be friends."

"But why be friends?" Blaise asked in puzzlement as she pulled on her trainers. "You can look now by the way." She added as she threw the blanket off of her, and pulled the backpack into the middle of the cave.

"Well you can never have to many friends can you." Harry said as he turned back round. It was strange for Blaise to enquire into his thoughts, but he didn't mind. After all if she was being friendly, then in some way he had done a good thing. "Except when it comes to buying christmas presents." Harry added with a laugh, though as he said this Blaise seemed to display a faintly sad look, so harry stopped.

"But why would you want to be friends with me? You know what people say, most of them are true. Like that third year who's arm i broke and stuff." She said without any sign of pride. Harry considered this for several seconds before replying.

"Even if that is the case i still think you could be a friend." Harry said as he reached into the backpack and searched for any food that could be used as breakfast. There was still a can of peaches, which Harry opened, and passed to Blaise. They had no bowls or spoons, so she gingerly reached in and took one out. They were sweet and refreshing early in the morning, though they were also rather sticky.

"But im a bad person. There are plenty of decent people you could be friends with instead." She said as she passed the tin back to him.

"I don't think your a bad person." Harry said as he drank some of the juice from the tin. "I think that your a good person, but sometimes when a person is lost, they do bad things. It's not their fault."

"In what way am i lost?" Blaise asked quietly. She had rarely had people discuss her in such a manner. Make her sound so helpless, it was embarrassing.

"Well i see it like this." Harry said as he considered how to put it. "Sometimes you say bad things to people, but i don't think you mean it. I guess that maybe something happened that means you don't trust very many people, so if anyone tries to get close to you, you can't help but be defensive. I might be wrong, i don't mind if you don't tell me if im right or not. It's just what i think about you at least." Blaise felt a strange connection to Harry at that point, as for the first time in her life she could remember someone understanding her.

"You're not wrong." She said as she debated with herself whether or not to tell him about it. "I don't think i trust you enough to tell you, but i suppose im thankful that you have such a kind view of me. Most people wouldn't give me a chance." She said as she took the peaches back off him.

"Well im not most people." Harry said brightly as he pulled out a flask of water and a small folded up map of Pharaphax. "Now im really not sure where we could be." Harry said as he pointed down to the map. "You see the thing is that we are on a cliff face, which means the only place we could theoretically be, is here, at the edge of the world." Harry said as he pointed to where the desert sector stopped and where the magical sea began.

"But there is one thing that puzzles me, which is that the sea looked quite normally, and secondly, last night when i grabbed you from the tree, im sure i saw some land opposite us."

"Maybe there was a small outcrop of rock." Blaise suggested as she pointed to a spot where there were a few small islands marked.

"I don't know." Harry said with uncertainty. "But i bet we can see better now." He suddenly added as he went to get up, and banged his head on the cave ceiling.

He rubbed his head, as he made his way to the entrance and looked out. It was a sight that he didn't think he would ever forget. Crystal blue waters were running below, whilst the cliff face shone like an enormous black slab next to it. The most remarkable part though, was that as Harry looked into the distance, without ran he could see quite well. A few hundred feet away, on the other side of the river, was an enormous mountain, bigger that any he had ever seen, of pure crystal clear ice. It went up as far as he could see, like a massive glass wall.

"Wow you have to see this." Harry said breathlessly as he signaled for Blaise to come over. She gave a sigh as she came over next to him, and stared out at the massive bulk before them. The early sunlight was shining through the ice and refracting at all different angles, giving it a magical looking quality she had never seen before, except in small glass models that had been specially cut.

"Wow, that pretty cool." Said Blaise in awe. "What is it though." She asked.

"Well im not certain, but im fairly sure that is the edge of the icelands. The great mountains of ice that reach into the clouds, where the dragon that will perform the fusing of the charm can be located."

"That means we must be at the edge of the desert sector. I didn't know there was a river running between them though. Its not marked here on the map." Harry said as he folded the map back up and put it in the rucksack. "Still, if you are all ready then we can go and look for the others. no time like the present, as they say", He said as he took the last piece of peach, and began stuffing the blanket back into the bag. "They shouldn't be to far up ahead." He said as he took hold of the broom.

"Where would you like it?" He asked as he looked at her. Blaise stared back at him with a blank look.

"What?" She asked as she hastily tied up her shoe laces.

"I mean on the broom. You lost your's so we will have to share. I was just wondering if you ould like to fly at the front of the back." He said as though it was all very obvious.

"I think i should probably take the back seat." She said as she climbed up onto the broom behind Harry, and braced herself for take off.

As they flew out into the fresh morning air it felt cool and invigorating. The cave had been rather small and dark, and should either of them suffer from claustrophobia, it would have been a nightmare. Although the sun was still low in the sky it Hurt Harry's eyes as he looked around. He needed to squint for several seconds before they adjusted to the relative brightness. He did a circle with the broom as he breathed in the fresh air with deep gulps, like he had never breathed before.

"Stop messing around." Said Blaise, who felt much more unsafe on a broom that she wasn't controlling. "Don't test our luck." she added as she held onto him tight.

"Ok. I'm sorry." Harry said as he slowed down, though he wasn't being sincere. He had to fly past the cliff face three times before he spotted the cave that the others were in. It was quite well hidden from the air, with a rocky outcrop covering half the entrance, and the floor looking like the other part of the wall. It was only the fact he could see past of a broom that caused him to notice it.

"Want to give them a surprise and fly on in there dead quickly?" Harry asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"No." Blaise said with a frown, which harry didn't see.

"Well you don't have a choice." Harry said as he pulled the broom down into a dive as fast as it could go, which wasn't that fast. He pulled the broom up as they reached the right altitude, and darted into the cave where he could see the others were already awake. They didn't see Harry and Blaise until they were a few feet away from the entrance. Tonks jumped in shock and spilt some of her hot chocolate (which she had cooled down), whilst Ron and Hermione jumped up from where they had been sat.

"You're alive!" Ron said happily as he ran over and pulled Harry into a tight hug.

"What you expected me to die that easily?" Harry asked with a smile of bemusement.

"I didn't but she did." Ron said as he rolled his eyebrows and pointed towards Hermione. Harry let go of Ron and turned to Hermione who was standing there with tear stained cheeks.

"Honestly, you should know me better than that." Harry said as He held Hermione in a tight embrace. He ran his hands through her hair as she cried softly for a minute or two.

"So what happened?" Remus eventually asked as he boiled a kettle and began to pour some more hot chocolate for everyone. "Tonk said she saw you two get swept away in the wind. We were afraid you would get thrown against the rock face, or fall in the water and get taken away by the currents." Harry took a seat on one of the more comfortable looking rocks, and began to explain the story about how they ha spotted the other cave as they were being swept away, though he choose not to go into detail about what had happened after that. He didn't feel like discussing it, and he suspected Blaise didn't want it mentioned either.

"Anyway that important think is that we are alive and well. I think we should get going soon, becasue we are meant to be at the Blight house this morning where Marcus will meet us." Remus said as he finished his drink. "Will Blaise be able to fly with you Harry?" He added after some concideration.

"In a worse case scenario i think she will have to, though we wont be able to fly as fast or as safely. If it is ok with you i was planning on quickly going back to look for the broom. without the wind i shouldn't be in any danger." Harry said as he picked up one of the brooms.

"Even so, i want to come with you incase." Remus said as he joined Harry.

The two of them flew out of the cave and down closer to the water. It was still a bit choppy, and there was a fair chance it had washed further down river.

"The tree that she got caught on was just there, and the broom fell this way." Harry said as he flew over a a rocky outcrop some area ahead. "I can't be certain, but i think it landed around here. There are no broom rememnants, which i guess is a good thing." He said as he scanned the water. He wouldn't have been at all suprised to see it in splintered remains.

"But the current is going this way, so lets check it out." Remus said as he turned his broom round and they slwoly began heading back the way they had come from, hovering only a few feet above the water. They carefully followed every sticking out rock, every part of the embankment, as they went along. "Hopefully it hasn't washed onto that side of the river." As he nodded in the direction of the enormous ice mountains. "They look cold even from here. Best if we keep our distance for now. Plus if there really are dragons i don't feel at all inclined to disturb them." Remus said with a laugh.

They flew on for a few more minutes, looking.

"We can give it another ten minutes before i think we should just call it quits." said Remus. as he flew over to where there was a stick floating in the water. In the end it turned out to be nothing more than a bit of weather oak, washed in somewhere from further out.

"What time is it now?" Harry asked as he frowned. He hated to be beaten, but given how rough the river looked last night it could be miles away.

"Its only twenty past six, but it will take us another hour and a half to get to the Blight house if it is where i think it is."

They flew on for a few more minutes until Remus asked something which took Harry by surprise.

"Do you like Blaise?" Harry quickly took his eyes off the water, to see that Remus was being very serious.

"I think its a little early for me to be liking anyone." He said as he cast a quick thought to the late Cho... "And no, not really, we are just friends. why do you ask?" he added suspiciously.

"No reason in particular. Just the way you behave around each other. Still, if you did like her. You could always talk to me. someone need to teach you about boy stuff." Remus said with a hint of embarrassment Harry smiled at this for a minute.

"Remus, i share a dormitory with five other sixteen and year old boys. I learned about that a while ago, but thanks anyway." He said as he returned to searching.

Then he spotted it. At first it just merged in with the plants, and looking like one of the branches of a shrub growing near the bank, but as they drew closer harry became more and more sure, until there was no confusing that it was indeed the broom they were looking for.

"Hey there it is." He called as he pulled his broom forwards over to the plant that it was entangled in. It was several feet above water level, which showed how much more violent it must have been flowing last night.

"Well if that wasn't a stroke of luck i don't know what it." Remus said happily as Harry tied some rope to one end and slung it over his shoulder. "Is it all working properly?"

"I don't know, though i guess we will find out soon enough. I tell you, as soon as we have got that first ingredient im just going straight to bed. If there is one thing i learned form this whole experience, its not to try and use shoes as a makeshift pillow."

The two of them flew back to the cave, where the others had just about finished putting their things away. Tonks was still trying to stuff one of the blankets in her backpack, but other than that they were ready to go. Blaise was rather happy that Harry had found her broom, though she complained about how he had bent some of the twigs. He ignored this and got ready for the flight.

"The mountains on the other side of the river are really spectacular aren't they Harry." Hermione said to him a few minutes after they had taken off.

"Yes, but im not looking forward to the time when we have to be there." He said with a small smile, as they carried on with their journey

He was mildly curious as to what this Blyth family were like. In a way he imagined an old man and woman a lot like Marcus. In another he imaged a Amish family, but either way he guessed they wouldn't be fun people. After all what sort of sensible people would choose to live out in the middle of some scorched plains? They carried on flying, and gradually the icy mountains dissapeared as they moved further away from them. At one point Remus decided to try and initiate a game of eye spy, but after using up all the possibilities, which consisted of Sand, grass, tree, dirt, there wasn't much left.

The sun continued to rise, and it was warming on their backs, in a pleasant way. Harry clothes finished drying, and after a little bit he decided it might even get to hot today, after all it was only half seven and already it felt to be about twenty five degrees. If it wasn't for the wind blowing through his hair he suspected it would have been rather uncomfortable, as his traveling cloak was thick and black, and absorbed a lot of heat. They made a quick stop by a small river where they got some more water, and tried to calculate their bearings on a map. Tonks pointed out that they hadn't yet passed a large rocky stretch, which meant they were probably to close to the ice sector still, and that they would have to move further away from it in order to find the house.

They took off again, and continued on their corrected path, which seemed a little bit more familiar. After flying over a desert for hours and hours lots of things look familiar, but he was sure he remembered the dead tree slumped against a rock.

"I wonder which of the tasks we will do first?" Ron asked as the four children flew closely together. "Hopefully it will not be the one with the spider." He said with a weak laugh.

"I don't know, i would quite like to see the one in the floating city of Calmera. It can't be very dangerous if it is in a city can it?" Hermione said anxiously.

"Well it could always be plagued by giant human eating birds." Blaise said. "I don't know it would be dangerous, but professor Dumbledore said it was, and i suspect he is right."

"I would quite like to do the one with the squid and the ink." Harry said after some concideration. I have only been to the beach once, and it sounds quite fun. Also it shouldn't take to long. Maybe we will use gilly weed or something so we can breath underwater." He said optimistically. "Pus if it's going to be very hot today it would be good way to keep cool." As they finished talking Remus fell back on his broom a little.

"Actually the first task you will be doing is the one with the spider venom in the mines. Marcus believes it will be the easiest, and therfore we should do it first."

Everyone exchanged glances, as it didn't sound like it would be easy in any way.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked spectically.

"Well i'm not sure, but Marcus seems to think so, and he is much better informed than i am to make the guess."

"And there is no way we could do that later?" Ron asked with a sickly look on his face.

"Well you could always ask Marcus. He might say yes. If we ever meet up with him again, that is." Remus said as he patted Ron on the back and flew off up ahead again.

They carried on a little while longer, Before Tonks yelled back loudly.

"I see it I see it!" Everyone looked towards where she was pointing, and sure enough, in the distance ahead, and a little way to the left, was the small house that they had seen on the way to Harmonia.

"Not bad, we found it and we didn't have to search for hours." Ron said with a smile, as they all urged their brooms forwards. As they got closer, again they could see that no one was outside, though this time there were some clothes hanging on a washing line, which meant someone at least lived there. They just hoped it was the Blight's house, and not another one.

As they drew closer, they landed their brooms, and walked a little closer. There were several different parts to the house. There was the main building itself, and then there was a barn, a well, and a vegetable patch. There was also a small bathroom further away by the looks of it. The house was painted white, though it could do with another coat, as it had started peeling off in heavy weather.

There was a wooden frame next to the house, that looked as if something was being built. They walked further round the house, as they looked for the front door, and eventually came to one, with a large porch on the front, and two chairs, overlooking the swing by the tree.

They cautiously walked up to the door, and looking as un threatening as possible, whilst still all having their wands at the ready they knocked. There was a minute silence that passed before they heard a sound form within. There was lots of shuffling, and a bang, before a man in his mid thirties came to the door. He had a mess of brown hair, and clothes that matched the wealth of his house. He stared at them uncertainly, for a minute, before asking in a voice with a bit of an accent.

"May I help you?" The six travelers exchanged looks before Remus replied.

"We are friends of Marcus Pennywhistle." Harry wasn't sure what to expect, but it was probably something big. Instead all he got back was a small.

"Oooh, well is that so."

"So you would be wizards then?" He asked after a silence passed between them and some tumbleweed blew past.

"Er yes, we would, is that a problem then?" Tonks asked as she pulled the wand further up her sleeve.

"No. not particularly. It's just that my wife's a little cautious around magic. Would you mind if i took your wands for now. It would make her more at ease." The man replied

"Is that absolutely necessary." Remus asked uncertainly. He wasn't about to hand over their only weapon to a man they hardly knew.

"No, not a problem as such, but if you are a friend of Mr Pennywhistles then you should have no reason not to trust me.

"What's your name?" Remus asked suspciously. So far this man had given no signal that he was even Mr Blight.

"Im Andrew Blight." He said slowly. Harry still wasn't sure of the man, but it seemed Remus was, as he passed his wand over. Slowly the others followed his lead, and a moment later he pocketed the six wands. "You can come in now." He said to them as he turned and headed back inside the house. They followed him in, and closer the door behind them. It was quite dim inside the house, as there didn't seem to be any lights anywhere, though there were a few candles around the place, that weren't lit. The floor was wooden in the kitchen, where they found themselves. There was a round table in the middle, with several seats around it.

There were several cupboards on one wall, with a large gas oven and sink on the other wall, underneath the window.

"Have a seat." Andrew said as he took on of the seats himself. "There was a plastic container with some sort of oats in, which he pushed to the side so as not to block the view of the six intruders. Harry sat down next to Hermione and Blaise, whilst Tonks and Remus took the seats closest to Andrew, and Ron sat opposite them.

"As i said outside, we are friends of Marcus Pennywhistle. He said you may be able to help us, though I'm not sure of how much help we will be needing. He should be arriving here shortly."

"Marcus is coming here?" Andrew asked as he crossed his arms and lent back in his chair. "Now that would be interesting, I haven't spoken to him for four or five years now. How do you know him may i enquire?"

"We are good friends of Albus Dumbledore, who is a good friend of Marcus'."

"I recognize the name Dumbledore. Why is that?"

"He is headmaster of Hogwarts back on earth, where we come from."

"Oh, so your not from around here, thats good i suppose. I can't be to cautious of people around here. Lately there have been some wizards attacking the non magic folk such as us. So what is it that you are doing here in Pharaphax?"

"We are on a quest to obtain Hells Blessing. Marcus is going to be helping us obtain the ingredients and perform the blessing."

"Well im sure you know how dangerous it is, so you must have a very good reason to go. Not that i want to know. I try not to get involved in any magic business if its all the same. Doesn't do anyone any good. Not around here at least."

"Still, i suppose if you had evil intentions you could have killed me at the doorstep, therfore i suspect i can trust you, and give you your wands back." He said as he placed them in the middle of the table. Everyone took their wand and returned them to their pockets. Harry had had his spare wand at hand just incase. This was one of those situations when it could have proved useful. Thankfully it seemed he wasn't going to have to use it.

Andrew got up from his seat, and walked into the living room, before calling to them. "Its alright to come out now." From where they were sitting they couldn't see what was happening, but there was some banging, and then a woman appeared, along with a boy of about fourteen, and a girl of around twelve. "This is my family." He said as he introduced them. "This is my lovely wife, Martha, my son Alex, and my little girl Claire." He said as each of them stood anxiously looking at the table of strangers.

"I'm not little." Claire hissed to her father, who responded by patting her on the head.

"You will always be little to me." He said fatherly.

"These people are friends of Marcus Pennywhistles. They say they are here from earth in an attempt to obtain the Hells Blessing." He explained

"What's the Hells Blessing?" Alex asked as he stared at Hermione.

"Its a magic spell that good people use to stop bad people." Andrew explained simply. "I don't know exactly, but im roughly right aren't I?" He asked Remus.

"Yes, that is in essence what it is used for. We don't intend to impose for you for long, but during the few days that we will be here we need some place to stay." He began explaining

Martha was about to say about how they didn't have much space, but Remus continued.

"We have a large tent with bedroom areas and we have bathroom facilities. The only thing we are really in need of is somewhere with a clean water supply, and somewhere that will be safe."

"Well this place is about as safe as they come. We have a man come round every month who sells basic things that we need, such as some foods, and farming tools, but other than that we hardly see anyone. Unless my wife has any objections then i see no reason why you cant set up your tent out in the yard. Im sure the children will enjoy the company." He finished as he turned to Martha. she still seemed slightly unsure of them, but in the end gave a simple nod.

"I suppose if you think it's ok then we can try."

"Well its settled then." Andrew said brightly as he stood up and shook hands with Remus. "Are these all your children?"Andrew asked questioningly as he raised an eyebrow at the variety of different looking people. It was a bit difficult to imagine Harry and Ron being related.

"I'm not that old!" Tonks said indignantly.

"I didn't think so. I just thought perhaps you were very youthful looking." He said calmly.

"I am Remus, and this is Tonks." We are both teachers at the school these children attend, and we will be in essence their guardians during the journey. This is Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Blaise." He said as he gestured to each one of them. They each replied with a smile except for Blaise who merely nodded.

"Hurry along and get dressed will you." Andrew said as he turned back to Alex, who was still in his pyjamas. Alex quickly ran off, before Martha left as well.

"I'm just going to feed Lazuras." She said as she went upstairs.

"Thats our baby son. Six months old." Andrew explained. " Lets walk outside shall we? It looks like its going to be a very hot day, and im afraid that it gets rather hot in here. I expect your tent will be damn near unbearable if its anything like the tents i have known.

"Well it has a few charms i think to make it resistant to heat, but yes you are probably right." Remus said as they all got up from the table and began walking round the house and off buildings.

Andrew showed them all round the area. he said where the bathroom was, as well as the well, and told them about how the barn was dangerous with all the farm equipment, as well as a few other things, such as the picnic table under the tree by the front. It was pretty simple to remember where the few things were. In the end he advised them where to put the tent up.

"I think this is probably the best place to put up your tent." He said to them. I don't know if you need pegs to hold your tent up, but the ground is quite solid here, and also the house will shelter the tent from the morning sun, meaning it wont heat up as quickly.

They thanked him for his advice, and Remus said they would put it up shortly.

"So why exactly do you need this charm?" Andrew asked them. Remus shot a quick look at Harry before turning to the children.

"Would you mind having a walk around on your own for a minute." He said as Tonks ushered them away. Blaise shot Remus a suspicious glance, before they eventually left.

"I wonder what they have to talk about that's so secret?" Hermione asked as the four of them began making their way over to the picnic bench. "Maybe this quest is a lot more dangerous than they are telling us?" She volunteered. Harry suspected it had a lot to do with the prophecy that he must kill Voldemort. The others didn't know about it. It was one of the few things he kept secret form them. He didn't need their pitying looks. Hermione always tried to make Harry feel better when he was down by talking about how they might not even need the charm, and how it was only there for a worse case scenario.

Harry knew better however. He knew that he would need the charm, because sooner or later he would have to face Voldemort.

"Yeah you might be right." Ron said after some thinking. "But Dumbledore did say it would be very dangerous, so perhaps there is something else that they aren't telling us." Harry remained silent as he kicked a pebble along the parched ground.

"What do you think Harry?" Blaise asked as they finally reached the bench and sat down.

"Mmm I don't know. Dumbledore has a habit of not telling all the facts. Maybe there are some things that we don't know..."


	68. The Simple Life

"It must be something if you can't say it in front of them." Andrew said with interest. Remus looked at tonks, as if asking her opinion on whether he should tell everything or not. She gave a silent yes.

"Well you see earth is currently under threat from a dark lord. It was under threat fifteen years ago by the same dark lord, when the children were very young. At this time Voldemort killed Harry's parents, and then tried to kill Harry, when he was only one year old. However because of a magical sacrifice made by his mother it seems Harry was able to reflect the spell, and rather than be destroyed himself, the dark lord Voldemort was killed."

"However a year and a half ago one of his loyal followers managed to resurrect the dark lord, and as you can imagine thats not good news." Remus explained. He felt sympathetic when he thought of what Harry had to go through. He remembered how James was when in those last few days, constantly looking over his shoulder. Harry would turn out to be just the same before long. Remus just hoped it was a paranoia that would pass after Voldemort's demise.

"So this dark lord wants to kill harry for revenge"

"Well, perhaps. You see we don't know all the facts of what he wants. But it seems there is a prophecy, which states that Harry is the only person who can kill Voldemort. Therfore if Voldemort can kill Harry then he knows that he cannot defeated, and shall gain control over earth.

"I see." said Andrew with a frown. "Does he know about it"

"Yes, he learned of it earlier on in our year." Remus explained.

"That's a lot of responsibility for someone, especially someone so young."

"Well Harry is the strongest wizard i know, in more than one way." He said praisingly.

"So how do the others come into it" Andrew asked as they reached the vegetable patch. There were numerous different things growing, though they looked like they could do with a bit more watering.

"Well they have been with Harry several times when he has faced danger, but on of the reasons that prompted the idea was that just recently Blaise and her mother were attacked by Voldemorts followers. It would seem that Voldemort was perhaps attempting to kill Harry's friends, or try to abduct them until Harry came for them."

"This Voldemort doesn't sound like a nice person." Andrew said sarcastically. "And Harry is under constant threat you say"

"Nearly." Remus replied. "It's about the safest place in the world Hogwarts, so Harry doesnt have to worry to much whilst he is there. There is one other strange thing though, something that Harry doesn't know, and i think should remain that way for now at least. It would seem that Voldemort may not want to kill Harry at all."

"Then what does he want" Andrew asked inquiringly. Remus threw a quick look round to make sure no one was listening.

"Well we aren't certain what for. All we can figure out is that He wants Harry alive. He has been collecting various objects and ingredients it would seem. Professor Dumbledore and the ministry expect he is planning some sort of powerful potion, or something, though our spies are usually killed before we can learn anything."

"Well that's interesting, though have nothing to offer on the matter. As i said earlier, my family try to avoid magic. It's not that their aren't decent folk with magic, such as Mr. Pennywhistle, but we live happily without it, as do many people."

The three adults finished talking and made their way back over to the children who were all sitting round on the benches.

"Shall we get started on putting the tent up" Tonks asked as she bounced on her feet. "Marcus should be here soon, and then he will want to get started on the first task, and by the time we get back it might be late,so lets get started shall we"

"I would rather not." Blaise said as she slumped forwards on the bench.

"Come on it will be fun." Tonks said as she grabbed Blaise by the arm and pulled her up. "I have a feeling we are going to be best friends" She added excitedly as she dragged Blaise to the house where the tent was packed away.

ten minutes later, after clearing the ground of small stones and twigs, they had managed to set up the wizarding tent.

"It looks quite a lot like a muggle one." Hermione said as she admired it form the outside.

"Yes it was intended to." Remus explained as he adjusted one of the strings. "That way it wont attract to much suspicion from muggles. Care to see inside guys" Ron and Hermione anxiously agreed, and the four children walked inside for a better look

It was a pale green tent, with red sides. Inside it was basic looking, yet a little larger than it should have been.

"There are sleeping compartments on the left and right." Remus said as he pointed to two large zip up doors on either side of the room. "Each compartment sleeps three, one for girls, and one for us big manly men." He said as him and Ron exchanged playful punches on the arm. tonks and Blaise rolled their eyes at this.

"There is a bathroom in the middle there." Remus said as h pointed to a small zip up door. "Its a fair bit bigger than it looks though, so you three ladies don't have a reason to kick up a fuss." Remus said, as again him and Ron laughed.

Other than that there was just the main living area. It had a base of stone slabs, so if the door was left open it wouldn't look to suspicious. There were some boxes on one side of the room for storage space, and a few other things like a gas stove for simple cooking on the other side.

"That's an impressive trick." Andrew said as he inspected the tent. "you wouldn't expect that it could possibly fold down into something that small, but i guess thats magic for you. Has its good sides and bad sides. Have you had breakfast" He asked.

"Well we had some hot chocolate a few hours ago." Tonks replied as she slung down her rucksack in the tent.

"Would you care to join us for breakfast. My family would be pleased to join you. We were going ot eat inside, but on a fine day like this there is no reason why we shan't eat outside. Shouldn't you say so"

"Breakfast would be a pleasure." Remus said. as they stepped outside. It was now about half past eight.

"Well i shall tell Martha then. Only if i could ask a small favor, please don't talk to much of magic. She isn't as open to it as am I." Andrew said as he put his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure you still have plenty of stories to tell that don't involve magic." Truthfully they couldn't think of many stories that didn't involve magic. Especially Ron, and Tonks who had grown up in a wizarding family. Still, as the discussions would begin, they would remember various stories interesting enough that they had long since forgotten.

"If you just go and sit down at the picnic table then breakfast will be ready shortly." Andrew said as he went to go back inside.

"Is there anything we can help with" Ron asked anxiously. He may have been a big pig at times, but he still had manners. "Well breakfast is pretty simple really. There isn't much you need to help with, though i suppose you could fetch some water from the well if you really want. That would be a help."

"I will get the water." Harry said as he stood up. "No need for anyone else to put themselves out any more on my account than they already have."

"It will take two people." Blaise why don't you help him." Andrew asked before turning and going back inside. Blaise grumbled as she got up from the bench and went to get some water with Harry.

"Shouldn't Marcus be here by now" She asked as they made their way over to the well. Harry considered for a moment. "Well he said he would be by in the morning. I guess he could be anytime before midday. Besides, i didn't know you were so keen to get on with this quest." He commented as they reached the well

It was rather traditional in appearance, and must have taken an awful lot of hard work considering it was made in the entirely muggle way. It was circular, with bricks at the top and a nd a small roof covering it from rain water. There were rough granite tiles that had been cut for the roof, and the whole of the inside well was cement lined.

"I'm not anxious. It's just i don't trust this family."

"Why not" Harry asked as if Blaise was being paranoid. "The Blights seem nice enough.

"Well i think they are lying to us about something. It just doesn't seem right."

"What's not right" Harry demanded. Blaise had a distinct lack of rationality about her at times.

"If i knew the answer to that i would be doing something about it, rather than having some damn furtive conversation with you wouldn't I"

Back at the picnic table Remus was explaining to them.

"Be careful what you say. I think you can tell for yourselves that they aren't very well off, so Ron, don't be a pig at breakfast. It isn't a buffet, and they are probably giving up a lot to accomadate us.

"I'm not a pig." Ron protested, to which everyone stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Anyway we will have to make sure to repay them later. We have plenty of money. Especially since Marcus refused to be paid for his services."

They had to stop talking however, as the Blight family emerged from the house. Andrew was at the front, with Alex at his side. Claire hung back in a way that suggested she was rather shy. This wasn't at all surprising, considering the isolation from society they probably lived through. Martha was at the back, walking carefully as she carried Lazuras in one arm, and a plastic container of cereal in the other.

Everyone scooted up on the bench to make room for the large party. Ron was at the end with Hermione next to him. Tonks and remus were next to them, leaving one free side for the Blights. Hermione realized there probably wasn't going to be any room for Harry and Blaise when they returned, but she didn't point this out just yet. Andrew placed down some glasses that he had been carrying, whilst Alex had a tray with some homemade bread and cheese. Claire was holding a jug of milk which seemed to be weighing her down immensely.

"Will there be room for all of us" Remus asked as the Blights sat down. Andrew seemed to concider this a great deal.

"No, it doesn't appear there will be. I hadn't though of that. Normally there are just us and so this bench seems enormous."

"We could extend the table if you like." Remus said as he reached for his wand, before stopping. Andrew had thrown his a swift glance, before turning to Martha who seemed rather worried.

"But i think we have some fold up chairs in the tent." Remus said as he quickly got up to leave the tense situation. He disappeared inside the tent for a minute, before emerging with two fold out chairs, one under each arm. "There we go." He said a moment later as he had returned and set them up at the end of the table. "Just in time you two." He said as Blaise and Harry returned with a large bucket of water, both of them carrying the handle. It probably contained a few gallons, and would be enough to last them all day, even in the hot weather.

"You two will have to sit on these chairs im afraid." Remus said to them. "There wasn't as much room as we had hoped. Blaise quickly took the seat next to Remus, leaving Harry to sit on the other side with the Blights. He sat down next to Claire, who quickly looked down at the table in front of her. Harry had some bread and some cheese, whilst Most people had the oat type cereal. They talked about various things, mainly about their lives, and how different things were.

"Well our children here have been taught by us. We aren't they greatest teachers in the world, but we aren't likely to find a better one in Harmonia. We used to live there a long time ago, before the children were born. It was when Martha became pregnant however that we decided to move out here. That city is no place for children." Martha explained to them as she gently rocked Lazuras. He was sleeping, or else just being remarkably quite for a baby.

"Are there not schools elsewhere" Hermione asked. The thought of no schools was chilling to her bones.

"Well there are, but they aren't suitable. Those wizards have schools, but obviously us non magic folk have no place there. As for the floating town of Calmera, its literally impossible. We don't care to test what they say, but apparently its so high up there that prolonged exposure to the altitude causes brain damage. Something to do with the blood flow they say. Either way unless you are born there you can't live for more than a day or two." Andrew explained to them. "As you can imagine there aren't schools in the goblin caves or the icy mountains. A few years back they tried to set up a school system for the few of us that live out here. In the end it just wasn't worth the travel."

As the conversations died down a little, and they moved onto more obscure topics, there was a figure sighted ed a short way in the distance. They watched for a moment as the indistinguishable figure approached them.

"I expect that will be Mr. Pennywhistle. He can't use magic to get here. He set up some barriers to protect us from some more evil of magic. It's about the only thing magical around here. I don't mind it in that sense, because it can't really be seen, and it is for good." Martha said as she poured herself some more water.

They sat in silence as everyone watched, and sure enough as the figure came closer, it turned out to be Marcus.

"Good morning all." He said as he beamed at them. "It would seem you made it here no problem." He said to Remus.

"Actually we had a small detour at the edge of the sector, but there were no fatalities." He said.

"Well at the end of the day isn't that the only thing that really counts? I hope I'm not to early.

"Not at all. We were just having breakfast. Would you care to join us" Andrew asked as he gestured to a non existent chair.

"No thankyou. I have already eaten." Marcus said with a simple smile

Harry had expected them to spend a long time talking about the past, but instead Marcus went straight to the point.

"Are you ready for the first part of the quest"

"In a few minutes we shall be." Remus said, as a few of them were still having breakfast. "Perhaps you would care to shed some light on what we will be doing in the golbin caves.

"Why certainly." Marcus said as he pulled out a note pad. he had scribbled down a few key words so he could remember all the important bits.

"Well we shall be porting to the goblin mines shortly. Once there you will have to journey underground, until you reach the goblin guards that protect the underground caves. You should be able to bater passage to the lower caverns. Once there you shall continue by foot, for the Goblins do not travel that far. I shall warn you that at that depth the caves may cave in, or may have bats and other various inhabitants. He said as he was politely vague. Once you reach the very deepest part of the cave you shall find the Queen Spider. Whatever you do, don't try to attack it, as queen spiders, when in danger call for help, and the last thing you need is for a swarm of spiders to block your way out."

"What shall we do then" Ron asked in panicked disbelief. "Just march up and say Venom please" Marcus stared at Ron for a moment, which said that there were many levels to him, and not on a single one was he a fan of sarcasm.

"No, you see spiders eyesight is not very good, believe it or not. What you must do is move slowly. As slowly as you possibly can. If you move slowly enough, the spider will not be able to see you at all, as that is the way that its mind works. Still things become invisible to it."

"Could we not just use an invisibility charm" Hermione asked. she wasn't the only person who so far thought it was a god awful plan

"No, im afraid not. You see an invisibility charm, whilst making you seem invisible to other humans, causes a great movement of magic essence around you. It is this essence that the Spider will see, and the same essence that would bring your downfall. Trust me please, when i say i have looked into the matter deeply, this plan is rather simple, and im confident you can do it." Marcus said with a smile which did little to ease their worries.

"You must proceed into the core of the caves with no magic. Not even a simple light spell. Once there you shall use a holographic projection spell. I do hope one of you knows how to use this spell"

"I do. Blaise said. Everyone turned to look at her. "Hey its not a crime you know." She said defensively.

"She's quiet right, and im glad one of you does, because it means we would even have to take time teaching it to you, or go with a slightly different plan, which is more dangerous." Marcus explained. Harry stared at him through narrowed eyes. More dangerous? That was something he didn't think was possible

"Now when you are close enough to the spider, you will use a projection spell, to cast an image of you across the room. The spider will see the projection, and with any luck attack, and try and sink its poison fangs in. Now since its just an illusion there is no where for the venom to go, so it should simply fall to the floor in a puddle. As soon as this has happened you must stop the spell, because you yourself will be giving of a faint magical aura which it will see if it leaves your illusion. After that the spider should merely walk away to where it was. At this point you shall move over to where its Venom fell, and collect it up with this high tech apparatus." He said as he held out a bottle, a funnel, and a sponge.

"Well Marcus, i have to hand it to you it sounds as though you have everything all planned out." Andrew said with a smile. There were one or two occasions in his life when he considered how much easier it would be if he could use magic. This was one of those other occasions, that reminded him why he was glad not to.

"Almost. I'm making half of this up as i go along." He said in a laugh, which didn't entirely dispel the worry of the six travelers, that he was doing exactly that.

"Well i guess you know this giant spider better than we do, so we will use your plan." Remus said as he looked at the group. Tonks looked annoyed that she hadn't been consulted, but her plan probably wouldn't be worth the time it would take to tell.

"You shall have to be quick, though of course not very, when you collect the venom. It is mildly corrosive and after time it will begin to dissolve the stone floor, or the sponge, or even your hands, if you don't wear protective gloves." Marcus said as he pulled out several pairs that seemed to resemble dragon hide, only slightly different. Harry decided not to enquire as to what they were. He knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"It's just coming up nine o clock now, so by the time we get there, give you an hour to get to the center of the cave, an hour for retrieving the poison and an hour getting back out. Plus allowance for complications..." Marcus said as he muttered under his breath. "I shall meet you at the entrance of the Goblin mines at about one o clock shall we say"

"Yes, I hope it won't take much longer than that." Remus said as he punched the air in front of him, as if to say "Lets go kick some"

"Would you be kind enough to have lunch ready for when they return" Marcus asked as he looked at Martha. She looked as if she was considering it for a moment. Harry could probably guess why. He strongly suspected that they didn't have much food. "I hear there is a merchant coming round later today." He added.

"Yes, and we owe you money. We can't keep taking from you. Hear have this as a small payment for your generosity." Tonks said as she emptied a lot of gold coins in the table. Claire and Alex stared in disbelief at the large wealth in front of them. Andrew, merely smiled.

"I thank you for your offer, and its not a secret that we aren't in possession of as many worldly goods as you, but we aren't a charity, and wouldn't care to be treated as one. You may only give what you take, and thats not nearly as much as you offer." He said as he took a few of the golden coins."

"My family is grateful for your generosity as well as your company." Andrew said, as they began to get up from the table. Hermione and Blaise helped carry the things back inside, and with the washing up which needed doing.

"I don't suppose i could come along could I" Alex asked as he stared at Remus. Andrew who was still present laughed.

"You will have to excuse my son. He finds the things round here aren't quite as exciting." Alex blushed indignantly at being spoken about as though he were not present.

"Besides i need you hear today. We need to cut wood for the new barn, and i cant do it on my own." He said as he ruffled his sons hair. "Still, i wish you all the luck there is, for it will undoubtedly be dangeorus, in more than just the ways Marcus mentioned.

"I know. That's what im afraid of." Remus said with a poll of his eyes as he went to join Harry, Ron, Tonks and Marcus, who were all making sure they had everything they needed. they wouldn't be taking their whole rucksacks, but they would still take a few things, such as a compass.

"I never figured out how to use one of these." Marcus admitted. "But im sure one of you knows how to use them, incase you get lost whilst your down there. "You will also want to take your water flasks, for it can be quite humid, especially in these hot summer months. Plus if you get any spider venom on you, you will want to be able to wash it off when your safely out of sight. I have also taken the liberty of providing you with a few other things you might want, such as a rope, a pickaxe, a flare gun. Now, as soon as the girls are done we can be getting on our way."

Inside Hermione was washing up, and Blaise was drying. It wasn't very difficult, since they had only eaten cereal and bread, but it was relaxing in a sense. It gave them a chance to think about something other than the impending tasks.

"You haven't been nearly as rude as I expected you to be." Hermione said as she gazed out of the kitchen window at Marcus who had drawn out a map and was making some notes on it, which the other were busy looking at.

"That's probably because you haven't spoken to me much." Blaise said slyly. Mentally she congratulated herself of being so witty.

"So what did you do for Christmas" Hermione asked as she ignored this and tried to carry on with a civil conversation.

"Nothing fancy." Blaise said, as she inspected one of the bowls where the glazing was cracked.

"So you're family didn't all get together or anything" Hermione asked in suprise. "Unless i stay at Hogwarts we always go round my aunts. She has a big house all to herself, so she always invited us.

"No, i just stay at home thanks." Blaise said as her anger started to raise.

"Do you have a big family Hermione" Claire asked, who had finished putting the breakfast things away.

"No, i wouldn't say I do. I am an only child after all, and my mother only has the one sister and no brothers. Ron is from a massive family." Hermione said as she recalled a picture he had once shown her with over one hundred red headed Weasley's.

"Are family is small, i think." Claire said as she put some of the bowls away in a cupboard. We don't have any grandparents, or aunts and uncles. Its a shame really because that Christmas thing sounds fun."

"You don't have Christmas" Hermione asked as she raised an eyebrow in suprise. "Wow i never would have thought, though i guess there is no reason why you would. Is it just your family that doesn't have Christmas, or the whole of Pharaphax" Hermione asked.

"Well, maybe some people have Christmas, but i have never heard of it before. what is it"

"Its a day where everyone gives each other gifts and rejoices in the wonders of being together." Blaise said bitterly. In theory that's what it was about, but she never felt in a rejoicing mood. It's not that she didn't get presents, she got a few. It was more the fact that it never matched upto her hopes or expectations.

So how long have you two been friends for" Claire asked as she made a mental note to suggest Christmas to her mother later.

"We aren't friends." Blaise said, before Hermione had chance to consider this.

"You Aren't" Claire asked in surprise. "Why not"

"She doesn't like having friends." Hermione said as she finished the last plater, and pulled the plug out of the sink. "No one like her you see."

"I like her." Claire said brightly. It was becoming apparent to them that this girl was going to grow up into one of those hopelessly optimistic people that will stand there smiling when the apocalypse is coming, and hope that the weather will be nice tomorrow

"Well i guess there is a first for everything." Blaise said with a sigh.

"Are Ron and Harry your boyfriends" Claire asked with a cheeky grin. This caused Hermione to laugh, and Blaise to pull a disgusted look.

"No, we are just friends. Why do you ask? Interested are you" Hermione asked with a laugh. Claire was only about thirteen or fourteen by the looks of it.

"No" Claire said far louder than was necessary. "I was just wondering, because you seem awfully close."

"Well we have all been through a lot, and i guess Blaise has been through a bit as well. Hermione added as she considered Quidditch and the journey so far. "Don't tell Harry, but Blaise secretly likes him." Hermione said as she bent down a little and whispered it to Claire.

"I do not" Blaise said angrily as she threw a wet dishcloth at Hermione, which quickly escalated into a miniature water fight, all of whom enjoyed it.

It ended when Martha returned, and gave Claire a quick telling off for being involved in it. Once her daughter had left the room she turned to Hermione and Blaise, who both prepared themselves to be told off. Instead Martha simply rolled her eyes, as if to say "what am i going to do with you".

"Thanks for the help with the washing, Its a nice change not to have to do it myself." She said with a smile. "I think the other are waiting for you outside though." She said, as she pointed through the window at Harry and the others."

"Yes i think your right, and we are glad that we could help out." Hermione said as they made their way back outside.

"We will need to walk a short way from here before the portkey can activate." Marcus told them as they were all geared up. Ron was carrying the backpack with most of what they needed. Remus who was going to lead the party needed to be able to move quicker and faster, and Ron had readily stepped upto the position, knowing that it should be a mans job, and harry would undoubtedly get into trouble himself. Each of them had a water canteen fitted with a long strap which they wore over their shoulder.

"Don't drink it all at once. We may get lost or something." Remus told them.

The seven of them set off, with the Blights waving after them. They weren't sure how far they would have to walk before they got to a point where they could port to the goblin caves, but Harry hoped it wasn't far, because he felt horribly hot under the sun.

"I'm going to take a shower as soon as we get back." He told them as they walked. "I'm boiling." The girls just laughed at him.

"Think again Harry, our needs are greater than your's." Hermione said back to him.

"How is that" Ron asked, who realized this was about to become a battle of the sexes, and quickly joined team Harry. They would try and recruit Remus soon.

"Boys can be smelly and people don't care. girls can't." Tonks explained. Ron was about to say something but Harry held him back.

"Let them win." he whispered.

"Why" Ron said back indignantly.

"Because their girls Ron."

"That's no reason to let them win."

"No, but im not saying let them win. Im saying leave it, because we can't win." Harry explained, as Ron pulled a confused look. Harry sighed and tried to explain it.

"When was the last time you ever saw a girl loose an argument"

That shut him up for a bit.

"There, we can port from here." Marcus said as he suddenly stopped. As they looked back they could still see the Blight house, thought the family themselves had disappeared from sight. "Now, im not going with you to the entrance of the goblin mines, but Remus and Tonks both know what to do, and they have everything they shall need. I must return to Harmonia today, to pick up some of the simpler things that you will be requiring for the Hells Blessing. If you would all be so kind as to take hold of this." Marcus said as he picked up a lone stick form the ground, and enchanted it.

Everyone gathered round and held onto the stick, looking a lot like stick holding idiots.

"Remember i will meet you at the entrance at one o clock, so try not to be late." He told them. Suddenly Harry felt the tug of magic, as the Portkey activated and they were sucked into the air before them. "Goodluck." Marcus called after them, as a moment later there was no trace they had been there. "You will need it..."


	69. Oldman

Ok it does seem im running behind on my schedule, since i have had my new job and been reading the conte of monte cristo...

Therfore im afraid the usual midweek chapter probably wont be up till friday, or maybe even the weekend.

hopefully you will forgive me and enjoy this chapter, and give me lots of nice reviews as you have done so far.

Couple of people i would like to thank.

zero skills... you review every chapter just about...

demon author...even though your a newer reader, you still review the older chapters, which is nice.

The one... you also review regularly. thanks :)

-

After a moment in which they were dragged across miles and miles of countryside, they finally were thrown out into a strange surrounding, which didn't look like anything on earth, or at least nothing Harry had ever seen. It wasn't quite so warm in this part of the world, though the sun was still shining high above them with a glaring red light, which seemed to reflect the ground on which they stood. For as far as they could see Dusty red rocks stretched out in front of them, looking like the surface of mars.

The rocks formed into arches in some areas, which suggested the wind had hollowed them out over many hundreds of years, though this was purely speculation.

"Where about is the entrance" Harry asked as they looked around. Again, it was one of those times that they wished Marcus had come along, because whilst everything is good in theory, when putting it into practice, all manner of problems arise that they did not expect.

"I would think it will;l be somewhere very close by, and probably not that well hidden. They have no reason to hide its not as if they can't defend themselves." Hermione reasoned, as they all spread out a little and began to look round.

A gust of wind blew by, lifting up a thick layer of dust from the ground, and causing a lone crow to swoop from the rocky mound on which it had been sitting. He walked a little away from where Ron was looking, and began to climb over some large boulders. He was quiet surprised to see that some of the rocks actually had a mossy substance growing on them, though it was just as red as the rocks on which it grew.

He climbed a little further on, and spotted a small yellow lizzard, warming up on one of the sun heated rocks, though in a position where it couldn't be caught by any birds or other large predators.

"Hey there is a lizard here." Harry said as he pointed to it.

"Don't touch it." remus called up form the ground. "It may be poisonous. Just leave it and try and find the entrance." He instructed. Harry decided to do as he was told, and turned his attention back to the lizard, which he was going to avoid, except for some strange reason it was gone. He briefly considered for a minute how fast it could have moved, before looking a little to his right, and seeing a goblin.

The Goblin looked rather like those he knew from earth, though it dressed differently, and from inspection, seemed to behave in a less intelligent manner. It was standing wearing some crude material shoes, and a cape to keep the sun of it, whilst still allowing it to keep cool. It also had a basket attatched to straps which it wore rather like a back to front backpack. In this basket, were a few vegetables that looked like potatoes, some sort of fungus, and a dead hare. Harry then followed its arm, to where it was holding a spear type object, with the lizard skewered on the end. It pulled the lizard off, sniffed it, an after a moment in which it approved, added it to the rest of the food.

"Hey." Harry said to it, as though he wanted to tell it off for killing a harmless lizard. It then dawned on him that it may not be able to speak English, although Marcus seemed to have no worry that they could communicate with it. The goblin looked up to Harry, as though noticing him for the first time.

"Mine it said." As it twisted its basket round to the side, out of Harry's reach. "My food not your's you get your own." It said as it whacked him in the nee with the side of its stick, and jumped down onto a lower rocky ledge.

"Ron, there's a goblin." Harry yelled as it began to go on with its business. Everyone stopped their search, and moved round to where they could see what Harry was pointing at. they spotted the goblin, and upon realization that i must live with others, gave a smile, and began slinking towards it as though it were giving off a powerful gravitational pull. The goblin stopped for a minute as it realsied it was recieving so much attention. It seized up its opponents, and decided to back away. TRhey began closing in on it, as though it were the oasis in the great dessert of life.

The Goblin continued backing away from them, until it met a rather large rock, which it tried to climb over, failed, and fell to the ground. The goblin quickly drew its spear, and pointed it at Tonks' legs.

"Give in." It said as it gave her a quick jab.

"Ow." She exclaimed as she whacked the spear away. "You horrible thing. Your not even slight nice, and your...ugly" She said to it as she summoned up the hades within her.

"Take us to your leader." Remus said as he displayed a handful of gold coins which he had fished out of his pocket. The goblin considered this, and after some pushing, a moment later the goblin was happily taking them to the leader. He was rather pleased to have captured six humans. especially ones so cooperative as these.

"Just keep on walking with your hands behind your head." Remus whispered to the others.

"Why, we could just beat him up and make him tell us where he comes from." Ron said, who didn't like top be pushed around by people, especially three foot tall ones with big noses and small brains.

"No point in doing that. We get exactly what we want and if we don't harm him it will be easier to buy passage down into the core of the caves. As long as he thinks he's getting what he wants, everything is good."

"A lot like with women then" Harry asked, as Blaise slapped him.

After a minute of walking, they passed behind a large boulder, and found themselves facing a staircase going down into the ground, the same color as everything else.

"Go down." The goblin told them as he kicked a stone which flew up and hit Harry in the back of the head. He grumbled, but made his way down none the less. The staircase didn't go down far, only a dozen feet or so.

After that it led into a long dark corridor, which ran straight along for as far as they could see, with candles on brackets every twenty foot or so. The ceiling was low in some parts, and Ron, harry and Remus had to slouch uncomfortably, whilst the girls simply walked along, and occasionally tilted their head to avoid the odd stalactites. The corridor was gradually sloping downward, and after a few minutes of walking, the tunnel finally opened out a little, and came to what would be considered the lobby area. It was large enough to stand up in, and then a bit more, with a few additional candles, and a small wooden counter.

The path split off to the left and to the right, whilst behind the counter a far more intelligent goblin sat. This one appeared to be wearing clothes that had actually been made by someone who knew what a needle was. he put down the pen that he had been using, and looked not at the humans, but to the goblin who was escorting them. They spoke a few words between each other, in a language, that for sake of a name shall be known as Goblinish. It was at this point that they seemed to reach the point where the wants of the travelers, and the wants of the goblin with the spear, began to differ.

They wanted to travel down into the core of the caves, whilst the goblin wanted to take them down into the dungeon, where they would be cooked, eaten and killed, in that order.

"Please sir." said Tonks as she stepped forwards. "we wish to barter passage down to the inner caves." She said pleadingly. They were unsure for a moment as to whether or not the goblin spoke English, but after a minute in which he leant forwards on his desk, and examined them, he replied in a high and raspy voice.

"Is that so"

"Yes, it is so." Tonks replied back, as she gave a bow, to leave no doubt in the goblin clerks mind that he was a superior being.

"Really" The goblin added quizzically, as it wrapped its fingers on the wooden surface.

"Yes, Really" She replied indignantly. There was a certain something in the goblins personality that told her no matter what she said, it would be questioned. The goblin sat back down on its chair, and thought for a minute, as it stared at each one of them in turn, and considered if they would be better as slaves.

"Mmm well I suppose you can buy travel down into the catacombs If that is what you do so wish." The goblin asked as it rubbed its fingers showing it was going to be a matter of price. "Do you want to"

"Yes we do."

"Really"

"Yes" Tonks shouted as she looked for something to pick up and throw.

"Well how far are you planning to go" The goblin enquired, as a long thin tounge flicked out, across its lips, as if tasting the air, and sensing it would be prosporous.

"As far as is possible. We wish to travel to the spiders lair." Remus said in a voice that left no doubt that that is exactly what they intended to do.

"Well, foolish as it may be, we are not ones to turn down the business, so if as you say, you are willing to pay the right price, then travel is what we shall give. For the six of you... rather plump some of you..."The goblin said to no one in particular, as it made tutting noises in order to justify the high price it was about to state.

"Skilled drivers will be required in order to go on that line. you will be looking at a good...fifty gold pieces..." It said testingly, and upon seeing that no one showed any severe protest, added "each."

"That's extortion." Blaise said as she waved a fist at the goblin.

"Is that so" It asked in a manner which showed it didn't care what she thought.

"Yes! How you can charge that just to use your stupid carts is ridiculous." she added as she waited for someone to join in the argument.

"Well that's news to me, though i can't say i care what a...human should think. If i were you i would shut up, because it is in your best interest. After all if we agree on a price, we could always change our minds, and not take you back, then you would be in a rather awkward state would you not."

"We shall pay on our return journey." Remus said, who being of poor origins, had learned how to handle what little money he had.

"Is that so? Well i can't say i should agree. I think money before hand is best. Three hundred gold pieces please..." It said as it held out its hand, with long thin fingers, looking rather like five leathery sausages.

"We shall pay one hundred gold pieces now, and two hundred and fifty when we are in the carriage and on our way back." Remus said as a bolt of understanding passed between him and the Goblin. "Since as you say, you could very well leave us down there."

"Glad to do business with you." The goblin said with a yellow toothed grin, as it took the first part of the payment from them.

"Will you follow me" It asked, in a tone which suggested it was a question rather than a request.

"Yeah." Harry said as he rolled his eyes, and began to follow the goblin down the path to the left, along with the others. They only walked for a short distance, before they came out into another, much larger area.

This one had probably two dozen iron looking carts, that all ran forwards, before turning off in varying directions. There were a few goblins in this area. a few of them were sitting on some flat rocks at one end, whilst several others were busy polishing and oiling the carts. There were signs next to each one saying where they went, though they weren't written in English. The goblin clicked at one of the ones sitting down, who anxiously jumped to his feet and ran over. They spoke a few words to each other in the gibberish language, before the cart driving goblin gave a snigger. No doubt over the sum the humans were paying.

"Get in the cart." Said the oily goblin, as it pushed Hermione by the knees, towards the one nearest to her. The clerk Goblin was walking off back down that passageway form which it had come, so they decided the price must have been decided.

"This does go to the deepest core of the cave, where the spider lives" Ron asked as he stepped into the cart, which didn't seem nearly so safe once you were actually inside it.

"Yes, yes. Quickly please." It said as it started kicking them in the ankles.

Once they were all seated in the cart, which was rather squashed, The goblin did a final check of all the things, and with a grinding sound, it unleashed the break, and the cart began to go down the track. It moved slowly at first, as the decline of the tracks was very gradual, but after fifteen or so seconds, when they had begun to put a bit of a distance between themselves and the rest of the carts, things began top speed up. As they sped onwards, the torches on the walls became further and further apart, and so things became gradually darker, until they could only see flashes of each others face, as they went past the torches, and roared down into the mines.

Meanwhile someway off, though not so far that it would be unkown, there was a pub. It was one of the many pubs of Harmonia, with all the usual things, such as a thick cloud of smoke on the ceiling, a thicker layer of filth on the floor, and a number of thick occupants. One of these occupants however, was rather different from the others. This one was intelligent, and knew magic. He had a pale completion, as though the sun was an alien thing to him, and he talked with a smooth, yet firm manner, that could woo women or condemn men to their graves.

Above these features however, there was one that was more noticeable. It was the mans eyes, which were as red as any you have ever seen, and gave him the appearance of being remarkably perceptive. Something which he was. Most people knew this demon, as Voldemort, at least in their minds, though many would not speak his name. In this land however, he was a stranger to all but a few, one of whom was sitting opposite him. They were sitting around a table in the pub, known as Hedgehogs Whiskers, in the quieter part. That is to say, the part furthest from the bar.

"It has been a while." Began the man whom you have yet to know. "Of course i say a while, i was not expecting to see you today, though at the same time not doubting i would. It was an eventuality to which i considered, and thus left a slot open in my diary. Now tell me, Riddle, shall we continue along these lines of polite conversation, and friendly gossip, or shall we perhaps talk about some of the real matters of why you are here, for i do not believe that you are simply here for socializing."

"Perceptive as usual." Voldemort began sarcastically as he remained sitting in his chair with his arms folded. "But yes, I do indeed have business here. I shouldn't have any need to kill anyone, or make a big scene, so you can ease your fears of me escalating the fear against powerful magic." He said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Voldemort took great pride in his ability to identify peoples worries from simply looking into their eyes, and for an acquaintance such as this man, he had known a long time.

"Well that's good to know, for though it is not a threat to me personally, it is a great deal of hassle, especially when i try and go somewhere incognito. I know at this point i should enquire as to what is your business, but i must ask now, for my curiosity is building, why i should see you at all. Forgive me if this is not true, but the news i heard from last time the portal to your world was open, is that you had been killed. Evidently you are not dead now, or at least not more dead than one can be without a soul. Tell me, was there any truth behind these claims" The man asked, as he began smoking a cigar.

He didn't have an affinity for cigars, or any form of addiction. He merely liked the smell, and the fact that they exuded the sort of aurora he prided himself on possessing. He was a strange man, who no one knew, and yet should he say his name then, everyone would recognize it. He liked to think of himself like a god in disguise. Many people would mistake him for a normal human, thus allowing him to see true humans nature. However he had no desire to reward the good and smite the bad, or vice versa. He merely indulged in his own wants, which at this particular time, was a discussion with Riddle.

"A degree, of truth, or entire truth, depending on the whom you ask, the wise or naive opinion. However, i shan't bore you with the details, for i expect you already know most of them do you not" Voldemort asked as he raised an eyebrow. A greasy looking man came over, and tried to offer them some potatoes and meat, which apparently was highly though off by the other occupants. Voldemort shoo'ed the man away, and made a mental note to kill him later.

"I believe to know the facts, but of course i may not, tell me though, for indulgence of my curiosity, how is it you made your way into this land. Surely it would be off limits to someone such as yourself, giving the location of the entrance." said the man, whom for want of a name, shall be called Oldman. He was quiet old, though he appeared only to be about forty.

"If you are hoping for a bloody battle then i regret to inform you there was no such thing." Voldemort began to say as he drank some of the finest beer the pub had to offer. It was awful.

"No,no, i wish to hear of no such thing, for i have exhausted my own mind on such matters. What i really do enjoy, as much as anything else these days, is the more subtle of actions. For example if a man has been condemned to death, and vagabond with a group of brave and foolish followers can storm the platform, kill the executioner and make away with the condemned. However what is far more exciting to me, is if someone were to take this executioner aside and speak to him. Say i have been informed off the date of the death and i know the man behind the mask. I happen to bump into him in a pub, as one does." Said Oldman, as Voldemort nodded to show that he followed.

"Now i offer to buy him a drink, which makes him suspicious of me, yet makes him listen none the less. I begin to talk of heaven and morality and the will of god, and sooner or later this executioner begins to wonder, if what he is doing is right, if by taking the life of others, he can even hope for a place in heaven. Now i continue in these discussions over the next few days, as the day in which the thief is to die. he may ask me, do you think i am doing the right thing? and i will answer, but of course. They are acting in the devils place, and so you are performing the will of god. It is with these words that my plan is sealed." Said Oldman, as Voldemort had finally lost how this strange plan was to work, even hypothetically.

"Forgive me for not being as quick minded as you, but would that not cause him to carry on with the execution"

"Not at all, Riddle. for you see upon an extensive study of humans, and how they behave in all situations, you will notice that they always expect the worst in people, and are always un-trusting to others, at least that is the way of people here in Harmonia. Now because he doesn't trust me, he doesn't want to believe me, and so whilst indeed i may have been telling the truth, he sets his mind to thinking how am i not telling the truth. He might decide that this thief who is condemned, was merely stealing some bread so that his wife and new born son wont go hungry that night, and therfore by preserving life, he himself, although breaking the law is indeed acting as god had intended."

"Now the executioner, after thinking of all of this, has come to the rather grim conclusion, that he is about to behead an innocent man, and assure himself a place in hell. Now of course by this point, it is the night before it is meant to happen, and as he puts his beer empty beer glass down, and bids me farewell, he sets off home for a sleepless and though filled night. Now, all i need to do after that, is tell the poor man who is condemned, to give a prayer on the morning in which is to be his last, and so the executioner's will is broken. He could no more kill the man before him, than he could his own brother." Oldman said with a smile.

"And so finally the executioner, standing next to the condemned with his head tied down to a log, with his axe raised above his head, gives an almighty swing, with the kind of precision that comes from his long career. The ropes are chopped, and the condemned is left with wide eyed fear as the axe is digging into the log not an inch from his face. The guards around stand in stunned silence, whilst the condemned quickly gathers his wits and runs out of the courtyard, to live another day. Of course the executioner will be killed for this act, so as to give the crowd the blood they want, but he will die in the belief that he has done the right thing."

"Now tell me Riddle, would that sort of thing not satisfy you more than the vagabonds storming the place. Would you not enjoy standing at the back of the crowd, and listening to the murmuring afterwards as everyone asked the same question, why did the executioner do that, and all of them giving suggestions of them being blood relations, or old friends, and all of them being ignorant to the truth, except you." Oldman said as he once again rubbed his chin which had a small beard, that was fashionable with upper class Harmonians at the time.

"Well i must admit that sounds exciting, or intriguing is perhaps more appropriate, but there is a lot of assuming that something like that will turn out as planned. There could be so many unforseen events that could arise, to stop it happening, i can't reasonably believe it would work." Voldemort said, as he paused for a moment, and shot an angry look at the greasy man who was still waffting round, trying to offer them food.

"And yet it did work. " Oldman said with a broad smile which showed off more teeth than most people were comfortable seeing.

"Oh, so that is one of your actually experiences is it"

"Yes, one of many, and you were right, many of my plans don't turn out as hoped, and most do encounter problems, but solving the setbacks, and turning them to your advantage is half the fun.Perhaps if your business here doesn't take to long I could spend a day and tell a few of my tales, and you could perhaps tell me some of your less forceful, but more gentle missions. The ones that involve tact. Now anyway, forgive me for talking for so long, i do believe we were on the subject of how you got here."

"You are quiet right, and you should enjoy it, though you will forgive me if i have misjudged it, and you find it tiresome." Voldemort said wearily. He didn't really like Oldman much. He was a difficult person in many senses. The first thing was that no matter how much the dark lord tried, most of Oldmans thoughts remained a mystery to him, and those that he did see or guess, he strongly suspected were false. Also Voldemort, though he did not want to, was incapable of striking fear into the hart of Oldman

"Well if i do find it boring, it shall be no more so than sitting in silence, so please go on, and i shall do my best to enjoy it." Oldman said as he sat back, folded his arms, and stared at Voldemort expectantly.

"Well ok, it is like this. As you well know the Veil of Darkness is well guarded in the ministry, and therefore the chance of me being able to get in, let alone undetected is rather slim, though i did just that." He paused, as he expected Oldman to ask "How did you manage it." Instead he remained silent, staring into Voldemorts eyes expectantly.

"As you may or may not know, the reason that i lost my body, several years ago, was because of a certain boy named Harry Potter, son of Lilly and James Potter." at this a vague look of understanding passed across Oldmans face, though he didn't say anything to interrupt. "Well he is the only one who can kill me, or so fate says, and as a result he is here himself, in Pharaphax. I don't know what he is doing here, though my sources tell me he is trying to find Marcus Pennywhistle to revive a friends spirit. I was hoping that Pennywhistle had died by now, but i guess luck isn't favoring me lately. Anyway let me continue..." He said as the air went wobbly, and the story unfolded out in a way that didn't seem as if it were being told.

Voldemort was sitting in his office, where he often sat, when he had nothing to do. The door was attached to the hinges which meant nothing had gone seriously wrong that day. When he was angry he always felt he needed to blow something up, and his followers fully supported the fact it was a door, and not them. He was impatient for news. he had though up the plan himself, and was just waiting for a signal from one of his death eaters, saying that the time was ready.

He had been pacing backwards and forwards earlier n the hallway, but eventually decided it was to loud, and stressful, so now he was sitting back in his comfy leather chair, with the broken armrest, and trying to forget about it. He had packed his bags, as had a few of his most trusted followers. He had no reason to assume he would need them, but a dark lord needs praise where ever he goes. Bellatrix was the one who would give the signal that everything was ok. normally this was good, since there were few more trustworthy than her. However last night he had told her that she wouldn't be going to Pharaphax, and she had gotten a bit stroppy with him.

"But its dangerous. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." Voldemort suggested, as he tried to search for an applicable reason.

"And being a Death Eater isn't" She counted as she carried on packing her case.

"Well i think you shouldn't come along, because some of the others are getting jealous of how much time i spend with you."

"Why, would they be jealous? With the exception of perhaps Peter, none of them would want to be treated in the way you treat me." She said as she closed the lock on the suitcase. Voldemort blushed at this remark.

"But its a boys only trip. Just me and Lucius and the others..." he tried in vain.

"There is only one thing men are thinking of when they say boys only trip, and its not going to happen..."

Hopefully she had cooled down a bit by now. He drew out a little board, with small plastic figures of Harry potter and his friends. The ginger one... and that girl... he then drew out an oversized plastic dragon that wasn't from the same set.

"Bow down to the dragon lord." He said as he made the dragon jump up and down on the toy of Harry, whilst making smashing sounds, to great delight.

"Er master" a timid voice siad, which caused Voldemort to jump in fear, and quick as a flash shove the dragon behind his back and slide the toy people off the desk and onto the floor out of sight.

"Oh it's only you Pettigrew." Voldemort said with a sigh of relief.

He didn't mind the fact that Peter had seen some embarrassing and compromising things, because Pettigrew was different form the others. He wasn't one of Voldemort's servants. he was Voldemort's slave. Not to mention Peter Pettigrew was about the most pathetic person on the planet.

"Sorry to interrupt you your Grand Duke of Bloodiness sire." Peter said, as he stammered. No matter how many times he had tried, Lord just didn't seem to roll off his tongue. "It is time for you to come now. The shift has changed"

"Mmmm well now i must say i was was expecting Bellatrix to deliver this information personally, but i suppose it does not matter. Anyway let us be quick, for we may not have long." Voldemort said as he jumped up from his chair, strode across the room, and slammed the door behind him.

"And you are sure that we have a list of all the ingredients needed in Pharaphax, so that we may break the Arc of Spirits." He asked as they made their way into the hall. It was rather large, and unusally empty.

"Yes we have a complete list, so fear not m'lady." Wormtail said with shaking hands which he concealed behind his back.

"Why is it so quiet in here" Voldemort asked as he looked round. Lucius and a few others were all standing by the radiator, with a suitcase each.

"Well you see its that it is the day after Christmas, and many of your followers have family, if you don't mind me saying so."

"And" Voldemort asked questioningly, as he there on his thermal traveling cloak.

"Well you see it would seem that most of your followers have taken the day off."

"The whole day" Voldemort roared incredulously. "Never mind, has everyone got their potions ready" He asked as he himself drew one out of his pocket.

the other death eaters held up their potions to show that they were indeed ready, before they quickly drank them, and stood back waiting for them to take effect. There was a moment in which nothing happened, which was quickly followed by the beginning of six hideous transformations. A burning sensation passed through Voldemort's bones, slightly similar to someone attempting the crucio curse on him. his skin began to bubble, and move, as though there were serpents crawling round underneath it trying to break out.

After a moment, things settled back down, leaving Voldemort, and five Death Eaters standing round looking rather different than before.

"Well it looks like it worked doesn't it." Voldemort said in a voice unlike his own. He bought his hands up to his face. They were not as pale as usual, and his fingers seemed shorter, or at least not as thin and bony.

"Pettigrew, the mirror." He said as he tried to snap his fingers, and failed. Peter qucikly rummaged round in his overly large pockets, before eventually producing a small mirror that a lady might use to admire herself.

Voldemort stared at the reflection, with the jet black hair, and the lightning bolt scar. He pulled out some glasses which looked very similar to Harry's slipped them on and roared in delight.

"The illusion is complete" before bursting out into a bout of manic laughing. After several seconds he stopped laughing, and regained his breath. He wiped away what was quiet possibly a tear of joy. "But let's not loose our heads my as we still have work to do. Let us be quick my servants, for we have but an hour." He said as he strode over to the fire place, and thew in some floo powder. "To the ministry" He yelled to them as a grin spread across his face . And with that said, he stepped into the flames and disappeared into the fiery mass.


	70. Catacomb

His followers came up behind him anxiously, and a minute later they were all stood in the ministry looking round cautiously. It was a good job it was a public holiday, and that many people were away, for should the receptionist have been busy as they usually were, and not gone off to talk to her friend in another department, she would have seen Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tonks, Remus and Blaise appear for a second time.

"Lead the way, Voldemort said to Lucius, who had taken the form of Remus. the group made their way forwards, into one of the elevators unnoticed, and began the descend down to the department of mysteries. They traveled through the the dark room with the many doors with no problem, and in fact Voldemort could not have asked for better luck, as everything in his plan went smoothly.

After five minutes of walking, they found themselves rounding the corner, and coming to meet the guards that stood in front of the massive wooden doorway, guarding the meadow and surrounding area that housed the Veil of darkness.

Immeadietly at the sight of them the guards raised their spears and their wands.

"Who goes there" They yelled, as the six death eaters stepped into the light and did their best to look innocent.

"It's us." Lucius said as he stepped forward with his arms above his head. "We were told that you had been notified that we would be passing into the other world today." The two guards stopped for a minute, before exchanging anxious glances and lowering their spears a little.

"Where is Albus Dumbledore. He was meant to be escorting you was he not" The other one asked. It was a good job Belltrix was right, for indeed it did seem that these were not the same guards who had let Harry Potter and his followers through.

"Yes, that was the plan, but you see Voldemort was sighted making a mass attack on a town just off the coast of France. He had to go and help their ministry defend itself."

The guards looked rather reassured at this.

"Well that makes sense. Those French ones can never defend themselves in battle. Just need to look at how they did in the last Quidditch World cup. So what are you after in the other world" asked the first guard, as he put his floor down on the ground, and despite what his job allowed, he began to enquire. he knew roughly what it was that they guarded, but he himself had never set foot past the gate.

"I'm afraid we can't say, I would like to but Dumbledore said no, and im not one to disobey him." Lucius said, as the others, so as to appear not to be mutes, gave murmurs of agreement.

"Fair enough, well we won't be getting in your way any longer. You probably want to get in their and get on with things don't you. Good luck and everything, i would ask you how it turns out but our shift is over in bout four hours, and i don' expect we will be here when you get back..." The guards said as they opened the enormous wooden doors, as if they had been stolen form the entrance of heaven themselves.

"And so that is about all there is to it im afraid." Said Voldemort as it came back to the current situation, in the pub, with Oldman.

"I regret that it isn't as interesting as perhaps you had hoped, but as you had said earlier, I'm not one accustomed to trickery, for i can usually use the "dullish brute force" that you don't find to be of interest." He said with a small satisfaction. Lucius and the others were off in another part of the world now, obtaining ingredients. Voldemort didn't like to spend to much time with his followers. People might start to question his sexuality.

"No no, it was a reasonable tale i must confess." Oldman said as he stumped out the remains of his cigar. "Though if i may say, and i do not intend to insult your intelligence, i believe it was primarily lady luck that that bought you success."

"Well i am one with the ladies." Voldemort said smugly.

"Quite so." Oldman said, as he didn't find this joke very funny. "However, tell me one thing, what would you have done suppose, if the shift had not changed over, and it was the same two guards that had admitted the real Harry Potter and co"

Voldemort considered for a minute. "Well for a start i would make a mental check to have Bellatrix punished for lying." Voldemort said, though he knew that he could no more punish her, than he could enter a ballet tournament and win through decent means. "Then i suppose that unless one of my death eaters could come up with some plausible tale, then indeed i would have had to kill them, and risk having the ministry sent in after me."

"And how about if once you had made it past the guards there, you found yourself confronted with Albus Dumbledore. Admittedly i have never met him in person, as you have, but i would have thought it entirely believable that he would have waited by the portal, in the small building to make sure no other people were to, as you did, worm your way through." Voldemort shrugged at this comment, as a brief wave of panic passed him. What if Albus had been in the house.

"Well we didn't see anything, so he wasn't there, and if he was, then i doubt he saw us." He said with an airy laugh which was made to reassure him, but more than anything, echoed the doubt within his mind.

Meanwhile, somewhere away from Harmonia, in the vast underground caverns, were six adventurers, and one goblin. They were hurtling down the track at what was at some points a terrificly terrifying speed. Remus had gone pale, whilst Tonks had pushed her way to the front so she could get the full blast of the wind on her face. Blaise's teeth were clenched, and she sat with one hand gripped around the iron side, and the other gripped on Harry arm, as though she were trying to rip off his flesh. The goblin, who was entirely used to this sort of thing, seemed to be extracting its fear from their reactions, as it said all manner of things along the lines of "You think this is fast? You just wait till you get round the corner..."

The torches which were only placed on the walls, were seldom seen from the cart, which ran over a vast blackness below. None of them really cared to enquire what was down, as they were fairly certain it would be a long fall and then a quick stop, leaving them in no such state to worry about any dragons or other dangerous creatures that may dwell in the darkness. The cart lifted up as it went over a bump, causing all of them to leave their stomachs behind.

Probably one of the worst things about the ride, and what separated it from Quidditch in Harry's eyes, were that for a start, he wasn't at all in control of the situation, and secondly, the sheer blackness that engulfed them for most of the time, meant they couldn't see the track in front of them. So whenever they would come to a drop or a climb or a sharp corner, they were taken by suprise, and deprived of any form of preparation they would have wished to make.

It must have been a good ten minutes on the mine cart before they left the main cavernous area, and came into a small tunnel, which housed just the one track. Thankfully it seemed to be going straighter than the previous ones, and since the walls were so much closer, so were the torches, and so they could see before them.

"You might want to keep your heads down." The goblin warned as juts of rock seemed to shoot at them every so often from the sides or from the ceiling. Thankfully no one was injured by any of this, and they all managed to carry on, squashed in the cart.

The track began a steep descent, almost at a forty five degree angle, which built up speeds moody had only ever dreamed off in the car. It carried on like this, in a smooth, yet rocket fast descent for the remaining fifteen minutes of the journey. Eventually the track began to flatten out, just when they thought that they must have gone down so far they would pass out of the other side of the world itself, and plunge ever onwards into the bottom less abyss of parallel space.

As they began to slow down, and the humming of the wheels turned into the steady grinding and screeching that it had started off with, the Goblin applied the breaks, and they came to a swift stop, causing Tonks to fall out of the front. They were left in a long flat tunnel which looked identical in both ways. The roof was about eight foot wide and the walls were about that far apart aswell. The track carried on in front of them for as far as they could see.

"Aren't you going to take us all thew way" Harry asked as Blaise finally loosened her grip on him. The goblin stared at him before giving a small laugh.

"I'm afraid not. I don't dare go any further than this"

"Will you wait for us then" Remus asked as he looked at the goblin. "You won't be getting the rest of your payment if you don't"

"I know that." The Goblin said as it gave the cart a quick check over to make sure it was still in good running condition. "I will wait until the need of the day, and if you aren't back by then, or if something should scare me, then im afraid im leaving. It's dangerous here and im not one to take risks." It said.

The goblin got out of its cart finally, and one hundred feet down the cave or so it drove a pin into either side or the wall, about ten or twelve inches off the ground. It tied some string to the first pin, before threading it thought the second, and then rolling out the ball of string back to the cart. The others watched this curiously, before the goblin hopped back into the cart, and pulled the string tight. It then severed the string, and tied the loose end around one of its toes.

"I don't want anything surprising me in my sleep." It said in a way that said this was an ancient goblin trick passed down for over one generation.

"Well lets not waste anytime. We don't want Marcus to have to wait do we" Harry asked, as he began to lead the way, down into the dank dark cave. It was still hot, but now it was also becoming humid. The six travellers managed to walk for the first fifteen or twenty minutes without trouble. It was tough to be exact as Harry their watch faces had steamed up on the inside.

"There must be a large water source somewhere near by." Hermione said as she wiped her brows with the back of her arm. She was wearing a short sleeved top, but still felt rather hot.

"If it is clean drinking water then we can have a drink there." Tonks said to them. Of course i wouldn't have thought it would be clean, there are probably lots of rats and other things polluting it." Harry often had to remind himself that despite her childish behavior Tonks still, was a fully trained auror, and didn't achieve that position without a great deal of common sense."

Indeed, as if right on cue a rat ran past their feet. Blaise shrank away from it slightly, whilst Ron Harry and Hermione were far to accustomed to them after Scabbers to pay it any unusual notice. Remus had also dealt with quite a few rats when he was younger, it came with being poor.

"Its only a rat." Ron said as he noticed Blaise, It's not going to eat you." He said tauntingly.

"Well it could be diseased." She said bitterly. "It only needs to get near you for some of those germs to get on your skin...There's a reason why i don't walk to near to you Ronald." She said in a way he didn't understand.

The caves were dark, as at this depth the goblins didn't bother with the lamps or torches, and so the only light they had was from their wands. Remus had permitted them only to have one open, because if they should come across the Spider lair sooner than expected, they would have to extinguish them quickly. It made it tough to see far ahead, or far behind, so they couldn't see at all whether the cave would split into a dozen different paths, or lead to a dead end. They just hoped that it reminded in one single simple path, becasue as soon as they came to multiple paths, all crossing over and interlinking, they would run the risk of getting lost.

"Do you think i should use a pointer charm so we know which way is north" Hermione asked ,more to break the silence that was pressing in on them more than anything else.

"I suppose you can if you want to Hermione. I'm not to familiar with the charm or not but it may not work in the ralm at all, and even if it does we are so far underground that it may not work. Compasses do work on magnetic fields don't they" Remus asked. Ron and Tonks looked completely lost.

Hermione decided to try the charm, and to her suprise it worked. "Wow what do you know." She exclaimed as the light revealed the wand pivoting on one finger. She turned round to see that it stay pointing in the same direction.

"Looks like you have just elected yourself the boss of making sure we don't get lost then." Harry said as another rat ran past, this time in the opposite direction. "Although we don't actually know which way we are going do we"

"We are going down, as long as Hermione can remember which way the compass changes we should be able to navigate our way back out. Isn't that right Hermione" Remus asked. She nodded that it was indeed so, and once again they set off. The floor was still floating down, and the floor seemed to a be damp from the humidity, which was getting more intense as they went. They needed to watch where they walked because some of the rocks were like ice when they were wet, and Harry had nearly fallen over three times already.

There was a vague sound that they could hear somewhere in the distance, though at this point it was impossible to tell what it was. It was continuous which ruled out it being any sort of animal except one with nothing better to do with its free time. as they drew nearer the sound, they began to distinguish it as water. Harry had already had a mouthful form his canteen so it wasn't urgent that he refill it. More than anyhting though the water would be useful for learning.

They would hopefully be able to tell what lived in the caves besides rats and spiders, from droppings or tracks that animals would leave when they undoubtedly came to drink.

"If anyone gets lost, though under no circumstances should we get separated, if you follow the sound of the water it should guide you back to the mine cart. There hasn't been any turnings off so far, so if there are after the water, than it should help." Tonks told them. They had to crawl under a large rock which jutted down from the ceiling leaving a gap of no more than two foot.

It appeared that indeed the cave was no longer tunneled by goblins, because it was far to rough, with uneven points here and there. Perhaps it had been tunneled by some sort of animal, although that was unlikely at this point, due to the fact that it would have to be an animal that could change shape. More likely was that it had been created over thousands and thousands (maybe millions), of years in which stray guts of wind had bought in damp or humid droplets, which had worn away the rocks in much the same way as rain wears away ancient ruins.

"Phoo im going to have to go on a diet." Remus said, who with the bulky backpack on, struggled to squeeze through.

"You're fine as you are." Tonks said as she rolled her eyes and rubbed some rocky dust off of his shirt. "But this heat is making me tired." She said as she stifled a yawn.

"It will do." Remus said very knowingly. "Still we can have a rest if the water that is so close now, proves to be safe and clean. Not a long break mind you. We have only been awake a few hours, and we cant have walked more than a mile, probably less than that, since we probably walk slower in the dark.

"Yeah, i remember when i was younger i went on this school trip and for one of the things we did, we had to put on a blindfold and we were all tied together in a big line. Then we had to hike through a forest. We had walked for hours, but it turned out afterwards, when we had taken our blindfold off, that it was barely the size of the Slytherin common room." Harry laughed at this and smiled. It was the first time he had heard Blaise mention anything of her childhood, and it caused him to wonder why she didn't do so more often.

No one said anymore about the matter though, for they had reached the source of water that they had been able to hear, and it presented itself in the way of a problem. Harry had been expecting some rocky pool of water, such as you would sea at the beach, with small crabs and other things in, but what it was in actual fact was more like a waterfall than anything else. It splashed down in front of them, as some of it hit rocks on the side of the path of it's decent down. They looked up as far as they could, which was probably thirty foot at most. There was a long dark passage way that the water was falling from.

"Do you think it comes form the surface" Hermione asked as she reached out and felt it. The water was quite warm, and certainly wouldn't be pleasurable to drink in that sense.

"No i don't think so Hermione. For a start we can't see daylight, although it is possible that the passage that it has eaten away at in the rock is bent. No, the reason i say it probably isnt form the surface, is becasue it feels to warm for that. My bet is that its rain water which has sunk down into the rocks, and met up like streams do to a river."

"It must have worn away this passage over time." He said as he pointed in the opposite direction, down, where there was an enormous and seemingly bottomless darkness. "I guess from there it either flows into the sea, or else falls off the bottom of the earth."

The gap was probably eight or ten feet across, and so although they could probably jump it, it wouldn't be wise to take the risk. Two foot of the rocks on either side of the waterfall were also wet and slippery.

"Could we not climb across? Asked Ron as he looked at the side of the rock opposite the waterfall. There was still a slight lip where a few inches of the path remained, and the wall there was sloped slightly so one could rest their weight on it whilst edging forwards.

"Mmm no again the rocks are wet, and so i don't think we should try that if possible. I have some rope in my bag. We should be able to throw some across and make a kind of bridge." He said as he took out a large roll of thick rope.

When unwound it was about twenty feet long, meaning it could probably go across the gap twice. They also had a dozen or so looped pegs which they could use to pass the rope through. They all stood in silence for a minute concidering the various ways in which they could cross. The thing it all boiled down to was that they needed to fix the rope on the other side, and there were none of those wonderfully well placed rocks which they could laso or use a grappling hook on.

"Could you levitate me across" Harry asked Remus after a moment of deep consideration of all the possibilites.

"Well in theory i can Harry. But as im sure you know levitating a human being is very tough work. I'm not entirely sure i trust myself to take that risk. I only need to loose my concentration for a second. Its a nice thought harry but im afraid it wont work."

"What about if two or more people try to levitate one person" He asked, determined in his own mind that this was the only way.

"No again Harry that wouldn't help. If the two people were to try and move you even a slightly different way the forces would negate each other, causing you to plummet."

"Still, if i was Albus Dumbledore i wouldn't mind levitating you over, but since neither Tonks or I are strong enough to do it, lets leave that idea. Im certain that there are other ways.

"Would you mind if i levitate you" Harry asked after another moment, in which everyone was thinking. Their was a powerful silence before Blaise muttered about it being stupid. Remus however smiled at this suggestion.

"Well i didn't think of that one." he said as he shook his head, almost at his own stupidity. "Your a good magician Harry. I'm fairly sure you could do it."

"Do you remember what you learned in charms? How the wand should be moved during the spell." Remus asked as he walked up and stood by the edge.

"Yes i remember how." harry said, as he twirled the wand in his fingers, before staring unblinkingly at Remus. He drew his wand arm back, before turning his wrist slightly. He then began the incantation, whilst moving his wand in time with Remus, who began to lift off from the floor. Everyone gasped, whilst Harry remained unaware of anything outside what he was doing.

His wand remained firmly pointed forwards, whilst he continued muttering under his breath, and his other hand moved forwards with fingers outstretched. It looked like he was reaching forward for something in the distance, and whilst it wasn't in anyway part of the charm, in his mind it was urging and pushing Remus forward over the terminal gap. As quickly as he had started, he stopped. Harry lowered his wand, and allowed his other senses to return, as Remus fell down an inch or two onto the ground on the other side. Everyone gasped, whilst Remus turned round to show a look of admiration that only matched Blaises.

After that, and after Ron had given Harry a hearty pat on the back, they carried on with the plan. They threw the rope across to Remus, who caught it, and set about fastening it to the ground with half of the pins that he had carried across in his pocket. They put it up near the wall opposite the water fall, and once it was securely fastened they had what was a relatively safe form of passage. By leaning up against the wall, as Ron had suggested, but by standing on the rope instead of the thin outcrop of rock they had something steady enough to put their feet on. The rope had to be pulled tight, so that it didn't move away form under their feet, but eventually they had all managed to cross over to the other side.

"Well looks like that all went well. Lets just hope we don't need the rope later, or that we need to make a quick leave." Hermione said with a smile. as they looked at their watches it read it read that it had just gone ten o clock. They had been an hour so far, and had three more left.

"Marcus said that it would take us an hour to get into the cave, so im guessing it can't be that far ahead. Of course he didn't see the rope complication which set us back a bit, but we should still be at least two third of the way their i would have thought." Ron said as he looked ahead and imagined a big spider being just a few meters away. He shuddered and paled a little, and then hoped he was wrong.

They walked forwards for a few minutes as the path carried on, straight, yet with obstacles. They had to climb over a rock that had fallen form the ceiling at one point. Harry stayed at the back, because he had come over with a slight headache. He supposed it was from to much intense concentration, and took a quick drink from his canteen to try and ease it.

"Why could you do it" Blaise asked him in a whisper, as the others carried on walking, unaware of the hushed conversation that was about to take place behind them.

"I don't know. It just seems to me that I'm good at concentrating on spells." He said, as he himself did not know why magic had been seeming easier to him lately. Even his potions were turning out better, and he had hardly even touched the books since summer.

"It wasn't just a case of being good at concentrating. A teacher refused because he wasn't good enough, and yet he didn't even hesitate to let you try. He's either very stupid, or has some suspiciously strongly founded confidence in you." She said as she stared at him, as though expecting him to admit something to her.

"Well i don't know what to tell you Blaise, other than i knew in my mind that i would be able to do that, and perhaps thats what counts. They say being confident in something help a lot, so maybe thats why i could do it. Its not like im parting the seas or anything." He said with a small laugh.

"I guess." said Blaise quietly. "though it was still pretty impressive...for a pig boy"

They stopped talking, partly because Harry liked to quit whilst he was ahead (she hadn't hit him at all today) and also because the cave had finally changed. Rather than the dusty red rock that they had so far seen, they now came to an are that appeared to be made of some sort of sandstone. It seemed to split off not into paths, but into what could only be described as a honeycomb structure. It was more like a large room, with pillars here and there, and an occasional wall.

"Which way is it" Tonks asked as she peered round the area.

"I don't know..." Remus said as his brow furrowed. "I guess we just go ahead and see, and if one bit seems to go down more than the other, then thats the way we go." They advanced as cautiously as they could, for their was some sinister quality about the rocks around them, that seemed to suggest something lived here. They all huddled closely together, for although it sounded silly, the light form the wand seemed to be getting weaker.

"They moved on thought the sands rocks, and discovered that once again the walls were becoming more solid than before, and that they would have to choose one particular path that separated from the rest. There were three main looking paths, and a fourth which went back up. They ruled that one out. In the end they went for the right most path, which dipped down slightly more than the others. The floor was solid, and their footsteps seemed to make an echoing sound on every step. Perhaps for no reason other than paranoia, the atmosphere seemed to be charged, and Harry could feel as if something was watching him...

Then something caused Harry's heart to leap in his chest, and something which practically killed Ron. A spider ran past them. It was different from the usual spiders that they saw at school though, for this one was several inches tall, and must have had a leg span of between eighteen and twenty four inches. It was a long moment after the spider was gone, when Ron finally managed to regain control of himself, and managed to slow his breath before he passed out. with a hand clasped to his heart, as though pushing it back inside his chest, he turned to the others.

"We must be near." He mouthed rather than said, though not by purpose.

Remus gave a solemn nod, as he made sure the light was not directly at the front of the group.

"Do you think that was the king spider" Ron asked faintly, as though he were in some delirium. His eyes were wide and they scanned the area around them, as though knowing that there must be other spiders.

"I'm afraid to say i doubt it Ron." Harry said as he gave Ron a comforting pat on the bag which caused Ron to jump out of his skin, or at least out of his sanity, what tattered remains he had left on him.

"Marcus did make it sound as if the spider would be big enough to kill us, and i don't think that the spider just past us could." Remus said quietly.At that moment another one of the spiders scuttled past them, only this one had a rat clasped in its pincers.

"Well i guess we know what they eat now." Harry thought to himself. They could see a little way ahead that the path began to level off. This was a good sign, or a very bad sign, depending on what you were hoping for.

Harry motioned for Remus to put out his wand. He did so, and they were Immedietly plunged into an almost total darkness. It wasn't total because it would seem up ahead there was a glow, which if not real, was at least supernatural enough to be mildly visible. However it was still dark enough that they couldn't see anything other than the pale point of grey where they were headed. Everyone hold hands so no one gets separated." Tonks said to them, as someone punched Harry in the stomach, before taking hold of his hand.

"Who's holding my hand" Harry asked out of curiosity more than anything. It felt like a female hand more than a mans, though he couldn't be certain.

"It might be mine." Tonks volunteered. Have you got a fat thumb"

"I don't think my thumb is fat." Harry said in a vaguely indignant manner. Hang on a minute i'll squeeze your hand.

"Oooow harry don't you dare do that again" Hermione said as she made sure he wasn't going to try and break her fingers. Harry wouldn't want to be holding Ron's hand when they got nearer the spider, because under fear people obtain a vice like grip.

"Ok, im at the front of the line, who's at the back" Remus whispered to them.

"I'm at the back." Blaise said in a disgruntled manner.

"Is everyone except me and Blaise holding two hands then" Remus asked. Everyone said yes, whilst Ron nodded, before saying yes.

"Well if that's all sorted lets walk further ahead and see what we can see, slowly..." he said as he began to lead the party.

"Wait im not ready." Blaise said in the same sarcastic tone as before.

"Why ever not" Remus asked as he rolled his eyes, though no one could see.

"I'm not holding anyones hand." She replied.

"What about me? I'm holding your hand." Harry said as he shook his hand to show her.

"That's not my hand." She said causing him to quickly recoil. She gave him a quick and remarkably well aimed slap round the face, before taking his hand, and carrying on.

they proceeded further down into the cave, ever so slowly. They weren't going as slow as possible, but he supposed they would do that when they knew they weren't simply walking into another part of the catacomb. The path began to level off, and so Harry began to see less of the ceiling, and more of what was in front of him, although other than Hermione there was only the same dim light, though it was growing brighter. harry was about to ask if Remus could see any better, but he was silenced by a quick quiet exclamation which caused him to shudder.

"We made it. We are at the Spiders Lair"


	71. The Spiders Lair

I am aware that it has been about 4 years since the last update -.-

Basically I have been busy at work, and normally when I do my writing (during the evenings) my sister has been on the comp doing coursework since she has exams coming up -.-

Also I have been reading two very good books, the count of monte cristo (by alexandre dumas) and river god (Wilbur smith)

Hopefully this chapter isn't as bad as I fear it might be. I had several different ideas for how this would turn out, and what would happen, but hopefully I chose the right one. I wont say the other ideas because im till going to use them another time…

Thanks ofr all the reviews… I truly did get lots, and it is always appreciated.

Thanks for your patience. It's a pleasure to have readers as kind as yourselves J

Everyone stood, as if rooted to the spot by some force other than fear. Remus very slowly moved against the wall, where there was a small dent in the wall large enough for a man to hide in. He hid in this space, so that he could move at a normal speed without risking been seen. He quickly opened his backpack and took out the things necessary to obtain the venom. He took out his gloves, which he put on his knee for the time being, before drawing out a large glass flask, a funnel and a sponge. He passed the flask to Tonks, because whilst he wore the protective glove, it would be hard for him to maintain a firm grip.

Harry couldn't see anything of the cave ahead, because it was still rather dark, and the inclination of the slope blocked his view. He could however see where the light was coming from. It was from a strange form of fungus which gave of a pale glow, as to some of the fish found at the darkest depths of the ocean.

"Does everyone know the plan?" Remus asked in a quick whisper. Harry drew his attention away from the entrance to the cave where he could see spiders quickly running backwards and forwards, It seemed that they carried rats in, and left without them, so they must be retrieving food for the spider king, in much the same manner as ants for their queen, who would sit all day indulging in food and reproducing, much like emperors or unusually lucky men.

"Right what we are going to do is this, when we get into the cave, Tonks and myself are going to go to one side of the cave. Harry, i want you and Blaise to go to the other side of the cave. when we have gotten to the far side of the wall, you will need to project the illusion about ten feet to either side of us."

"As soon as the spider has attacked the projection, remember to stop the spell, before it turns on you. Ron, Hermione, if you don't mind i think it would be safer if you don't enter the cave. Ron looked thoroughly relieved, whilst Hermione was about to open her mouth to complain. Remus cut her short. "I don't say this because you aren't capable. You are both great magicians, but i there is no need for all six of us to advance into danger. If you two stay by the door, then if anything goes wrong, you will be able to cause a distraction, and draw the spider kings attention away from us."

"What and have it coming after us!" Ron asked slightly louder than a sane person should in the urgent situation. " Remus gave a sort of grimace to this remark.

"I hate to say it Ron but if you stand near the door way the spider king doesn't pose much of a threat to you, as you will see if you take a few steps closer, it is sitting there, and it is far to big to fit down this tunnel. The other spiders that we have seen are the only threat that will face you and Hermione, and in the case that something does go wrong, and they do attack you, im sure you will be able to fight them off with simple stunning spells."

Everyone nodded to this, except for Harry who asked.

"And why do i need to go to Blaise." After realizing that it made him sound like her was scared. "Not that i don't want to go. I'm happy to, well as happy as one can be, i was just wondering was all."

"Well Harry, Again, if some of the smaller spiders should attack you it will help to have two of you to defend yourself, also there are a few bits of web, that you may need to help Blaise get round." After a moments silence followed this in which everyone looked at each other to check that there was nothing more to say. Once it was concluded that they were ready, they all began to set off again.

Remus left his backpack where it was, though he had his gloves on a wand in one hand and a sponge in the other. He looked mildly ridiculous, though they all would shortly enough. They took the slowest of steps, which seemed exaggerated at first. It was only after a minute that Harry realized there was indeed no reason for him to walk as though he were on the moon, and instead went with small shuffling steps, like a child may take whilst an angry teacher is bearing down at them.

Eventually the cave came into site, and Harry stayed in wonderment and horror at what he was confronted with. It was a large cavern, about one hundred feet high, and about the wide. It was dark in appearance, probably made of a granite type substance. However a lot of it was covered with the glowing moss, illuminating the scene well enough to see. there were half a dozen small spiders running to and from the room through tunnels much like the one they were in, that were located around the room.

Harry could see what Remus meant by there being some web. It was strung from either walls, as thick as a rope, and as white as pearly white washing. It was so thickly strung, from one wall to the other, joining on to each other, that there were areas upto a foot wide where their view was blocked out. Clearly it wasn't going to be a case of walking from one side to the other. The smaller spiders seemed to run between these webs with the simplest of ease, of course should harry have eight legs he expected he could do the same. He turned his eyes down to his arm, whilst making the smallest of movements. It was half past ten, which meant that half their time was up.

In the middle of all the mass of web, in the only clear part of the room, was the biggest spider Harry had ever seen. It must have measured about twenty feet when it was standing up, though it was impossible to say, as it was currently resting on its body, with its legs by its side. It's enormous eyes, each one the size of a dinner place was looking at them with a shining red glare. Harry felt the blood drain from him as he stared back at it, and desperately hoped he was still enough not to be seen.

The spider by the looks of it never moved from that position, as the smaller spiders constantly supplied it with the rats it needed to sustain its ugly life. There was a deep hissng sound emmiting from it as it gave enormous heaving breaths under its own heavy weight. They were long and slow, and sounded like leather billows. Once everyone was sure that the spider king wasn't going to attack, they began their journey into the cave, for what would be a very long and difficult task. They made their way out of the tunnel and into the entrance, each one in a nervous state which they managed to suppress.

Each person began to take up their post, as Ron and Hermione both began to kneel down, so that they would not grow faint in the long wait, whilst Remus and Tonks, separated and began to make their way over to the other side of the cave from Harry and Blaise. They had to be constantly aware of how fast they were moving, and had to quickly grow accustomed to moving in this strange new manner. Harry went to step over a strand of web, only to find that he couldn't possibly jump over it, or fall over as he usually would. He needed to stop, take his leg back, and crawl underneath instead.

It must have been a good three or five minutes before they had even made it over the first web. Harry didn't dare look to see if Remus and the others were faring any better, for even the slightest turn of his head in too swift a manner, could cost him his life. Also he had to make sure not to touch the web, for if it was anything like normal spiders, even the slightest touch would send vibrations back to the spider king, alerting him of their presence. Harry barely managed a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see Blaise sliding under the web with intense concentration.

And so began the ghostly task, which for than anything was scary due to the eerie quietness only broken by the scuttling of spiders across the stone floor, and the constant heavy breathing of the spider king. In a way to Ron and Hermione who were crouched in the door way, wands ready, it looked like some alien ballet, as the four people all very slowly twisted around the webs, as though they were in slow motion. It was the sheer contrast between their friends, and the spiders, that made the eight legged creatures seem impossibly fast.

Harry had to say that despite what he thought, it was proving to be very difficult, and very tiring. To someone who wasn't doing it, the thought of moving very slowly would be considered tiring, but just as is with mime's, it took a great deal of physical strength to keep still and to stop their arm shaking as they stretched it out before them. Tonks and Remus were progressing well, though perhaps a little to fast, where as Harry and Blaise were taking no risks. They had however come to a sort of problem, which was the there was a cluster of tightly joined web ropes, which they may not be able to move through.

Harry very slowly took of his travel cloak, as would the world worst male stripper, before lowering it to the ground. It was large, and ran the risk of touching the web, and alerting the enemy to their presence. It reminded Harry of a documentary he had watched two summers ago whilst he was bored. It had been about a German prison during the second world war called Colditz, where it spoke of various escapes. One of them was called the bare bum escape, where the three prisoners, upon breaking into an abandoned storage room on the outside wall, they had to strip down to their underwear so they could squeeze through a gap only a few inches wide.

Blaise pulled her stomach in, and leant forwards whilst she slid between the first two ropes of the knot as would a professional cat burglar with laser beams. Harry followed after her, tough he had to stop half way, as she had yet to move out of the way and around the next part. Harry risked a quick look (meaning very slow, but brief) at Remus' direction, to see they were both advancing well. Remus was clutching his sponge and wearing his gloves still, looking as if he was going to wash his car, whilst Tonks was hugging the large flask close to her, as though it were Lesa the turtle.

It could have been in Ron's mind, though he wasn't sure, but it seemed that the smaller spiders were becoming more frequent, and not all of them were carrying food anymore. some of them would run in from one side of the room, dance over the few cobwebs that were in their way, before scuttling out the other side, as though they were going to tell other spider guards something. He tried not to focus on this sort of thing, because it was scary enough as it was, before he started crediting them with brains.

Blaise passed over the web, to find herself in what was essentially a small web box, with the only clear way out being a gap a few feet wide, several feet long, and about four feet high. She looked at this with curiosity for a minute, as she contemplated that they may have to go back, because there was no way they could get up that high. Harry drew up behind her a minute later, and stared at the gap, as she had been doing. He gave it some concentration, before experimentally reaching forward. Underneath the main area that represented the only way to go forward were a few spaces. They were large enough to stick an arm through, but most certainly not wide enough to pass through.

He had had an idea, though it wouldn't be easy, especially since Blaise probably wouldn't understand what it was. He slowly reached out an arm, and pressed down on her shoulder. She gave him a questioning look, to which he merely responded with an increase of force, and a wink. She rolled her eyes, to say she had no confidence, yet complied anyway. Harry continued pushing her, until she was on her knees, and then until she was finally laying down on her back. she seemed a bit nervous in this position, but the fact spiders were running a few inches from her face excused this.

Harry carefully reached down, and slid his arms underneath her. With one arm resting under her shoulders and the other just above her waist, he began to pick her up. He had to say it was tougher than he thought, for he was having to move inch by inch very slowly, and therefore lacked any sort of momentum that allowed world class lifters to get cars above their heads.

"What are you doing?" She mouthed to him, as she concentrated her effort on keeping her legs straight and not letting them flop down.

Harry merely responded with a smile and a look which said "Trust me". After a moment in which she continued to raise, She was now waste height. She looked to Harry's left, to try and see where Remus and tonks were, but the massive hulk of the spider was blocking their view. She could feel Harry's arms shaking under her, as they continued to carry her. If she had known this was going to happen today she would have avoided eating. Not because she had any desire to impress Harry, but she wouldn't want him to say she was fat.

It was only as she reached just shy of his shoulder height, that she finally realized exactly what Harry was intending to do. He moved her forward so she was closer to the wall of web which was obstructing them, and very slowly, passed her shoes, and her lower legs through the gap which was to high to climb through on one own. She kept as straight and as rigid as she could manage as Harry passed her threw. However as she got to around the half way point the first problem arose. His arm could not go through with her, and she was about to curse to herself, when she realized he had long since realized this.

She gradually felt Harry hand that was resting between her shoulders, lower until she was resting on just one of Harry's arms. She felt a sharp pain go through her back, as it began to cramp up from having all the weight resting on one point. however that was very little pain compared to what Harry was enduring. He was cursing to himself as he gritted his teeth and tried to steady his breathing. It was amazing he had lasted this long in his mind. He couldn't feel his arms, all he felt was an aching extension of his body. He concentrated all his effort however, on these two numb digits which were part of him, and tried to control them with all the will power he could muster.

He reached forward, into the small gap about two feet below Blaise. Once his elbow had passed, he rotated his arm up, so that it was right next to his other arm, except that it was on the other side of the web. He slid her the last few inches he could with the arm that was currently supporting her weight, before his other arm once again joined in the battle. After he had shifted Blaise's weight to his second hand, He gently and slowly began to lower her, Until her toes were touching on the ground. At this point both of them felt immense relief, for there was more than one point where both of them decided it was a mistake. Harry stretched his arm through the gap as far as he could, so his face was practically touching the web, before Blasie gently slid the rest of the way off, and back onto the solid floor.

She slowly turned around to face Harry.

"What about you?" She mouthed silently. He merely shook his head and ushered her to go on. He wouldn't be able to go any further now. He would stay here and wait. After all Blaise could take care of herself as well as any of them. She didn't need Harry breathing down her neck as she cast a projection spell. She hesitated for a minute, before she to realized she wouldn't be able to get Harry over to her side.

Harry carefully sat down, for he was now more drained of strength than after a long quidditch match in the rain, and suspected that if he stayed standing much longer his legs would give way beneath him. He slowly sat down so he could regain his strength for the way out, whilst Blaise continued to carry on. However it was as she was turning, and moving along the last few arduous meters that she had to cover, that she slipped up, and something went wrong.

Later on it would be looked upon as a small error, that began to lead to the whole thing going pear shaped. There was a small loose pebble on the ground that must have fallen from the vast cavernous ceiling above long ago. She didn't se it in time, or if she did then she assumed that she could simply stand on it without any problems. However as her foot laid down upon the stone, it gave a very silent, yet very distinct grinding sound against the floor. She almost sprung back in shock, though her brain intervened at the last moment and spared her from this fatal mistake.

The Spider kings head spun round far faster than they suspected it could. It stared directly at Blaise with several feet of glaring eyes. Ron and Hermione who had the best view of the situation gave a gulp. The Spider king didn't seem to be making any immediate action to pounce, but it carried on staring at her so intensely she dared not move even the slightest, and so she came to a total standstill, facing the enemy with wide eyed fear, that anyone could easily have mistaken for a staring contest of titans.

The smaller spiders all began chittering. Whilst they had been frequent before in their darting trips across the room Harry was now certain that they would walk into one of them. As one of them scuttled merly an inch past him, with the hairy legs of its body practically touching Harry's trousers, he knew that this was a bad plan. It carried on its path, and just as he was about to let out a breath he had been holding, it instead ran full whack into Blaises leg.

It fell on its back, as its legs flaiailed in the air, before it righted itself and stared round accusingly. It couldn't see what it had hit, for it had been still, but it knew there shouldn't be a web there. Any spider could smell its own web. It gave a chittering sound, which asked the spider king.

"What is there? I see nothing but I feel it. It was not web for I do not smell it, and it was not rock for I do not feel its texture. Tell me what you see?" The spider king gave several heavy leathery breaths, and to the humans this was perfectly normal, for none of them knew a question had been addressed to it.

After a moment in which Blaise dared not look down, and merely hoped the spider had gone of dazed, the king pondered. Finally it reached its stubby neck as far forwards as could be allowed, without having to move its body that seemed merged to the earth through years of accumulated filth and mess.

"There is something there that I do not know if. Remove it!" The Spider king bellowed loudly throughout the catacomb.

The travelers could not understand this, though they did not need to, for the wheezing clicking, snarling sound the King made left no doubt in their mind. It was not happy. By this point at least two hundred of the one foot spiders had filtered into the cave. They stared up at its king, whilst others gradually approached the mysterious object that was the mortified Blaise. Harry realized there was no time to spare, and so he looked round, found the skeleton of an old rat, and in a movement that argued every fiber of his mind, he gave it a swift chuck to the other side of the room, the one furthest from the entrance.

A tremendous roar echoed through the room that completely covered the tiny sound of the bones clattering against the floor. It was the call of the hunt. There could be no doubt in their mind, something, or more correctly, someone, was in their cave. Harry had hoped, though not expected, that the spiders would stupid, and would follow the flight of the skeleton. The spiders however had enough eyes that they could see the flight of the bones, the shape moving in a manner that showed them it was nothing of value.

The thing that threw it however, that was a different matter. It was about two or two and a half feet long, and made a quick arc in the air, that revealed all its details, before disappearing behind the veil of stillness. The Spiders rose up and down on their legs in a frenzy of excitement, for their could be no doubt that it was from a human. About once a year, a human would stumble into their cave, and not once in the last one thousand years had a human stumbled out of the cave.

They all focused their attention on where the arm was, and where the rat corpse came from. They bore down upon this point as do old people at a car boot sale. Harry was scared; though he knew that fear wasn't going to keep him alive. It was the subconscious actions that followed fear, such as screaming and running that did that.

He slowly, so as not to be seen, edged away form the spot where he had been. He had to be quick though, for the spiders were not limited by speed, and bared down on him as fast as was possible, without spoiling the anticipation which made supple human flesh all that more tasty. Harry was moving faster than any of them had dared to do so far, for if he did not he would be met by the tide of chittering pincers and the sea of glaring red eyes, searching, smelling out their pray.

Harry had backed up towards the wall. This is where things stopped going as he had planned. He hadn't expected nearly as much interest from the smaller spiders, and was simply planning to back away, and then go under some of the webs, to one side. What he found in reality was that the smaller spiders had formed a semi circle around the point, and were closing in.

There were a few feet between him and the closest spiders by the time he reached the wall, because as he was pleased to see, quick squabbles broke out between them over who would take the front ranks, and help with the killing. Who would be the ones to taste first blood? There was a rocky outcrop about three feet high, and so he carefully pulled himself from his position which was still on the floor, up onto the platform. It sloped up steeply, and Harry climbed as far up as he subtly could, though he could see that they were crumbling rocks above, and any movement from them would reveal his location.

There were anxious cries from the lesser spiders as they reached the wall and found nothing.

"My eyes deceive me." One of the yelled. "By the name of the spider king Razar, tell me where the human is."

"It was there, and as I see our brothers formed a wall, so unless the human slipped into the ground I see no where it could have gone." Another one replied. Similar argument broke out like this amongst the ranks, and the message filtered back to those at the other side of the room near Remus and Tonks. By this point the spiders message was jumbled like a game of Chinese whispers.

"There are hundreds of humans?" One hissed excitedly from a few feet away from Remus. "Let the feat begin!" There was a tremendous roar of clicking excitement form the spiders as all of them began pushing forwards towards where Harry was, perched some feet up on the steep rock. Hermione and Ron were sitting in the doorway anxiously trying to think of some way they could help.

They could probably make a sound and lured the spiders away, to where the passage was at its thinner point and then try and make a stand against them. However by this point although they knew which spells wouldn't work, they had no way of knowing how vulnerable to magic the spiders would be.

Remus and Tonks could not see what was going on but they could tell that something was wrong by the surging crowd of spiders and the cry of the feast that was about to be upon them. Blaise should make the projection now, before something got out of hand. Remus gave a wiggling of his eyebrows, as Ron stared back intently for a few minutes before finally understanding the message. He turned to Harry, who was far to busy in his own things to see Ron, he then turned to Blaise, who after realizing Harry needed help, and that she wasn't one to offer it, looked to Ron and Hermione.

It was a moment as she tried to decipher Ron's cryptic message, and it wasn't until Hermione held up her wand and gave it a wiggle that Blaise understood. Ideally the other spiders wouldn't have been there because it meant it wouldn't be guaranteed that the king itself would attack, though in the circumstances and distraction that led Harry out of mortal peril, without placing someone else in his place, was good.

Blaise concentrated on the complex spell, as she had been taught. She had to look for an area over the other side of the room. It was important she could see it, for she needed to visualize being there. It was like apparition in a manner, except it varied at the end. She chose a spot to the right if the massive spider. This meant that the spider kind would launch away from the entrance, giving them an easier escape should they need it.

She clutched the wand tight in her hand, though her palms were sweating and she was sure she would drop it at any moment. Suddenly in a brilliant flash of light, which glared brighter than anything else in the darkly lit cave, shone a projection. Remus who had only ever read about a projection spell, and never actually witnessed one, had expected it to look rather like a human. It did in a sense, though not like a living one. The edges were blured, and it was glowing, as if it were a supernatural being more than anything.

All the spiders stopped in their tracks, as they stared in horror at the figure like no other they had ever seen before. Theres was a seconds silence as they considered the course of action, though a second was all it was. Hundreds of spiders fled out of the cave, with some of them bumping into Hermione and Ron's legs, and carrying on without so much as a question.

"Run from the bringer of fire." They yelled as they filed out. "It surely brings us death."

Only a few more brave, more intelligent, or less intelligent stayed, depending on your point of view. That and the Spider king, which with a squelching crunching sound, rose to its feet for the first time in many years.

The few remaining spiders stood back and watched, out of respect and curiosity. They knew that the spider king could kill any foe in all the world, after all what could be greater? The Spider king rounded on the figure of Blaise, growing so brightly it was offensive to the eyes. It barely even thought, as it opened its mouth, dripping with saliva and fangs sharp enough to piece through the hide of a dragon. It pounced forwards with incredible speed for its size. Blaise was almost hypnotized by the movement of the great spider, and so as it sunk its teeth into the projection, she had to quickly regain her senses, and end the spell.

The figure disappeared as quickly as it had come, and once again the cave was plunged into darkness. It seemed darker than before, as is always the case, as the eyes need to readjust themselves. It was a lot like going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. After you turn of the light and step back into the empty corridor you can't see for a second, trip over the banister rail, fall down the stairs, and lay unconscious for the next three hours until you wake up as the morning paper falls down on your head.

Some of the smaller spiders watching. Stared in amazement, and began to edge forwards, hoping to see the crumpled figure of a body, when they saw there was no such thing they asked "What became of the bringer of death?" The spider king, who himself was not entirely sure, only had to think briefly before replying. "I slayed the fool. I delivered to him that which he serves. My very might broke him into nothing more than a puff of air. There shall be a feast in my name." The spider king said as it began to move back to its filthy rotting seat in the middle of the room.

"Bring me two of every animal within the reaches of these caves." The spider king commanded, as he looked down at the small servant spiders who looked back with adoration and respect.

"You mean two rats and two goblins?" Asked one spider. The king sighed for a minute as he made a note to get more inhabitants in the catacombs.

"Yes…"

The remaining spiders scuttled off in search of the goblins. Occasionly a spider would run through on some other business before going out one of the many holes in the wall. As soon as they dared, Remus and Tonks moved forward to where the venom was pooled on the ground. It gave of a pungent smell like putrid eggs and decaying flesh. It was already beginning to dissolve the rock a little, and gave off a gas which made them feel nauseous. They lay the glass vial down next to it, and gradually set about the work, of collecting it up. Meanwhile Blaise turned back, and began rturning to the thickest of the web, where she had left Harry.

He helped her climb back over the web, though this time she did it slightly differently, and it didn't take as much physical effort. This was a good thing, because after all the worry, and pressure they had been under for the last hour, she doubted she could muster up any more. All she wanted to do was get out into the cool air, before having a nice cool bath, and a good long sleep right into the afternoon.


	72. All is Well

This chapter is longer than most, and is primarily composed of two parts. I wasn't sure whether to post it as 2 short chapters or one long chapter. In the end I opted for the second, so hopefully this will explain why it has again been a longer wait than i hoped.

Also I warn you it has some more adult themes than usual. Proceed at caution.

However, the cool relaxing period would have to wait, for although the hardest part of the task was over, they were still not in the clear. Remus was carefully mopping up the poision with the sponge, before ringing it out in the vial. Tonks was shielding the view from the spider king with her body, because the venom moved far to fast as it dripping into the funneled neck.

The smaller spiders wouldn't come back quickly, as finding two goblins for dinner would be tough work. The travelers didn't know this, and so Ron was continually glancing over his shoulder expecting them all to come rushing back at any moment. He carefully shifted wait onto his other leg, as he was begging to get cramp. His knee clicked, and he gradually let out a breath that he had been holding as he now sat in the new position. He looked at Blaise and Harry, who were approaching.

"I'm glad that's over." He said as he cast a quick glance to Hermione who was still surveying the whole scene for any possible danger that may arise.

"It's not over till that fat lady sings." She said without looking round. There was a moments silence which followed this, before Ron spoke.

"My mum sings in the shower sometimes…" He piped up.

For this first time in nearly an hour Harry could see Remus and Tonks at work, as the spider had been blocking their view for so long. Harry was relieved to see that everything seemed to be going to plan. He had worried that perhaps a spider had injured them or the flask might have broken or something. He smiled to himself as he returned to the more pressing matter at hand.

Blaise had a near miss, far nearer than she deserved, and Harry could tell it had rattled her. Where normally she wore a stern expression, and you could see determination below the surface, now all he could see was a distant haunted look, as though she were a guilty woman about to pay the price of a crime, and had just lade eyes on the shining blade of a guillotine that would deliver justice.

They stepped over the final web, which was only about a foot high. Harry almost let himself fall down their with relief, but he managed to stop, as he remembered they were still in plain sight of the spider king. Instead he continued to walk on, past Ron and Hermione. They only exchanged a few brief words as he passed in slow motion.

"Any damage?" Ron asked with a excited grin, as though he had been planning a prank.

"Only my sanity." Harry replied with a small heartless laugh, that echoed inside him with a truth he did not know.

Harry took Blaise by the hand, and led her onwards back into the sandy cave into the relative safety and out of view of the treacherous enemy. Hermione was about to follow, but Ron placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. He knew well enough by now that after Harry had faced trouble, he needed time to himself, to regroup his thoughts and suppress the anger at the world he had that he didn't lead a normal laugh.

Ron hadn't originally appreciated this, but after facing Voldemort at the end of the last school year, he understood. If a little time to himself was all Harry needed to keep up the smiling charade that everyone expected of him, then he was more than willing to grant it. The fact he had taken Blaise with him, well he expected that she could do with some friendship.

Harry and Blaise made their way back up the slope, and finally, after they were out of sight they returned to normal speed, which felt so strange, so alien, it seemed almost as though they had forgotten how to walk, and hesitated with each step as they made sure they were doing it right. It was dark in the main honeycomb area where they now were, Harry lit his wand, and placed it in his shirt pocket so that the illuminted end pointed up and lit the surrounding area. He let go of Blaises hand, and she walked a few paces away from him, towards the wall to the right of the passage.

Harry cast a quick glance around to make sure everything was safe, before turning his attention back to Blaise.

"You're not ok?" He told her rather than asked. He could tell well enough that she wasn't."

"No, im fine." She said quietly, so Harry almost didn't hear. He took a few steps forward and looked down at her.

"You're not ok." He repeated. He hated himself for being the cause of it. If it wasn't for him she wouldn't have been there at all.

"I am!" She said in a high pitch as she choked back a sob. She was trying with all her might not to cry in front of him. Crying was a sign of weakness, and you should never show your weakness to the enemy. Though why Harry had to be her enemy she didn't know. It was expected of her more than anything.

"There is no need to lie." Harry said in a soft caring voice, as he tried to comfort her.

"I'm not lying…stupid pig boy.." She said before her emotions finally overcame her, and she burst into a fit of tears, which were so strong in intensity they surprised even herself.

She sunk to the san covered floor, and tried to turn her back to Harry, though he took her by the shoulder and turned her to face him. She covered her face with her hands, as she looked down away from him. Why did he have to be so damn…him? Harry sat down beside her, as he rested his back against the wall. It was cold, yet against the humidity of the cave it was cooling and relaxing. It was like running his head under a cold tap after a headache. It wasn't comfortable, yet it made everything feel fresh and clear.

After a minute of crying Blaise finally lowed her hands, and stared into Harry eyes. Hers were filled with tears, and so she couldn't see clearly, yet she could tell that on his face there was a look of deep compassion. She paused for a moment, before leaning towards him, and saying in a manner that made her feel much younger than she was,

"Hold me." Harry was startled by this, but he hid it, and after only a seconds hesitation, he reach out, and pulled her into an embrace, as she sat curled up in front of him, crying against his chest.

Harry sat there, with his chin rested on her head. He could smell the scent of her hair, which was an implacable smell of fruits that he had never been lucky enough to get from his own shampoo. He rubbed her back softly, as she let out all the stress and emotions that had been building up over the last hour, if not longer.

She held onto him tightly, so that it was almost difficult to breathe, as though she were worried he would slip between her fingers. Harry did not think to much about her behavior, or consider she might feel anything towards him in that manner. He merely enjoyed the close company, and the feeling of companionship that was rare to him these days.

"Youre safe now." Harry said after a minute or so. She gently released her grip on him, as she became to regain her self conscience, though she did not get up from the floor.

"You know what the worst part of it all?" She asked, as she stared at him. Harry merely shrugged, for he could tell she was about to say anyway. "The worst part wasn't the danger. When the spiders were swarming at me, and I thought I was going to die, that didn't bother me to much. It might have been painful, but after it's over its not. What upset me more than anything is that it wouldn't matter."

"What do you mean it wouldn't matter?" Harry asked confusedly.

"Well you see there are people like you and people like me. Your friends were there worrying about you, and if you died they would mourn you. If you died then afterwards people would be sad, where as if it were me I don't think that would be the case. I didn't have any friends watching, if I died I don't think anyone would really miss me."

"That's not true." Harry said as his eyebrows furrowed. He knew Blaise wasn't the most popular person in the world but he knew that wasn't the case with anybody. Everybody is missed by someone, even Voldemort.

"What about your parents?"

"Well my mother would perhaps miss me a bit, though I doubt it."

"Why wouldn't she care for you, what have you ever done wrong?" Harry asked angrily. The thought someone shouldn't be loved by their own parents was wrong to him.

"Well Harry I suppose there is no harm in me telling you now, since you have seen me cry and everything…" She said as she dabbed her cheeks with the corner of her sleeve.

"And because we are friends?" Harry asked. Blaise hesitated for a minute, before she rested head back against his chest with a smile.

Blaise spoke calmly, as she described what Harry would later come to know as her fondest memories.

"Well Harry when I was born my parents were together, and they loved each other I suppose, and everything was going well. My mother had had a job as a banker, but she gave that up so she could look after me all the time. I was born two weeks early, though there were no complications. My father worked for a television company. He wrote comic sketches for Tv shows. You know the people you see on tv rarely write their own jokes…"

"Anyway at around my third birthday I began to get ill quiet a lot. There wasn't much of a reason that the doctors could find at first. They said it was just a bad cold, but after a few weeks it got worse, and I went into a coma. We asked all the doctors we could find, but no one seemed to be able to find out the reason why. Eventually they wrote a letter to a medical magazine that is published worldwide, appealing for information. Two months passed before they received a letter, from a doctor in Tokyo."

"The doctor said he might know what it was, and so my parents decided to take the risk, because by this point I had been in a coma for four months. They paid for him to fly over, and he confirmed that it was what he thought it was. It turns out I suffer from a rare medical condition. I can't remember what my mother said the technical term was, but the doctor called it stagnation. There are only a handful of people in all the world with it. Basically it means that when I'm anxious or strongly distressed I can sometimes loose conscience.

"How long does it last for?" Harry asked her, gently. He had never heard of it, before, but he believed her entirely.

"It really does vary Harry. It may only last for ten minutes, whilst on the other hand it has the potential to last for years at a time. That was the longest one I ever had, it lasted for six months, other than that I have only ever stagnated for a couple of weeks at a time."

"Is there a cure to it though?" Harry asked, as he had never known of her to miss a class all school year.

"Well there isn't a cure no, not a medical one at least. I read about other people who suffer from stagnation, and for them it generally got better or worse as they got older. There is medication which I take that helps stop it, though of course it does still happen now and then. As long as I try not to let my emotions get the better of me I'm ok. That's one of the reasons why I have no friends actually. I don't want to risk it. If ever something happened to them, or they betrayed me, I suspect I would have a severe stagnation like I did when I was younger."

"That doesn't really explain why your parents wouldn't love you." Harry said softly.

"No, well Harry the medication was very expensive. In fact it cost most of the money we could have, that and caring for me when I did stagnate. I think my father resented me because he couldn't buy the things he wanted anymore. It seemed different after those months, he wasn't happy anymore. My mother said that he would be happy if I did well at school, but when I did start school nothing changed. It was shortly after my sixth birthday, my pet dog was hit by a car when I was playing out in the street…"

"My dog had to be put down because of it. He was a lovely big furry one, the kind with the hair over the eyes. Anyway I was upset by it, and I ended up stagnating for three months that time, despite the medication. When I woke up in the hospital all that time later I found out that my father had left. My mother said it was just that he didn't love her anymore, but I can tell by the way she looked at me, and the way she treated me as I got older, that I was the cause."

"He had left so that we wouldn't be burdened with me anymore, so that he could have a proper life without having to care for me, and spend all his money on me as I lay unconscious for months at a time. Despite what my mother said I knew that she loved my father, and I think she still does. I'm sure she doesn't do it deliberately, but I can tell she thinks that is my fault. Perhaps she thinks if I were to stagnate extremely enough and die, then maybe my father would come back."

"She wouldn't think that!" Harry said in protest. Blaise however merely shook her head a little and continued to smile as she listened to his heart beating.

"I know her better than you, and its ok, I don't mind. I grew up with it, and so it doesn't bother me anymore, in much the same way as you don't get sad that you can't see your parent. You might get angry, but never sad." There was a long silence that filled this, as Harry ran over the story in his mind and tried to think of something to say.

"People do still care for you thought Blaise. You might not think it or know it, but im sure there are people who care for you. Ron and Hermione might not show it but I think they consider you a friend."

"I like the way you always expect the best of everyone. You amy be right, but im not sure. They aren't nearly as nice as you are to me."

"Well maybe I just care for you that much more?" He said with a smile, before realizing what it sounded like.

A long silence fell between them as Blaise looked up at Harry with a tender caring expression in her eyes, and as light as to barely be noticeable, she brushed her lips against his. It ended a second later, though it was long enough to be memorable.

"I know you do Harry." She said with a smile, before pulling herself to her feet, and leaving a speechless Harry on the floor.

Harry was about to get up and ask her the meaning behind it, but at that moment, as fate would have it, Remus and the others emerged from the passage. Harry hastily pulled himself up and tried to look innocent, though the degree of his success was rather debatable. He tried to meet Blaise's eyes, though her back was turned to him.

"No one is hurt are they?" Remus asked as he looked for any visible signs of injury. "Got a bit tricky for a while in there, but it seems to have worked out." He said as he brandished the large vial filled with venom.

"Lets get out of here. Im getting the creeps." Ron said as he peered round the sandy pillars. "We could have the spiders come back any minute." They all exchanged glances, as they half expected this to be the case. As however it appeared there was no immediate danger they set back off towards where they had come from. The walk back seemed faster than it had before, because they knew they were walking away from danger, and funnily enough found their steps carrying them further and faster.

There was little conversation, as each person sat in their own thoughts. Hermione was the only one doing most of the talking. She seemed to want to discuss the various attributes and possible weaknesses of the spiders. Tonks talked back a little bit, but most of the time she was busy ahead looking for danger. Harry trailed along behind, hoping for Blaise to fall back so he could have a word with her.

It wasn't that he loved her. He found her attractive certainly, but it was more the fact that something had happened between them, which shouldn't have happened within the boundaries of friendship. In the end after fifteen minutes in which she said not a word to him, he decided that perhaps what she had intended was to forget it ever happened. Harry decided to do the same, though thinking and doing are rather different things, and it didn't prove nearly as easy to forget as Dudley in his underwear.

Finally they got back to the point where there was the large drop and the underground waterfall. They carefully edged back along onto the other side, with Particular caution been paid to the venom, which could so easy be lost or broken and be the end to all their efforts. However once they were back on the first side, they let out a breath they did not know they had been holding. The spiders couldn't reach this point, so all they had to worry was of a stray rat running past their ankles, and that did not thrice them as any threat.

The humidity in the cave, whilst not literally increasing did seem to do so. As they walked with a brisk pace, taking vast gulps of air, it filled their lungs with an unpleasant warmth which made it feel old and stale. It may not have had any less oxygen in it than normal air, but the feeling it gave was that ten other people had already breathed it first, sucking the essence out, and leaving them with the warm damp stuff that they were inhaling. Harry found himself on more than one occasion becoming dizzy from breathing so much, and so he needed to calm himself and remind himself that he wasn't suffocating.

Finally they came back to the original long stretch of passage, where the buffers and the long track began. The cart could vaguely be made out in the distance, as the torches shone on the walls once more, burning their eyes with seemingly infinite brightness. The goblin was snoring loudly, and Harry was tempted to tug on the rope attatched to its toe deliberately, but Remus advised against it.

"May we leave please?" Tonks asked after she gave a loud cough which awoke the goblin with a start and caused him to clutch his hand to his heart. He did not reply to them, but merely gave a grunt and did a quick check to make sure all the bearings still ran smoothly. It was finally, after many long hours, that they reappeared into the sunlight which shone down upon them with a glorious brilliance alien in their mind. They expected they would have to look round for Marcus, but they spotted him straight away. He was sitting on a rather flat boulder, playing cards against a more learned goblin.

After seeing them and casting a smile he glanced down at his watch.

"One o'clock, you're right on time."

"Did you expect otherwise?" Remus asked as he tried to sound confident and smooth, as though he had been in control of the situation at all times.

"Why yes I did. One always expects the worst I tend to find. I know I do!" They talked for a few minutes about what had transpired in the hours that they had been underground, and Remus showed a graze he had on his arm.

"I will have a look at that later I think. Those spiders are rather dirty and it could well be infected. Still I have some tonic back in my other cloak at the Blights. Shall we return and join them for lunch? I'm sure they would be rather anxious of your safe return." He said as he brandished a shiny metal ring. "Come let us port. The sun is hardly more bearable here than it is in the plains. Let us return where we can sit under the shade of the trees and have some refreshing fruit juice."

The goblin had finished packing up his cards by this point and left, leaving the six travelers and Marcus alone. They each placed a hand on the port key as the last few seconds before its activation ticked away. As the final second struck the ring disappeared form the air, as though it had been ripped from the very fabric on which it lay. They seven people around disappeared also, into this same void, and about five seconds later they reappeared back in safety on the outskirts of the Blight farm.

Now some miles away from the blight farm, though not that far was another farm, belonging to another family of homesteaders. It was different in a way. There was a small river which ran under the earth, and a wind pump that raised it to the surface. It wasn't as large, for it belonged to a young couple, with a single child, a boy of around six years of age. A falcon flew high overhead. From here the falcon could see the surrounding area, including the blight farm far in the distance, a distance to far to be seen by inadequate human eyes.

It could also see the burnt rememenants of a farm below it. The windmill which lifted the water was now just a blackened skeleton, the canvas sails off it completely gone. The barn was in no better state. Two of the walls gone, the other two only remained as the roof fell in and smothered the flames. The house was relatively unburnt. There was a reason for this, which you are about to see. In order to understand why the farm was in the state it was, one so very different from the Blights, we should look back to the previous night, when it was as lively as and homesteader settlement.

Chis Jonson had been working out on the alfalfa patch today. That wasn't his name by birth, but most people living on the fingertips of society don't like to be anything but average. His shirt was caked in dirt and sweat after hours of backbreaking labor. The last few weeks had been scorching hot and had baked the earth as hard as rock. Tomorrow he would need to sharpen the blade on the sod buster. It had been sharpened twice already that week, but there was no other way. The sun had gone down now, though it didn't take the temperature with it. He looked at the small pile of crops he had harvested in the box on the ground, and after much deliberation decided it would have to wait. He wanted nothing more than to go inside and go straight to bed.

His wife and son were inside. They would either be sewing and playing with the carved wooden horses respectively, or working together on the jigsaw puzzle the trader had bought by on his most recent visit. The chickens had been playing up all day. It was as if they had seen a ghost. Although he wasn't a superstitious person he still kept an eye out. Animals had a sixth sense about these things. Still many hours had passed and nothing was strange had happened, after all how was he to know he was in Voldemort's latest game?

Voldemort had been watching for thirty minutes before he concluded that this wasn't the house with Harry Potter. He should have guessed it wouldn't be that easy. Still, his intelligence told him that Harry and his cheery idiot friends would be staying out of town, away from all the attention. He also knew they were trying to obtain the Hells Blessing, though that didn't bother him. He knew many, many ways of killing people. The Avada Kedavra curse was simply the kindest of them.

He was here now, as were his death eaters, he might aswell indulge their appetites for their brutish stomaches liked that sort of thing. He also did enjoy watching it, though we had to be careful not to seem to keen. After a simple invisibility charm he had slipped over to the house and cast a look inside. There was a woman sitting in a solid oak chair, with a young boy sitting by her legs. She was telling him a story, though he wasn't listening, he was playing with his model animals. Other than these two victims there was the man in the field a few hundred meters away.

Voldemort went back to his death eaters, and told them of his finds. They chattered amongst themselves excitedly before Voldemort hushed them. The wind was blowing from their direction and their voices could easily be carried. It certainly wouldn't be one of their great conquests, but it provided entertainment in the boring times. Voldemort drew his wand which had killed so many, and with an elegant wave that he had perfected over the years, he cast a silencing charm over the house.

Those within the charm would notice no difference, they would still hear everything, whilst those outside would not hear anything that was inside. Voldemort was careful not to include the man in the field in this. He didn't pose a threat to them, he was just a farmer after all. They cast an invisibility charm upon themselves before walking towards the building.

They made it all the way to the porch before the woman noticed anything. As Voldemort and four of his most trusted followers walked up onto the porch, the old wooden planks creaked beneath their weight. The woman paused briefly from her story as she looked up with a smile on her face. She thought it would be her husband, finished work for the night. He worked so hard these days providing for them, she felt so guilty when he slumped into bed and slept right up until late morning. As soon as he awoke he would get fussy about having overslept and try and work even harder to make up for it.

She watched as the door swung open, but rather than seeing her husband walk forwards, there was nothing. She considered it was the wind, though the floorboards had never creaked before. She suspiciously, though not with fear got up from her chair, and walked over to investigate. Voldemort and the other four slipped into the living room. She glanced around the porch for any sign of movement. Maybe one of the goats had gotten loose again.

After a minute in which she saw nothing she looked up and saw her husband shaking a clod of earth off some of the alfalfa. She was tempted to call to him, to tell him to come in for the evening, but decided not to. Poor woman, if only she had perhaps she would have lived. Possibly, though not probably.

In the same way her husband didn't see her, she didn't see the figure looming up behind her. He had removed the invisibility spell, for fear was half the prize.

"Hello Darling." Voldemort said with a smile on his face which caused her to spin round, look up at him and scream in terror. She began to back away from the figure robes in black, before she saw another one of them inside holding the young boy in his arms. She hesitated for a minute, unsure what to do, before giving a longer scream, louder this time.

She expected for her husband to come running to the rescue but as she risked a quick glance over her shoulder she saw he was still busy working.

"Oh how sad." Voldemort said sarcastically. "It's almost as though he can't hear you." She stared at him for a moment in a piercing gaze witch he simply dismissed. Gradually a look of dread and terror appeared on her face.

"You're a demon!" She said accusingly. "Possessing of powers not meant for man."

Voldemort looked at her with a small smile. "Well I am merely a wizard, but your flattery is appreciated. Anyway let's not stand round here all day, wouldn't want any old body watching would we?" He clicked his fingers as he stepped backwards into the house, and two death eaters who had been standing behind him moved forward and seized the woman. They slung her over their shoulders as they dragged her back into the house.

She pounded her fists against their backs and waved her feet madly in the air as she tried to escape. They carried on seemingly unaware of any form of protest, and when they got into the living room they threw her onto the old sofa which was sunken and sloppy from years of heavy use.

She made to jump up, but a death eater gave a wave of his wand, and binding ropes sprang from the end and coiled round her pinning her arms to her torso and her legs together. She fell to the side and rolled of onto the floor with a pitiful attempt to run. Voldemort strode over and lifted her back onto the chair where he wiped away the muddy dust that was on one side of her face. She was beautiful in her own right Voldemort thought. She could have been very promising if only she hadn't had a child.

"Calm down m'lady." Voldemort said as he brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen over her left eye. "I have no desire to hurt you." He said causing some of his death eaters to exchange mildly confused glances. "I merely wish to hear you scream." At this comment she redoubled her efforts to break from the ties that bound her, and after struggling for a minute to no avail, she turned to her son who up until this point was being loosely restrained by a death eater.

"Run away Billy, run fast." She told him, and with a loving look at his mother which displayed all the adoration a six year old feel for the one who fed and raised him, he broke from the death eaters unprepared grip and ran for the backdoor. If perhaps this had been any other group of wizards the boy could have run out into one of the unharveested alfalfa fields and hidden until it was safe, where he would finally run and get help, and whilst it would be to late vengeance would still be made.

However Voldemort had an impeccable sense of all around him, and with a simple wave of his wand the boy stopped in his tracks and crumpled forward at the doorway into a lifeless heap. The mother fell silent for she did not know what they had done, though she knew what she dreaded.

"What have you done you monsters?" She screamed as she made another futile effort to jump up from the chair and go to the child's aid. She managed to make it onto her feet where one of the death eaters gave her a swift but hard slap round the face before pushing her back into sitting position.

"Woopsie" said Voldemort as he raised a hand to his mouth in feigned boyish delight as though he had just uttered a naughty word and not at all regretted it.

After a minute in which she started crying, she looked at her limp son, and knew with a paternal instinct that her son would never utter another word. She fell silent and still as an understanding grew within her, and a part of her resigned to fate. She still had a husband out in the field, thought she had forgotten all about him in her current state of grief, and would happily have died there and then if she could see her son again.

Voldemort turned serious after a moment. "Stop crying woman. There are few things more annoying to watch, especially if you aren't going to answer my questions." He said as he pulled up his trousers legs a little and sat down on the wooden chair opposite her. She gave him the tiniest of enquiring looks as she continued sobbing. Voldemort rolled his eyes, for a crying victim was always harder to manage.

"I have some questions and if you answer them and obey me well like the good dog you are, I shall bring your son back to life." He lied. It should have been obvious to her that this was a lie but he mind was fogged by sorrow and grief, and despite her lack of trust for the individual she suddenly felt as though he would be the savior of her son, and forgot that Voldemort had been the one to kill him in the first place.

"What do you want to know?" She asked as she looked up at him for the first time without flinching. His death eaters now were muttering to themselves with boredom. They didn't share nearly the same interest for Harry potter as they did for a beautiful young woman.

"Have you recently come into contact with any travelers?" He asked as he searched her mind with all the powers he possessed. They were jumbled in most areas, though some patches were clear. She responded with a firm no, and her mind backed it up.

"Ok now that wasn't so tough now was it?" He asked as he sympathetically patted her knee in comfort, whilst hiding the repulsion he found at the sheer vulgarity of the human in front of him.

"Are you in good terms with the other simple people who live in the area." He asked as he refused to accept them to posses anything close to a life worth mentioning.

"There are not that many of us." She said with a sniff as she tried to glance out of the window for her husband. He was round the other side of the house though. "But yes I know the few other families that live within thirty miles from here. There are a dozen houses, though much further than that and I couldn't tell you…why?"

"Well…"Said Voldemort as he thought of the best way of posing the questing. "You see I was in the Harmonia a few days ago with my finace." He said as he fabricated an elaborate net of lies in which he puffed out with small facts which made it seem genuine. He finished his story by saying about the boy with jet black hair and glasses and killed his fiancé for the ring on her finger, before running out of the city, where he met up with the others in his band of robbers.

Thieves were not uncommon, especially in packs so it seemed entirely believable.

"Now we believe that they are staying somewhere in this area, for this is as far as we tracked them before we lost their tracks. Now as he have discovered from our quick search they are not here now, nor have they been before, so you have done nothing wrong. Therefore the only other thing I want of you before I let you go, and bring your son back to life is to know if anyone else has seen these travelers, these robbers and murderers, this mud on the sole of society?"

She looked at him with a smile as she wiped away the tears on her face. "I'm afraid I haven't seen them. I'm sorry I can't help you, I truly am. News does not travel with haste in these parts, so perhaps if you were to stop by in a few days I could tell you if I hear anything more. Is that all?" She asked anxiously as she looked down at her bindings, expecting them to disappear.

"Yes that is all that I want you for." Voldemort said.

"So you will let me go then?" She asked pleadingly as Voldemort turned his back on her to look out of the window at the final setting rays of the sun.

"Yes certainly." He said as he absent mindedly flicked his wands causing the binds to disappear into nothing more than a puff of smoke which disappeared into the air just as quickly as her sons' life had.

She made to get up from the chair, though one of the other death eaters pushed her back down by the shoulder.

"You said I could go!" She said as the panic returned to her voice.

"Indeed I did. I said I would let you go and I said you are no further use to me. This is true, but I cant speak for my comrades here. They will undoubtedly find a use." He said as he rolled his eyes, and his death eaters exchanged toothy smiles like a pack of wolves with prey.

"What about my son?" She asked as she started crying once more. "you were lying about that to weren't you, you animal!" Voldemorts mild smile disappeared from his face and he looked at her with a frown.

"Your so stupid woman. For a start I lied. Animals never lie. And secondly with many animals the female is shared between the male to. Well we shall soon see who the animal is…"

With that he turned his back on the scene and continued staring out of the window, into the distance which was now dark. He heard the tear of fabric and the struggle of the woman before someone gave her a series of slaps which knocked her into silence and submission. There were some sobs, and some grunting sounds which went on as Voldemort drummed his fingers on the window sill and waited for his report from the other death eater who had come with him into Pharaphax.

Half an hour later in which the beastly sport was still going on over the other side of the room the final death eater appeared. He cast a look at the latest victim before returning his gaze to his master.

"What news do you bring me from the next farm?"

"It is inhabited by a family called the Blights. I did not speak to any of them, and I was not seen."

"Good." Said Voldemort as he examined the finger prints he had left on the window sill. The woman had been neglecting her house duty.

"you are sure they aren't there?" Asked Voldemort finally, as he knew that if it was good news his death eater would have the sense not to delay. "No m'lord. I'm afraid there was no sign of Potter or the others. They have not been there." And of course it was true. Voldemort wasn't to know but whilst they should have been there by now, they were in fact crashing into the rock face on the edge of the sector next to the icy mountains. They wouldn't be at the blight farm till the next morning, by which point Voldemort would be gone from the vicinity.

"Forgive my saying so though, but it is still early days. Perhaps we should check again later." He said loudly over the grunt as one man fell back exhausted and another took his place. Voldemort considered for a moment.

"No, we haven't time to waste. We shall check the other houses, and burn them afterwards so as not to leave Potter anywhere to go. He shall be like the antelope of the Plains, forced out of hiding as we burn down his forest.

"There was another brief silence that followed this, between the master and sevant at least.

"Would you care to join them?" Voldemort said after a while.

"No thankyou." The death eater said rather hastily. "I'm afraid I still love my wife." He said with a grin. Voldemort looked at the man with something as close to respect as he was capable. "You're about the only one who does these days."

Fifteen minutes later Chris was walking back to the house with his alfalfa and some carrots. The wind blew eerily in a way that sent a shiver down his spine despite the fact it was so hot still. He couldn't place what it was that was strange exactly, until he looked up at the water pump, its blades spinning round slowly in the night and realized, it wasn't making a sound. It had always made a sound in the past, its constant yet dull squeak. It was the kind of sound which become considered normal and so when he woke up in the morning he didn't notice it at all.

It was only now that it wasn't making noise that he realized. He stopped where he was standing and stared up at it for a moment as he considered the cause. He thought he may be going deaf, but he could hear the gentle sound of the grass wavering in the breeze, and also the distant call of a falcon as it swooped down for its prey. He took a few more steps forward, and suddenly the sound of the windmill returned.

He stepped backwards and it stopped, and he stepped forwards and it started, it was as though there was some sort of invisible wall that was stopping anything from within sounding. It was almost like… magic! His stomache churned as the feeling of dread took over, and he began to make his way towards the house. He walked with just a quick pace at first, but as he got closer he broke into a run, dropping his box of havest to lighten himself and speed his way.

He burst in through the front door just as the third death eater was relieving himself. Chris fell to the ground with a dull thud two seconds later, having uttered not so much as a word, though he had seen it all. An hour later when the death eaters finally left all three of the family were dead. The woman they had put on her bead, so that in the after life at least she would be in the right place.

The son they dressed in his father's clothes and set in the field for the vultures. In the oversized clothes he at least looked like half the man he would never be. As for Chris, the father of the son and the husband of the wife, they nailed him by his hands and his feet to the front door with a shotgun sticking in his back and out of his chest cavity. In this way he could watch over his house and his family, and protect them better than he had done in real life.

The death eaters took endless fun coming up with these ideas, and savored the results afterwards as they looked at their handy work. Finally they set the house on fire and let it burn to the ground as a sign that they had been there. With the licking flames the flesh of the husband and wife bubbled and burned away so that in the morning all that was left was the wooden foundations of the house with a stray bit of structure here, or a doorframe there.

There was a female skeleton, burned down to nearly the bone, lying on the metal coils of what was once a mattress. Another skeleton lay on the doorstep. This one not nearly so burnt had fallen from its place after the flesh of the hands and feet had burned away. As for the lifeless boy who lay out in the field, the falcon stood and watched. It was perched on his lips as it looked into the unblinking eye which stared back at him. It gave a small hoot of thanks, before plucking the eyes from the sockets and flying away. It had won that staring contest.


	73. Tales

This chapter doesn't have much action, though hopefully you will enjoy it all the same… Thanks for all the nice reviews. And thanks to the person that pointed out the error of the Spider King/Queens sex change.

Back on the Blight farm the next day, as the travellers returned there was much reason for joyous celebration. The six travellers had all returned safely, with only mild injury or none at all. They had half expected never to see Remus and the others again, for whilst they weren't familiar with the goblin caves they had heard stories from childhood of the monsters that lived within.

Andrew Blight and his son Alex had been working on the new barn. They had spent the day on making some planks. It was a long difficult task which would require probably hundreds of hours of back breaking work when it could simply be done with a few hours of magic. They had a large tree which they had been working from. They had transported it from the nearest spot which happened to be a small oasis about a mile away. They had firstly sawn off all the braches before chopping it down.

Then they rolled it back to the farm on a solid iron cart which looked to be as old as Andrew himself, though he was still far from old age. They had smoothed the tree and began cutting planks from it with various told Harry had never before seen. He decided not to enquire to deeply into the matter incase they took his interest as a hint that he wanted to help.

Claire and her mother had been preparing a picnic for all of them. They had a basket laden with various sandwiches, and fruits upon which would refresh them in the extreme heat of the plains which caused the air upon the very ground to shimmer like the ocean. Normally the Blights could not afford such extravagance with food, but Marcus who in between his long hours of preparation for the charm, had made a quick trip to the finest market in all the Wizarding nations of the flooded lands.

They would take the picnic to the oasis, where the adults could relax under the shade of the trees on the soft grass that was rare for the harsh climate whilst the children, including Harry and his friends, who were barely children still, could enjoy splashing round in the crystal clear waters if they so wished.

At first Blaise had protested to travelling any further.

"I don't think I could take another step." She said as she kicked off her shoes, and removed her socks. She expected it to be refreshing like on the beach, but the baked earth was unpleasantly hot on her feet so she quickly ran inside the wizarding tent.

"It's cool in here you know." She said to them in delight. "Not like air conditioned or anything, but it certainly is no hotter than outside, and without the sun bearing down upon you I'm sure we could quiet comfortably sleep the night afternoon away."

Marcus directed Remus and the adults away whilst the children decided to ready the last few things for the picnic and have a quick freshen up.

"I will need to keep that venom safe until it is needed. He said as he took it from Remus and looked at it. There was a lot of it, and as he held it up to the sunlight, and peered through the greenish slime it seemed to move, as though it carried the very essence of the spider and death.

With a small smile of satisfaction he put it away in his cloak.

"Now let us have a look at your injury with better detail." He said as he guided Remus inside. Martha looked at the injury with a look of worry, whilst Andrew decided to display the roguish man attitude.

"That will make a nice war trophy." He said as it looked like it would leave a scar. Indeed it would. A scar nice enough that Mad eye Moody would happily bear it himself.

"Yes well you're lucky." Marcus said after washing Remus' arm thoroughly with water from the kitchen tap. Whilst the venom has got on your skin it doesn't appear to have bitten its way in to deep. It's a darn good job you don't have any cuts there or you probably wouldn't be here right now. Still I don't want to take any risks. I have prepared a draught of antidote in case any of the poison does somehow find its way into your system." He said as he gave Remus a small bottle with a pale blue liquid in it.

There were white crystalline granules at the bottom that had refused to dissolve. As he swallowed it, it tasted coppery and left a bitter after taste which wasn't at all pleasant. It had perhaps been decided by doctors that medicine should never taste nice, for the worse it tasted the more likely it was that the patient would try to remain healthy. Marcus also applied a numbing ointment to the skin before he wrapped it in a wine soaked linen cloth and bound it up tightly.

"Now that that is taken care of I'm afraid I have some rather grave news." Marcus said as he quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the children weren't listening. Once his state of mind was satisfied he returned to Tonks, Remus, Andrew and Martha. "I'm afraid it seems that there was an attack on a family a short way from here." He began as everyone listened silently.

"I don't know if they were good friends of yours but it happened last night it would seem, to the Hatares family." Martha gave a small gasp, not because they were immediate friends, but because they were the closest neighbours. She did also know them, though not as close friends, more as people who respected each others privacy and enjoyment of the things the plains offered. Also Chris had helped Andrew two years ago when the well had cracked during the dry season as the earth turned to stone and moved.

"Are they alright?" Andrew asked, as he was the first one to speak. Marcus replied with a look which said clearer than the words which followed.

"I'm afraid not. It seems that the three of them are now dead, there house burned to the ground." Martha gave a small sob in sympathy. They had a son who was only slightly younger than Claire. It could so easily have been them instead she thought to herself.

Marcus however pressed on, for there was more to say.

"Now you see the reason why this is so important is because the attack does not seem to be just by some misguided robbers. By the manner in which they were found it was easy to conclude that they have died to the hand of some heartless demon who has entered our very Pharaphax from the doorway to hell." He didn't mean it to sound so precise for he had not considered what Remus now thought.

"Voldemort…" He said in a shuddered whisper, which drew everyone into a state of anxious awareness. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was him. He wouldn't have been after them though. He would have been after Harry. Now would be a great time to attack Harry, for although we are as far away as can be, his reach is infinite and we are no longer under Albus' protection. The only thing that does not make sense to me is that Voldemort must have passed Dumbledore to get though the Veil of Darkness."

"Well I'm afraid that may be a possibility to consider Remus." Said Marcus as he stroked his whiskery beard. "However we should not rule out other possibilities." He said as he cast a quick glance towards Andrew and Martha. "It may not be Voldemort at all, it could simply be a pack of particularly evil wizards. I have heard of them attacking muggle families before in Harmonia and Calmera. I see no reason why they wouldn't go onto the plain for the same reason."

"But the timing is a little to coincidental for my liking." Remus said as he shook his head. Even in his non werewolf form he could smell a bad turn in the air, and not just when Snape was standing upwind.

"Yes, indeed you may be right. It is strange to say the least." Marcus said as they all stood in thought. "Either way, we need to concider that this farm is no longer as safe as it should be. It may have been a one of attack but it would be foolish to do more than hope that. Preparations need to be made."

Tonks thought for a moment before replying. "I think we should leave. I agree with Remus, this does seem like to much coincidence. I think that our presence here is placing you in danger you don't deserve, and we most certainly wouldn't want that on our conscience." As she shook her head Martha adamantly shook her head.

"No Tonks, you shouldn't think that. To place blame on something which hasn't even happened is silly, and to suggest you leaving for our sake is sillier still. In the wilderness out there or in the city you wouldn't survive two days. Although we haven't known you long we would consider you a friend. And her in Pharaphax at least, friends stick by each other. Your enemy is our enemy."

"It's all well saying that…" Marcus interrupted. "But if it is this Voldemort, or any band of stray magicians you are in very real danger. You may not like the idea but I advise you leave your home for your own safety. My house out on the Island of Ashtara is probably the safest place in all this world, and you may stay with me until the threat of danger passes. If it is Voldemort he should go back to his own world by the end of the week, less he choose to stay here on a rather permenant basis."

"I'm afraid we couldn't possibly leave." Andrew said as he shook his head at the idea. "This is our home, and to be driven from our home would be to give them what they want, to give into our fear and run. Call it stubborn man pride but I would rather face the danger, for I'm sure the threat is greatly over exaggerated. I'm sure we would be quiet fine."

"How do you figure that?" Asked Tonks rather more Curtly than was necessary. "Forgive me but for a start we know a lot about magic and we can tell you its far more dangerous than you perhaps thing. Secondly we know Voldemort first hand. We have seen him fight and kill some of the greatest wizards to ever walk the earth. With just us six we wouldn't stand a chance against Voldemort, let alone his Death Eaters, who have undoubtedly come with him."

There was a moments pause after this as she looked down to see how many fingers she was holding out.

"That's at least two very good reasons, probably more!" She said as she stuck two fingers up and them all. Andrew considered how best to counter these statements without sounding rude.

"You do make a good point." He said as though in resignation. "But you say the portal into this world is through your ministry, that means he has only a few, if any followers with him, for he couldn't smuggle a large group of people through your undoubtedly high security."

"Secondly Marcus could probably cast some strong protection spells to assist us, and thirdly, we haven't been entirely honest, for we know a fair bit more about magic than you may think." As he said this Martha and Marcus both show him a glance.

"I advise you watch what you say." Marcus said as he showed anger for the first time that day. Andrew ignored these reactions.

"They have trusted us, and I believe we repay them with the same trust. You said yourself Martha that you consider them friends. If that is truly what you consider them then you should have no problem in them knowing, that we are indeed very much wizards."

"Why would you say you weren't then?" Remus asked with a puzzled expression. "There is nothing wrong with being a witch or a wizard." Martha gave a sigh.

"Yes you're mostly right. We aren't nearly as liked in this world as wizards are in yours. However yes there is the wizarding nations, and there are plenty of us. You see the reason we said that we are non magic folk, and the reason we live in the manner we do, is that if we should ever join the magical world we would be in great danger, as would our children.

"It started back when we first went to college. It was a wizarding college, the only one at the time. Andrew and I both went to the same school, though we didn't know each other until then. I was a Prefect and he was just plain naughty." She said which bought a smile to his face. "He used to get in so much trouble, it wasn't until near the end of the first year that he told me the truth. He always caused trouble so that I would tell him off and he would get to see me more often." She said dreamily. It was clear her love for her husband and not wavered over the long years since.

"I laughed when I heard this, because the reason I chose to stay as a prefect, even though it was getting in the way of my work was so that I could keep an eye out for him and make sure he didn't get into to much trouble, because I was quiet fond of him as well. It seems so long ago and yet as if it was only yesterday at the same time. I remember our first date. It wsn't unusual back then to have the school prefects doing detention duty, for we never had that many teachers, a lot of them were in war against the non magic community. Defending themselves mind you…"

"Anyway I was doing detention duty it was the last day of term and so all the teachers were a little slack and no one was booked to be in detention anway as far as I knew. Then Andrew went and threw a shoes at the teacher, just so he would be sent for detention later in the day. Anyway he turned up to detention and it was just me and him. He had a great big smile on his face as he entered and I remember rolling my eyes. Its so difficult to act angry and disappointed when I look at that grin of his. I asked him what he was so happy about, and as he sat down he pulled out from under the table a picnic basket."

"I looked at him and he looked back before we both burst out laughing. I love to think what would happen if it had been someone else taking detention that day instead of me, though im glad it wasn't. That's about all there was to it. We both sat there and had a picnic, with candles and everything. About a year after that, when we were nearly finished at college we got engaged." She said as she wiped away a stray tear which had formed in her eye. Andrew who had stayed silent up until now put an arm round her shoulder and gave her a hug, which encouraged her to go on.

"Now you see the magic population of Pharaphax was hated very much at that time. There was an evil lord rampaging around, giving us all a bad name. He attacked the people, they died, the people attacked back at us and we defended ourselves, and naturally there were a few casualties and they think that we are attacking them. After college Andrew and I couldn't afford to buy a place of our own in the wizarding nation. Just about every magician in Pharaphax must have moved there and house prices were far to high."

"So you moved here and pretended to be muggles?" Remus asked as he listened intently to the story.

"No, not quite." Andre said as he took over the story. "Whilst that would have perhaps been an option we were to poor to even be able to move out here. Instead what we did was we both joined the League of Armed Wizards, the LAW. There job was to battle against any wizards that caused problems, and try and keep peace within the world. Now as you can imagine the evil wizard, Gaeylmer, who was around at the time was causing quite a problem."

"You see the thing about working for the LAW, was that it was important for you to not be widely publicly known. Neither of us were from magic families, and so our parents tried to deny us to anyone who would ask, and so we fitted the bill. The other thing that made this job good for us was that they paid us as well as in money, with safe accomadation. When we weren't out working we could return to the LAW headquaters whish was very safe, and live there. When we had a mission we would go out, often undercover, and they would pay for any costs we needed."

"Now we primarily preferred undercover investigations to the hand to hand fights of the stuff. It's not that Martha and I were scared, but neither one of us wanted the other to be in danger. Therefore we often were away pretending to be someone else. The last and most dangerous mission we did was to pretend to be interested in joining Gaeylmer. We managed to find out who some of his followers were, and rather than having them immedietly locked away or killed, they were left so we could perform our mission."

"We set about going to similar places to the Followers, certain pubs places, and by having some rather loud conversations about matters which suited the follower they approached us. We were complaining about the war between the two halfs of the world, and how united under one great ruler with an iron fist they could simply stamp out the rebellions and everything would be solved. After talking to these followers for an hour, and impressing them no doubt, we were invited to meet there lord, and eventually we were initiated as followers of his."

"There is no need to go into detail about the matter, but basically we gave some of the information back to the LAW, such as where he planned to attack, what he was trying to do, and other things. Finally about three months after joining the opportunity arose. Our work finally paid off and we were managed to tip off the LAW, meaning Gaeylmer was caught on his own, and taken in. He was killed straight away to avoid the risk of his escape."

"I doubt he was as powerful as this Voldemort that you speak so gravely of, but I doubt he was any less sinsister. His followers somehow found out that it was us who betrayed him. It seems he must have had a spy that found out about us, for shortly after the fall of Gaeylmer we found ourselves being hunted down by them. Unfortunately his followers that were around at that time were very clever in their behaviour for they left no proof that they were involved, and so they were left to walk free. After much decision Martha and I decided to move out here and live the life of non magic folk."

"We had hoped that things would have died down by now, and indeed they may have, but we both enjoy our lives very much, and so there is really no need to risk using magic. Its not like we miss it. A lot of people died to the wand, and the birds in the sky and the bears in the forests manage without it, so as far as we see it there is no need for us to be any different."

There was a long silence that followed this as they considered what they had heard. Remus and Tonks shuddered at the thought because it could very easily be them in the same situation one day, though they hoped that things wouldn't be so.

"Do your children know of this?" Remus asked eventually. "No, they don't know any of it." Martha said as she shook her head adamantly.

"You mustn't tell them though. We thought about it when Alex was first born, but we decided that he may accidently say something one day to someone, or he may grow to resent us for making him live as we do."

"Well forgive me for saying so but should your children not have the choice to learn magic if they want?" Tonks asked as she crossed her arms. She had heard about muggles who refused to let their children attend Hogwarts. It was always a matter which angered her.

"Well Alex is still a few years away from being old enough to go to one of the wizarding schools. We will have to tell him in time yes, but we want to wait until later, when we fell he will be wise enough to make the correct decision. Also Claire will have the same opportunities, for both of them have shown magical potential." Martha explained as she finished the last few things needed for the picnic.

There was something which had been playing strangely on Remus' mind ever since he had met Marcus Pennywhistle, yet it did not fully form until now.

"You knew about this didn't you?" He asked as he looked over at the old man who had remained silent and nonplussed during the story.

"Indeed I did, why, does that bare relevance to you?" He asked as he stared back calculatingly.

"Well not really, its just that must mean you knew Martha and Andrew back when they worked for the LAW, or earlier than that.

"Well if you must know," Marcus said with a sigh as he recalled the bitter facts. "I was the head wizard of the LAW a long time ago, for many years. It was I who recruited both Martha and Andrew, and I who recognized their skills, and assigned them to the task of bringing back the information. Indeed I knew them very well." For the first time since they had returned Andrew looked decidedly shifty, as though he wanted to be somewhere else.

"Well if you don't mind me asking, why did you stop working their, and why is it that when we found you, you didn't want to be addressed by your true name?

"Why you ask? I supposed perhaps you would have the insight to imagine, though perhaps politics are different in your world from here. Let me tell you and perhaps you will understand a little better. At the same time the Gaeylmer was killed, and after Andrew and Martha went into hiding, There was the begging of a war no less threatening than that which we had just emerged. Gaeylmer, being the inconsiderate bastard that he is, left all wizard kind in an awkward situation."

"As you know Wizards and what you call Muggles, have never gotten along. Well there have been times when we merely disliked each other, and gritted our teeth. However after all the mass killing of the Muggles, They went into a full scale riot against magic kind. Thousands of them swarmed against us. The entire city of Harmonia moved as one, as tired of the law we enforced upon them they tried to destroy us."

"Rather than risk a full scale war between the two halfs, another plan was devised. The muggles, or at least those of the time were stupid, and despite our claims that bad wizards were few and far between, they would not listen. Instead, they decided that it would be simply easier to deal with one wizard, rather than to try and resolve the arguments that have been going on for the last twenty eight thousand years. The most senior wizard in all the land, the governing body of our kind, told them that Gaeylmer was not working on his own. In fact he even went as far as to say that I had been giving him orders."

"Of course he knew this was not true, but the riots that were going stopped, and the muggles listened carefully. Then he told them something that even I had tried to hide, and which is unfortunately true. He told them that I was a direct decendant of the very one who bought magic from the sea. Whilst he himself had no children, after he died he passed on his powers to ten others, five humans, and five animals. He claimed I was one of these five."

"Now whilst I myself am not, my mother was. She however, married my father who possessed no magical ability, and so my powers are only half as great as they suggest. Anyway, after claiming that I had instructed Gaeylmer, he proclaimed that I was to be killed. The riots stopped after this, for they believed I was the last reaming of any of the five."

"Upon my death the magical world would apparently loose its strength, and we would all live happily and peacefully ever after, or other such nonsense. It was treachery of the highest order, and yet no one stopped it, for they could all see how by simply removing me from the world things would suddenly be so much easier. I was sentenced to death, though I did not go to it. After I learned of my fate I returned to my home on the island of Ashtara, where none approached me."

"They must have found some old vagabound who looked like me, for someone under my name lost their head. Now I am forced to live, pretending to be someone I am not, though I guess I can't complain when I look at you two living out here in the dirt can I?" He said with a sarcastic smile which lightened the mood. Martha looked like she was about to be offended by this remark, but eventually she gave a small laugh and shook her head in dismay.

"You shall never change." She said after catching her breath.

"So are you the only remaining descendant of any of the five?" Tonks asked five minutes later after the conversation had gone onto a much lighter topic. It had been chewing away at her brain, and she had finally given in.

"Marcus who had been having a drink of water before returning home, for he could not stay long, turned to Tonks.

"I do not believe so. I tracked each ones offspring down for nearly five thousand years, thoug by this point their magical abilities were so much watered from what was originally there I felt there really was no point, besides by this point magic had started appearing in those who weren't of ancient magical ancestry, and it fairly rivaled those that were. However there is one man who is still alive today, and he was One of the original five. He had been with my father on the day their fate was delivered to them."

"Whilst he does poses powers rivaling that of Voldemort, maybe even greater I'm most certain he is of no threat. He is old for this world, as old as I, and just as weary. He has had enough of evil wars, and whilst he doesn't play a part in them anymore he does not stop them either, he merely sits back and watches, as though the world were his opera. Whilst I gain my seemingly immortal life from living surrounded by the magic sea, he gains it from the magic itself which runs in his veins."

"I made a vow after his first war was over, as he fled into hiding, that I would live for as long as was needed, as long as he did, so I may watch incase, and try and stop him should I need to. He had a name once, though not any more. Few know of his face, and even less know of his importance. Some call a bloody bastard, as he intervenes in their plans. Others call him Ocasios, after the ancient god of war. I myself, I just call him as he looks, Oldman."

Back in the wizarding tent everyone was getting freshened up. The caves left them with a bitter odor about them, one that reminded them of the Spider King. There was only a medium sized bathroom in the wizarding tent, though it was far mre than any muggle tent had ever had. None the less Blaise was using it, and there was a que. Alex had politely told them that there was a shower round the back of the house that they could use. Though the water would be rather cold. Harry claimed the right to use this, as Ron didn't seem particularly bothered. He supposed that the swim at the oasis would suffice for a wash.

The shower at the back of the house turned out to be little more than a wooden phone box with a large bucket for the roof. It was a clever design that had been made by Andrew, And Harry watched as Alex explained to him what the wooden lever did. Through a series of large half bamboo pipes a stream of water ran. It was drawn up from the well by the wind pump, where it then ran down the bamboo over the roof of the house, and out towards the back.

Normally it would then fall down into a series or irrigation ditches which allowed plants to get a steady enough supply of water. However by turning the level the pipe on the roof shifted slightly, and the water started flowing into the holey bucket above them. It then fell from there in much the same way as would a shower.

"As long as you remember to flip the switch when you are done and tell me when you are finished. We don't want the pump running all night or else we will run out of water." He said with a laugh which hid an underlying worry.

Harry made sure only to have a quick shower, though not only due to the fact he didn't want to be wasteful. It was indeed as Alex had predicted icy cold. Harry had expected that in the sweltering heat of the day it would heat up, but the well reached far down into the ground where it was still cool, and where the sun couldn't penetrate.

As he returned to the tent he found that Hermione had finished, and so had Blaise, which surprised him for girls generally took a great deal of time in such matters as washing and appearance.

"You would not believe how awkward it was to wash out the spider web." Blaise said as she was sitting on one of the beds in the girls room, the door left open so some of the slight breeze from outside might be encouraged to waft in.

Harry didn't say anything at first as he stood from by the doorway watching them talk as though they had been friends for quite a while. Blaise had changed; it was quiet clear to see. He suspected Hermione had noticed as well, though he knew not to mention anything of it. She might get defensive again, and Harry didn't want to risk that. It was only when Harry closed the fridge door did they look up.

"Hey Harry." They both said, which irked him slightly. He stared back at them before replying.

"Why is it there is a fully working fridge and yet there isn't a single cold drink in there?"

"The fridge is for medicine." Hermione explained to him as though he were a little bit simple.

"Anyway im sure if it's a cold drink you are after there are plenty of other ways you could get one. After all you went to the same charms classes as me."

Harry nodded as he looked round.

"Has anyone seen where Ron has gone? I was going to ask if I could borrow his spare pair of shoes, mine have been giving me blisters."

"I think we went to make sure that all the food was ready." Blaise said as she rolled his eyes. "Does he ever think about anything else?" Harry considered this for a minute before giving a sheepish grin and replying.

"Probably. He is a boy."

Ten minutes later they all set off on the walk. They had a small cart with the food and rugs on which was being drawn by a tired looking pony. Andrew had a gun over his shoulder, as he warned that sometime bears came to the oasis for water. Remus and him led the party, walking shoulder to shoulder. It made the whole thing look like a hunting trip rather than a relaxing after noon.

Ron and Hermione were walking together as she they discussed all the various parts of what had happened in the cave. Ron was trying to get it commited to memory so that when he got back home he could tell everyone a series of bone chilling stories that he had taken part in. Blaise and Harry walked along side, not talking, though occasionly throwing each other glances. He was wondering about what happened earlier, whilst Blaise, well… who knew what she thought. Harry certainly didn't. He wasn't a girl after all.

She caught him looking at her again.

"What are you looking at?" She asked him quietly. No one could overhear as Tonks and Martha were in a rather loud conversation about their life style. Tonks was trying to say that a life of crime fighting was more rewarding than that of raising children. Neither side would abate.

"I'm not looking at anything!" Harry said as he stared straight forward and blushed.

"What are you thinking then?" She asked as she approached at a different angle.

"I'm just wondering how much longer its going to be . Have we been walking forever or what?"

Blaise glanced down at her watch.

"We have been walking now for… one and a half minutes." She said with a raised eyebrow. Harry looked down at the ground and gave a small inaudible reply. They carried on walking in silence for a moment more. "You know if you really want to you can just ask me." She said without looking at him.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he panicked for a minute that she might have some sort of Legilimancy powers which allowed her to read his mind without him even knowing. She said nothing more, but took his hand in hers. He blushed a deep shade of crimson, though made no move to pull away. "I wasn't… um…you know what's funny…" He spluttered as he tried to think of something to say.

In the end he failed. They walked the rest of the way, hand in hand, in silence, and the only thing more that was said was just before they arrived. Harry could feel the softness of her hand under his finger tips.

"You have nice hands." He commented. She gave him a quick look before shaking her head with a smile, and replying

"You pervert."


	74. Oasis

Sorry this chapter is late. I had most of it finished by last weekend, but I got stuck on the final 700 words or so, and I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with the story. Anyway this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but hopefully it is still likeable.

In the distance the oasis grew in front of them. Whilst they had said it was only a mile away, as they stared across the flat baked plains they began to doubt it, for surely they would have been able to see it. Then however suddenly the heat haze of the distance gave way to a dot of green, which seemed to grow far faster than it would do had it not been distorted by the rising air. A minute later they were close enough for the features to be made out. There was a small rocky outcrop which stretched up a few hundred meters in the air. Then there were hundreds of trees surrounding all that was on ground level from view, so that the pool inside could not be seen

There was a wild boar dozing in the shade of one of the trees, though only lightly. As the humans drew nearer its eyes flicked open and its ears swiveled as it identified them. It got up and ran off with its slow clumsy looking trot as it tried to hide. Andrew told Remus about how they should try and catch and kill it later, for such a fine source of meat so far out here was rare. Most of the animals were eaten by predators, and unless the Blights intended to eat bears or cougar then it was vegetables and grain.

"As they reached the furthest out of the trees Harry felt a small tingle in his scar, though he dismissed it. Voldemort was all the way in the other world after all. There was no way he could reach them here. They carried the picnic hamper from the cart, and loosened the pony from its fastenings.

"We won't need to tie him up. He will happily stand here eating grass all afternoon. Andrew said as the pony immediately set about on the ground below it. The trees on the boundaries weren't as dense as in the middle though now that they were closer they could see to the center. The trees were only about one hundred feet deep, and through patches they could see the sparkling pool which lay as a small miracle in the parched lands.

There were rainbows as well where the water from the small cascading waterfall threw up its mist. It seemed strange that there should be a water fall out here, but Martha explained about how the river ran down under the ground and came to surface here, pushing up in between to slabs of rock at the top of the rocky mound, where it fell back down to ground before disappearing once more underground, not to be seen again until it reached the boundaries of Harmonia.

Come on there is a cool bit." Claire said as she took Harry by the hand and started dragging him forwards. He was tempted to stay there in the shade, but she was rather determined to show him whatever it was. Blaise let go of his hand by this point, either because it wasn't very exciting, or because she was self conscious. Harry hoped the latter.

"What is it that's so exciting?" Ron asked as he and the rest of the children followed.

"Don't wonder off yet." Andrew said warningly as he quickly left the other adults who were trying to find a nice spot of ground to set out the rug. "How many times have I told you Claire, it could be dangerous. I will go with you at first to make sure there is nothing harmful, though still keep your eyes open. There could be grass snakes and whilst they aren't poisonous they will give you a bit strong enough to put you off walking for a day.

As Harry stepped into the clearing his breath caught in his throat. He wasn't one to go praising flowers and taking walks through the country side, but it was truly a sight of unparalleled beauty. There was a pool of crystal clear water in the middle. It must have been a few hundred feet across, and was shallow at the edges. It had a smooth sandy bottom, and Harry could see tracks where animals had indeed come to drink, though there were no other sign of their presence.

Around the pool of water there was about twenty feet of grassy border before the trees started. The trees were tall and thin and some of them leaned so far over that they shadowed not only the grassy bank but also the water. This meant it stayed cool during the summer, though still allowed enough sun light to heat it up a little. Harry supposed this shade was part of the reason it didn't all evaporate away.

On the grass there were patches of wild flowers of all different colours, some looking similar to what was found back at privet drive, whilst others were strange and exotic, with short thick stems and large flower heads. In the water there were fishes, though as the humans had drew closer they had swum to the far side of the pool, towards the rocky outcrop which was but up against the far side. There was the twittering of song birds from some of the trees. All in all it was picture perfect and Harry would be hard pushed to find anything upon with which he could improve.

After carefully surveying the surrounding scene Andrew declared it safe.

"Don't go jumping in yet. We still have lunch to have first, and if you are all dripping wet you're not sitting on the blanket." He told them with a smile. He knew full well how energetic his children could be and he didn't suspect anything he said would make the slightest difference.

"It's just up here." Alex said as him and his sister led the way along a narrow rocky path up near the summit of the rocky mountain. They passed through a patch of dense bushes, and then came to the source of where the water came from. It came from somewhere far under the ground, but over years it had worn a path to the surface in between the two giant slabs of stone. It had also worn a path down the hill, into the pool, which Claire seemed convinced could be used as a water slide.

"It really does work she said." As she pointed down at a relatively smooth looking path which curved slightly before plunging out into the pool.

"Well you lot can feel free to grind your own skin off as you try sliding on rocks but I know well enough what I see and I see a um….Rocks!" Ron said as he tried to sound like the wise one of the group.

"No it's very smooth." Alex assured him. "It has been worn down by the water, and there is also a mass on it which makes it smoother, watch." He said as he took off his shoes and t shirt, before sitting down on the edge of a rock and pushing off.

Alex went shooting down the rock face and a minute later there was a splash sound. Claire quickly followed, leaving the four Hogwarts students on their own. They all exchanged looks for a moment.

"I think I will pass." Harry said. He wanted to see that the splash he had heard wasn't that of a dead body hitting the water. "Maybe later. Anyway it must be at least half one by now." Harry said as he glanced down at his watch, which read ten minutes to two. "I think I will eat first."

Blaise and Ron nodded in agreement, and the four of them made it back down to the lake edge. Alex rolled his eyes as he saw them appear at the bottom of the footpath.

"You big sissies." He called to them as he waded over from a deeper part of the pool to the edge. "Claire can do it and she's only tiny." He said as he splashed at his sister. She drew herself up to her full height.

"I'm not little she yelled in indignation." As she put on a very wise tone.

"Come on Lunch is set out." Andrew said as he reappeared form a short way to the left. He looked at his two children who were both wet. "Honestly you two, have you no control?" Lunch was a pleasant experience. They had chosen a spot to the right hand side of the lake. The grass was sandy and there were no stones. They had two rugs laid out, though they were still a bit lacking in space. Harry took this as an incentive to lie close to Blaise without arousing suspicion. She gave him a small smile as he did this, so he took that as a good sign.

They had cheese and fruit sandwiches, which whilst Harry may have thought strange before, now found enjoyable and refreshing. They also had all sorts of other things, such as cheese biscuits and tomatoes and celery, along with sausage rolls and even a few strawberries. The only thing that it seemed to be missing in Harry's eyes were crisps, but then you couldn't always have everything you wanted.

The adults looked like they had something on their mind, and Harry made a note to ask Remus later on when there were less people around. He could tell in their behavior that it hung over to them, for they didn't seem to be relaxing nearly as much as the hot sun and the beautiful surroundings would incline. He turned his mind back to Ron and Hermione who were still eating. He wondered if he should tell them about his and Blaises relationship, if that's what they had. It seemed like it but he would have to ask her.

"Does anyone know what or when the next task is?" Blaise asked after a moment of silence. Tonks balanced her glass of fruit juice on a shorter patch of grass a few feet away from her before turning her attention to the question.

"Well we were going to tell you later, but if you really want to know then the next mission is to obtain the blood of the bird of the floating city Calmera."

"We debated over which was best to do next, but in the end we choose this one. We felt it was slightly safer, and therefore if any of you were injured on the last mission then it wouldn't matter as much, for I have been assured by Marcus that reaching the dragon wont require a great deal of effort. We shall be setting off tomorrow morning. Since it is the third day since the Veil opened that means we have another full four days before it closes." Tonks said as everyone listened intently.

If we do the second task tomorrow then we can do the third the day after that. We thought about leaving a break in between it, but felt that we should get it all over and done with, so that should for some reason we find a delay, then we would still have time. Does that sound good to everyone?" She finished as she looked at the four childen. Harry nodded, as did the others.

"Do you have any idea as to how we are to get the blood of this bird yet?" Hermione asked. Remus responded with a shake of his head.

"I'm afraid that Marcus hasn't told us that much yet, though he will tell us tomorrow before we set off. Still we should try and get an early night if possible, because I was under the impression that we would be setting off early. Alex seemed to be concidering all of this very carefully, for when there was a break in the speech he asked.

"Can I go?" There was a silence that followed this as everyones stare turned to the young boy.

"Pardon?" His father asked, as though daring his son to suggest it again. Alex gave a sigh as he realized it wasn't going to be the sinple yes he had hoped for.

"I was wondering if I could go." He said, but plunged on before he could be cut off with protest from his parents. "It's just that when you all go back to your world I probably ownt get a chance to go there. Only those born in the city and a few wizards are ever allowed to go there. Please let me go with you, I just want to see it once." He asked as he aimed his plea at Remus.

"It's not up to me." Remus replied simply as he looked away from Alex's gaze which was rather fierce for someone of his age.

"No I'm afraid you can't go." Andrew said as he gave his son a pat on the back. "You heard what Tonks said. It will be dangerous, and given what we know about Calmera it is probably very much so.

"But couldn't I just stay at the back and…" He asked before both his parents stared him into silence. With a sigh he gave up on his hope of seeing Calmera, which had never been that great to begin with, though he was still angry about it.

"You had better tell me about it then." He mumbled as he looked at Harry and the others rather than his parents. Ron gave a cheeky smile

"You can bet we will." He said as he peeled a banana. The next half hour passed leisurely as everyone lay there either occasionally eating something, or just talking. Eventually Remus got up from the rug and began to walk over to the pool edge. "Forgive me if I excuse myself, but back in our world it's the middle of the winter, and there would be few things more rewarding than getting a fantastic suntan. I never pass up an opportunity to make Snape look more pasty than he already is.

"Oooh don't exclude me." Tonks said in indignation as she rushed after him. "A woman needs to look good to."

"Shall we go for a swim?" Hermione asked as she turned to her friends. Claire and Alex were all for it, as were Harry and Ron. Blaise's however shook her head.

"No I think I ate to much." She said, despite the fact he noted she had eaten no more than any other teenage girl seemed to. "I have a bit of cramp in my stomach. I will just walk it off for a bit then join you." She said to Hermione in a perfectly convincing manner.

"Oh ok." Hermione said considerately. It is dangerous to go swimming after eating actually, though mostly I just want to get into the water to cool off, I'm not planning on racing laps or anything." She said with a small laugh. Ron, Claire and Alex had already run into the water, whilst Harry was just about to join them.

"Not so fast Harry." Martha called to him from the shade of a tree on the sandy edge as she sat with her feet dipped into the pool. "Unless it's to use the bathroom no one should go off on their own. It is safe at the moment and I think our noise would have frightened off predators, but you shouldn't be taking risks."

"Oh ok, shall I go with Blaise then?" Harry asked helpfully.

"If that wouldn't put her out to much." Martha said knowingly as she appraised the girl's reaction in detail.

"Yeah I guess I could do with some company." She said as she kicked off her shoes and socks and went walking away from the rugs. Harry came up behind her as soon as he had removed his shoes as well. They had got a fair amount of sand in them, and whilst it was uncomfortable in his shoes it was cool and nice to feel it under his bare feet.

Harry had on a pair of large shorts which whilst intended to be swim shorts, looked normal enough that he could wear them out in a muggle street without anyone thinking any differently. He also had a white t shirt which reflected the sun back off him. He had learned quickly enough that a black traveling cloak was a mistake. Blaise was also wearing shorts, though they were smaller than Harry's, and only came part way down her upper leg. She was wearing a pinkish swim top with it which showed off her back, as well as some of her shape.

"Have you put on your suntan lotion he asked hopefully?"

"Yes." Blaise said with a small smile as she knew why he had asked. All boys were the same. She walked along the rocky edge next to the water, so that should she slip one way then she would land with a splash.

"Good, I was just checking. You know how the blankets in the wizarding tent are. They are dead scratchy, and if you have sunburn it would lead to a sleepless night."

"That's very considerate of you." She said as they both made small talk, avoiding the conversation they knew would come sooner or later. They walked for some way on, until they shouts of fun from the pool of water below them were distant and faint. It was stifling hot up here on the rocks, and as the sand thinned Harry was left standing on the hot dark rock. This burned his feet so he walked off the path slightly, on some of the longer grass. It also had the added protection of the trees, though he was constantly on the look out for snakes.

"Where do I stand?" He asked finally, after it seemed Blaise wasn't going to say anything. "I mean I know how I feel pretty much but I don't know about you, or stuff." He said as he fell into silence once more. Blaise was still walking ahead so he couldn't see her face. He wondered if she had a point in mind to walk to or whether she was merely walking to get rid of the cramps she had in her side.

"Well I suppose that depends on you really." Blaise said as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure he was still following.

"You mean I get to choose?" Harry asked in surprise.

"To a degree. You see obviously whilst you get to decide if you want there to be an us..." She said as she went a little quieter and blushed a deep crimson. "I also need to know you better. I know you well I think by now, and I can tell that your not half as bad as Malfoy says."

"Oh thanks." Harry said as she gave him one of the worst compliments he had had in a long time. She laughed as he said this.

"You know what I mean. Basically before there can be an actual us I need to know what you think about a few things. I need to know what you would expect of me and how we would behave and what others would be told and what they would think. I need to know it all Harry, because I'm afraid a boy has never liked me before and I don't know what to expect. You know don't you?"

"Well I don't know what its like to be liked by a boy." He said with a snigger. "But I don't really know either. I mean I have had a girlfriend before but that was Cho, and it didn't really go like we had hoped. I mean we sort of started going out, then I saw her one day, then the next time I saw her was on the Hogwarts express before the Dementors attacked. Most of the time we were going out, if you could call it that, she was in a coma." He said with a slight melancholy tone to his voice.

This was not the first time Blaise had wondered it as well.

"Will you even be able to like me as I deserve? Will you be able to treat me with fairness, without feeling guilty for Cho? I don't want you to lie and say you can if you can't. If you think that it will be a problem you should say so, because I will understand, and I guess if we are still interested in each other down the road then there can be an "us" then?

"So you are interested in me then?" Harry asked as his heart gave a small jump. It had been heavily suggested but for it to be said made it seem so much more real.

"Well I didn't hold hands with Ron did I? So do you think that will be an issue."

"Well if you want the truth I think it might be a small issue. It won't be a big issue though. I mean me and Cho had never been anything serious, as she had said before she fell to the Dementors. Over the several months afterwards I think I grew accepting of her fate, and although I came here originally to try and save her, I was resigned to failure and the acceptance that came with it."

"I can't say here and now that at some point in the future I might not feel a bit strange. I might feel a little guilty like if someone said something, or if we went out on a date for the first time, but even if I do occasionally feel a little so, I don't think that changes how I feel now…" Harry said as he drifted off. Under Blaises stare he was becoming very self conscious.

"Any how do you feel?" She asked slyly, as she gave him a feigned innocent look and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Well I want to be with you. I won't say more yet for when I say it I want it to be right, and whilst I do not doubt it at the moment, I feel I'm only beginning to get to know the real you. Does that seem fair enough?" Harry asked as he removed his watch and threw it down with the items Alex and Claire had left up the top here.

"Yes I think that is a good answer. Maybe it's just my imagination but I have always been taught that boys will only say what you want to hear, or rather what they think you want to hear."

"Besides hopefully there shouldn't be to much of an issue since I like to take things slowly, in other words don't try anything perverted!" She said as she raised a hand as though to hit him. Harry flinched and she stared at him as though he were rather strange.

"Come Harry, walk with me for ten minutes and I will tell you more about myself, to see if you do think you could like the me I am to you alone. After that though we will have to join the others or they will become suspicious."

Harry and Blaise walked around the top of the rocky mountain, then round under some of the trees, as she talked about all sorts of things. They weren't very exciting stories like many of Harry's but they were nice. In many ways her childhood seemed much the same as his, before Hogwarts. Whilst both her parents were still alive she described everything with a sense of emotional detachment, as though she were always on her own. None of her stories seemed to concern her mother being nice to her, and so Harry made a note of it not to bring the subject up more. From what she had said then, and before in the cave he concluded that she mustn't be a very nice woman.

Occasionally Harry would contribute a comment or a joke as to what he would have done in the situation. For the most part though he remained silent as Blaise told about her self. She used to have friends before she joined Hogwarts, one in particular, but when she came to Hogwarts she was one of only a few Muggle born in Slytherin, so she was immediately separated from everyone else, in the strange alien world into which she had been thrust. When she returned during the summer her best friend had moved away, and whilst they tried to stay in touch it was difficult, and eventually it failed.

It was easy to see how Blaise had become a bright student. Without friends she occupied herself with studies, rather as Hermione had done at the start of her first year before Ron and himself had saved her from the mountain troll. Blaise didn't have enemies as such, for she wasn't one to attract attention. It was sad listening to her describe about things she had done at Hogwarts that Harry had known none of, because he reemphasized her point that not many people noticed she existed.

"Time's up." She said immediately after finishing off a story, before Harry could comment. We can talk more later and you can tell me about yourself if you want to. I know well enough what it is to be labeled. It's so much easier to call someone by what you hear rather than what you see." Harry expected them to walk back along the mountain path down to ground level, the same way in which they had come. Blaise however, took one last glance before throwing herself down the smooth slippery surface that made up the natural water slide.

Harry rushed over and made sure he could see she was alright. He had been looking the other way and only saw out of the corner of his eye. He believed that she had slipped in and maybe injured herself. He looked down but could only see as far as the rock where the path veered off. He heard a splash below, and with a final curse threw himself down after her. It reminded him of the large drain he had gone down when breaking into Azkaban, except that this wasn't in the middle of a cold and stormy night resulting in deaths.

Harry splashed into the cold water a moment later and sunk completely under. White bubbles blocked his view and he floundered for a moment before regaining his senses and pulling himself to the top. The water wasn't cold, though it felt so in comparison to the bright sunshine he had felt moments before. Alex, Clair, Ron and Hermione were playing over near the far shore. It looked like a game of tag though it wasn't working to well because Ron had virtually never gone swimming in his life, and was getting caught far more often than the others. Blaise was swimming towards them, and was only a short way away.

Harry swam a few widths of the pool before making his way over to the others. When he got there the others were arguing over teams for a game of water volleyball, a game none of them knew how to play, though all of them vaguely confident that it involved hitting the ball backwards and forwards over a net.

"Finally decided to join us then Harry?" Ron asked as he stood on the river bank tying a piece of string he thought they could substitute the net for.

"I just thought I would get some practice in for the final task." Harry said with a laugh.

The afternoon wore on in a manner of fun and relation. As the sun began to sink lower in the sky, and the temperture dropped by just a few degrees, they were able to forget about the problems that lie ahead of them, and the danger that they were in. For once Harry was able to focus on the moment, not on his past, or on who would die next, for there always was a next.

At half past four when all of them had had enough, and after the adults decided it was begging to get dark they decided to head back. They loaded up their cart, and set off back on the path on which they had come. Most people walked in silence, apart from Claire who seemed unable to contain herself, and was constantly talking to her mother about what they should do tomorrow after everyone got back from the task in Calmera.

Harry didn't walk along side Blaise this time, for he didn't want to rise too much suspicion from Ron or Hermione for the time being. Besides, he had more important things to concentrate on now, such as the next task. Although they didn't know what they had to do yet, Harry was sure there was something they could be doing to prepare. They had been lucky during the spiders cave, but as he watched the events unfold it showed just how unorganized they were. When he was on his own he didn't need to worry about other people. Now he was in a group he also held the responsibility of the others, as did they.

"Is there really nothing more you know about tomorrow?" Hary asked as they finally came reached the farm.

"No Harry, you know all I do." Remus said honestly. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know why really." He responded after a moment. "I just feel something isn't right…You know what I mean?"

"Like we are being watched?" Remus asked as he cast a look into the distance. He couldn't see to far for the low sun burned in the low sky blocking out the distance ond causing the air to ripple closer up."

"You feel it also?" Harry asked in a louder tone than he had intended, causing Hermione to break from her conversation with Alex, and look at Harry.

"Not so loud Harry." Remus cautioned as he began to break from the group. I have much to tell you, though now is not the time or the place. Tonight Harry, after dinner. Don't go thinking about it to much though, for it is only for you and the others to deem the importance. Tonks and I already have our own views, but we want to know what you think before we act upon them.

"What about Ron and the others?" Harry asked. Remus shook his head.

"No Harry, what they think isn't important I'm afraid. They are here for the Blessing. You are here for much more than that. Don't mention anything to the others though for the time being, for we don't want to cause any worries. Until then act as you normally would, and remember to speak to me after dinner, out by the bench.


	75. The Dark Shadow

Sorry about the long wait since last chapter. Half term has been here, so during my free time I have been hanging out with my friends. They are back at school now though so hopefully I will be able to get back to writing.

Perhaps its just me, but as of late I have been worried that the humour in this story (its debatable if there ever was any) is becoming less and less existent. Im going to tryn and out more funny bits in, thought I did form the start know that the Pharaphax part wouldn't be that funny…

SiriusLeeBlack09 made a comment that after the spiders lair it went slowly. I take constructive criticism very seriously, and I was just wondering wether any others felt this to be the case, for I am always looking at my errors in the hope that they can be avoided again.

Thanks.

Dinner passed uneventfully. It was peaceful for the most part, with everyone enjoying themselves and sitting round long after they had finished eating, just so they could talk as the final rays of sunshine dipped down below the horizon, and even then, as the glow that tipped the distant earth began to fade. There were a few insects were bothering them, but Andrew took a few slow burning leaves from a tin box and set fire to them. Thy continued to burn for the next hour, with the drifting smoke driving away any insects which would consider biting them.

After they had finished and Martha had finished the washing up, and after she had made sure both her children were ready for bed, she returned to Andrew who had just finished checking that all the animals had enough hay and water until morning. The two of them sat and spoke to Tonks Remus, and the other children. One of them would part company at a time as they went to the tent to get washed so that they didn't end up staying awake to late.

As Harry excused himself for his turn, Remus made up an excuse about needing to stretch his legs.

"The joints don't move as freely as they did five years ago." He said as he stood up and stretched. I will just go for a walk for a few minutes. Don't mind me." He said as he stepped out of the living room, and into the night air, which was still warm. He strode round in a seemingly aimless pattern at first, in case anyone should be watching from inside. After a minute however he made his way over to the bench, and sat down. He waited for Harry to arrive.

He knew Harry well enough, or at least he hoped he did, that the boy would come straight here, rather that actually go and wash first.

"What do you want to speak about?" A voice asked form the shadows of the tree, where Harry had been standing. Remus jumped at the sudden sounds for he thought he had checked by the tree.

"I will tell you but I don't want the others knowing." Remus explained as he didn't look towards the tree. He stared straight forwards into the distance, as though admiring the endless landscape.

"Ok, what is it that is so secretive then? You trusted me with order information before I was deemed a threat to secrecy, what is it that you wouldn't want me knowing." A moment silence passed as the whistling of the wind in the thin desert grass was all that was heard.

"A family a few miles from here was brutally murdered…" Remus began, as he ran his hands through his hair.

"I know what you're going to say." Harry said solemnly. "There are two reasons I know. The first is because you wouldn't be telling me if you thought it was just regular criminals you wouldn't cause such secrecy, and the other reason is because I can sense him. Everywhere he goes I can sense him now Remus. The bond is growing stronger and I don't know why. I can sense his presence like a repugnant odor. He passed into this world shortly after us, by earth standards that is."

"You knew Harry?" Asked Remus as he stood up from the bench in shock. "Why didn't you tell us if you knew."

"Because I didn't. I do now but at the time I only thought I did. When I first sensed it I shrugged it off. I thought I must be imagining it, or that the magic here, the reality, its so different that it could have been hundreds of other things. But as time passed I became more sure. So far he hasn't come to close, so I didn't feel a need to mention it. So far, though I can't be certain, he hasn't been anywhere we are going, or have been, therefore we can rule out the possibility that he is after the same thing as us."

"I thought maybe he didn't know we were here at all, though as I awoke in the early hours of last night, I sensed the taste of death, like a sharp coppery taint to his normal presence. It was only after that that I realized he does know we are here, and is after us." Harry said. Again another long silence fell between them as Harry examined his wand. Voldemort was hundreds of miles away probably, or so his feelings told him. He had nothing to worry about this night.

"Is that all you wished to speak to me about?" Harry asked, breaking Remus from his thoughts.

"Mostly yes." Remus said as he tried to make out Harry's facial expression. It was shaded by the shadow of the tree though. "I just wanted to know if you thought we should continue. Given the danger and everything im not sure we should. If Voldemort were to give a wave of his wand…"

"Then it would make no difference to me. You know as well as I do that I will need to face him one day. That time has not come yet I don't think, but to die now would be no different in the outcome than to die later to the unforgivables."

"I shall carry on this mission." Harry said resolutely. "I think you should ask the others what they think, for I won't be able to feel anything but guilty should something happen. At least if they know what I am inflicting upon them it will give them the chance to turn back."

"I suspected you would say that." Remus said as he shook his head and stood up. "Your just as stubborn as James you know Harry. You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders Harry. I know the prophecy is a burden but don't let it darken everything. You should loosen up and try to live a little."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." Harry said with a laugh.

"I'm not going to tell the others Harry, but if you want to it's your call. I'm here to protect you all, not to try and convince you to leave behind a charm which would protect you better than I ever could." Remus answered as he stood up and made his way back indoors. Harry waited for a moment longer, letting the gentle breeze play across his face, before going into the tent and getting ready for bed. He emerged a short while later and returned to the house where everyone was sitting playing a game of cards. Alex and Claire had been sent to bed, and after forty minutes and two games later so were they.

"I think we ought to get our heads down now." Tonks said as she stood up form the table and stifled a yawn. "I don't know how early Marcus is expecting us to start, but we don't want to take any risks." She said. Ron made a grumbling complaint about how it was still early, though no one else did, it had been a long day, and tomorrow could well be just as long.

"I warn you don't go near the tent until we have left it." Remus said as he turned to Andrew. It's armed with some pretty serious defence, and you will get badly injured if you do. Not that we are expecting danger mind you," he said as he saw the look on Andrews face. "But there is no harm in being cautious."

The six travelers bid the Blights goodnight, and made their way across the short distance to where their tent was setup. It was still cool inside, though not uncomfortable. It also had a mild form of silencing charm to stop loud crickets and grasshoppers keeping them awake during the night. Remus had disabled this however, for he said it would also keep them unaware should they be ambushed in the night. He was starting to sound like Alastor Moody these days.

Harry, Ron and Remus made their way to one of the sleeping compartments, whilst the girls went to the other. They lay in bed for a few minutes, with the sound of nature outside lulling them into a sense of security and drowsiness that quickly gave way into sleep. Harry didn't fall asleep yet though. On the girls side they lay awake a little longer than the boys, for they had more stamina. They talked for a few minutes first. First of all they just talked about the task the next day, and what they thought it might be like, then as they exhausted that topic it changed slightly.

The three beds were lined up next to each other, with Tonks on one side, nearest to the cloakroom, Blaise on the middle bed, and Hermione on the one against the outside wall.

"Do you like anyone Hermione." Blaise whispered as Tonks had been silent for a few minutes and they would have assumed she was asleep, had she not been listening to music through some headphones.

"I like lots of people." She replied with a smile as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"You know what I mean…" Blaise said quieter even than before.

"Well I might do, but if I did then it wouldn't matter. I think what you mean is Blaise that you like someone, and I think I have a good suspicion of who that is."

"Am I that transparent?" Blaise asked sadly.

"It's not that." Hermione reassured her. "It's just as far as I know Harry is your only good male friend, and I see that you two understand each other in a way that took me years. You're a friend Blaise so I know that you won't hurt Harry in any way, and I know him well enough to say he won't either. The only thing I will warn you is it's a one way thing. Once you become more than friends you can never go back."

"Thanks Hermione…" Blaise said as she pulled her duvet a little tighter round her for comfort rather than warmth. "I know what you mean…"

Back over the other side of the tent Harry was just about to drift off to sleep. He was in that state just in between the world of consciousness and that that wasn't. His eyes would open, unaware that they had ever closed, and time would jump in short intervals as he passed in and out of sleep, like a swimmer from a shipwreck, crashing against the waves, before finally giving in and falling below the surface. It was at this point, when all seemed well, that Harry's eyes flew open with a start, and something was horribly wrong.

It took him a moment to realize what it was, but by this point it had grown so strong it felt as though it were consuming his very body. His scar was burning stronger than it had done in months, maybe ever, certainly the strongest it had ever been when not in Voldemort presence. Harry gave a small gasp of breath as he held his hands to his temples, pushing subconsciously withal his might, trying to expel the pain that was blistering his senses.

He struggled to keep silent, as a distant part of his brain realized that Ron or Remus might easily hear him. To see him in this state, in such pain from Voldemort, would most certainly strengthen their resolve to turn back. Harry managed to pull hi hands away from his head with great effort, as though they were being pulled by magnets. The pain rose and sunk a little form time to time, though after a minute of this Harry realized it wasn't about to stop at any point soon. He kicked off his duvet, and fell to the floor where his knee cracked against the hard surface. He would have noticed the pain had it not been so insignificant in comparison to the fierce pain raging through his head.

When the pain was at its slightly lesser points Harry managed to stumble his way to the door of the bedroom, out into the living area, and finally out into the cool night air. To any spectator they would have assumed Harry drunk or fatally injured. Little did they know he was a mixture of both. He stumbled blindly, hoping he was silent. It was tough for him to tell though, through the pounding ringing which beat upon his ears as the blood pulsed strongly under the pain.

He ran from the farm as far he could, before tripping on a rock some few hundred feet away. He didn't attempt to get back up, but instead remained on his hands and knees, heaving under the effort and the pain. His eyes rolled in their sockets ash he felt himself convulsing, before throwing up some bile and leaving its bitter after taste in his mouth. After this he collapsed to the ground, and he felt the pain subsiding. He was tempted to fall asleep there and then, for the pain had taken so much out of him. He did not do this however, as his mind began to clear he focused on what he must do.

The pain was from Voldemort. That much was certain. It was also certain that Voldemort was feeling strongly about something, and by the feeling of dread that hung upon him like the perspiration on his head and back, he knew it was bad, that Voldemort had achieved something he was pleased with. Harry turned his head to where the pain had come from, as though carried by the wind. It was coming from outer Pharaphax, in the opposite direction from Harmonia.

He looked intently at the Blight house, as though willing himself to see through it, to see beyond it, to Voldemort and what he had gotten. He saw the briefest of flashes, of the red glaring eyes before they disappeared. Harry redoubled his efforts as he knew he could succeed. He turned his eyes upwards, staring at the stars above, concentrating on the light they radiated down, before closing his eyes and concentrating. At first it came in sharp bursts so strong they caused him to break from its embrace, as though the very images were electrified.

Finally though after several attempts at which he braced himself for the sudden shock as a passage of vision and understanding passed between him and Voldemort, he succeeded. The image held and all became clear to Harry, as though he were there himself. This was the first time Harry had made a conscious connection to Voldemort; he hoped nothing bad would happen. The dark lord was standing on some wooden planking that was slightly rotten and rather moss covered in patches. There was lighting cracking brightly in the sky overhead, as was always the case with here.

Harry couldn't see where they were, for it was devoid of all unnatural light. The only thing that shed any real light was a small lamp held by a single death eater. Other than that it was the cracks of thunder which tore through the sky with a crackling fizz which lit up the surroundings.

"_This is what we need for the power greater than that dilute…"_ Voldemort mumered gleefully. A bolt of lighting flashed, and Harry realized for the first time, that below the wooden planking, was still murky water. He could also see that it was in front of them, for as far as they could see. Voldemort was at the sea edge, the magical sea.

"Pardon?" Asked the Death Eater as he shifted his feet slightly. They had to be careful, apparently prolonged exposure to the water could have effects on them, some of them unpleasant.

"Never mind my musings." Voldemort said distractedly, as he took a few more steps forwards to the edge of the platform. He was running over a passage form the spell he needed to obtain.

"_In the Arc of spirits where the restless lie, a binding is done whilst another unties. "_

We will need to make sure we have more than enough. How much did the book say we need?" Voldemort asked distractedly as he placed his foot on the small rickety looking boat. It didn't sink straight away under his feet so he tested a little more weight on it.

"It said we needed the water to unlock the potential alone, and not as an ingredient, therefore I would have assumed that the more the better."

Voldemort considered this for a long moment before taking the final step and sitting down on the boat. The seat was wet but he couldn't afford to be fussy, after all how many boats ever went into the sea?

"Very well we shall take all we can, we shall then add what we need later, and if we need more we shall have it. If we still need more then I suppose we shall have to get some, though for now this is a priority, we don't want any interventions trying to stop us now do we." Voldemort said darkly as his eyes scanned the darkness.

Pennywhistle could show up at any moment, and whilst they could probably kill him, it would an expenditure of a lot of magical energy and Voldemort wouldn't be his full self for several days afterwards. Oldman may also change his mind. Whilst him and Voldemort were friends on some levels, and he had said Voldemort could do what he liked, there has been an underlying threat that should he seek for to much power, it might earn him a new enemy.

"_As the vessel gives its last beat, You must release yourself, for it is at this point, hovering over the verge of death that the being is most likely to invite._"

"How far must we travel?" Voldemort asked as his Death Eater climbed in the boat after him and positioned some oars.

"About three hundred meters, warned the Death Eater. "If we go to far it will be dangerous he said." Voldemort merely nodded.

"We will take three samples, each one from progressively further in. When we get back we can have them analysed to see which one proves to be of the right magical balance. Start rowing."

The boat seemed to stay still for a minute as the wooden oars splashed up some water, but after a moment it began to pull away form the dock, and go bobbing off into the deep dark ocean like none on earth. The magical balance here was so heavily slanted, that all magic was simply impossible. Many wizards had tried to sail to the depths of the sea in a search for power, but the treacherous weather combined with the fact they couldn't use their powers, meant very few who tried ever returned. It was one of the reasons Marcus Pennywhistles house was so safe.

They rowed on in silence with the only sound being the crashing of the waves and the roar of the thunder, like a pack on angry lions challenging the small boat to go on further. The Death Eaters head was covered with perspiration as he continued rowing, his arms tired. "I think maybe we should have got an extra rower he said." As each wave knocked them back half the distance they traveled, making their pace painfully slow.

"There there, I can see its hard work." Voldemort said without turning round. "But I have an offer for you. If you stop rowing, I will kill you, and I assure you I won't need my wand for it." He said as he locked his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. The Death eater gave a gulp, and carried on. Harry continued to se this all, with clarity that lacked solidity. Like a reflection in a piece of glass.

He knew it would be valuable to see what was going on, for if they knew what he was trying to do it would be that much easier to stop. However he also knew that he should stop Voldemort if he had the chance. He watched them sail on into the night for the next thirty minutes, before Voldemort pulled out a large jar and filled it with water, he then proceeded on further, before stopping and filling a second jar. Harry concentrated all his effort, though he wasn't sure how he would stop it. He felt he must do though.

Firstly he tried to convince Voldemort that perhaps he didn't want to go further. As he felt his mind making the conscious connection that him and Snape had so often, he hesitated. This wasn't the mind of his potions master. This was the mind of the most dangerous person on earth. He would have to be careful. He felt the mind subconsciously twitch as he reached its outer boundaries. The mental defenses thickened slightly, though not enough to make it impossible, Harry hoped.

Harry took a tentative pace forward as he looked forward at the seemingly impassable maze of metallic looking walls. They weren't stone, like Snapes had been. These gave an air of sharpness and strength about them that suggested he was very much in tune with himself. Harry reached forwards to touch one, but recoiled as soon as his fingers made contact. It felt icy cold, yet at the same time felt as though he had been electrocuted. He decided not to touch it again, for Surely Voldemort would become aware of his presence.

"Which way?" He muttered to himself as he began to set off down the one to the left. Voldemort was right handed, so Harry imagined that would be the side that was best guarded. He closed his eyes as he walked, and concentrated on battling against any form of his presence. He concentrated on how he was making no noise, and taking up no space, and how he wasn't there, and logically he shouldn't be able ot be detected.

However, things weren't going quiet as he had hoped, for this was a far superior brain to that of Severus, and a more superior one than Harry's. With one step he took he kicked a marble which had been sitting on the floor, seemingly innocently. Harry watched in worry as it bounced across the floor with a distant echo, each movement and sound it made reverberating across Voldemort's subconscious. It slowed a little, and stopped bouncing, though continued to roll. Harry took a few quick steps forwards as he realized it wasn't going to stop in time, but he was too late.

The marble came to a stop just as it bumped into one of the high metal walls. Harry let out a sigh of relief as it appeared nothing was going to happen, yet just as he was about to advance onwards a loud crackling sound was heard. And Harry turned to see a bright spark shoot between the metal wall and the Marble, causing it to go flying away, into the other wall, where once against it was blasted back by the electrical surge.

It bounced backwards and forwards, building up speed and power. He moved a few steps away as it became a blue. If it were to hit him then it may well do some damage. After all it was practically a speeding bullet. Harry turned away, and began to run as the crackling sound of the sparks joined together into a dull rumble which grew in volume until it was a near deafening roar of thunder and lighting behind him.

Just as he thought he was about to become engulfed into the mass of light that was a mental defense, it ceased. The noise stopped in an instant, as though he had been submerged under water, and the light faded as though a switch had been flicked off. What replaced it however was far worse. It was a voice which spoke from every direction, and on more levels than any normal voice.

"Now perhaps it's just me..." Voldemort began as he turned his mind inwards and watched Harry from above. "but doesn't this scene strike you as somewhat strange." He said in a bemused tone.

"It doesn't happen everyday." Harry thought back. He didn't need to say it, for his mind was now open to Voldemort, in the same sense that Voldemort's was to his. Neither of them attempted to break into the others inner sanctum of thoughts, into the memory banks. They just stood and watched each other.

"No it doesn't." Voldemort responded after a few seconds pause had passed between them. "In fact there have only been a handful of select individuals who have ever dared enter my mind, and there out of those none of them have been the same when they left."

Harry didn't say anything back. He simply concentrated on keeping his mind locked. Blocking your mind to someone was a lot easier than breaking into one, so Harry was reasonably confident that he could stop Voldemort trying to learn any Order secrets. After all Snape had mentioned before about how he could hide his thoughts from the dark lord, and Harry knew he could best Snape in Occlumency.

"Do you think it would be rude of me to ask, what perhaps you were doing?" Voldemort asked, as he was thrown a little by Harry's silence.

"No, you're free to ask. I was hoping I would be able to stop you from getting another sample of water." Harry said as he suddenly wondered if Voldemort would be able to trace his location.

"Mmm and how did you plan on doing that? You planned to creep into my brain like a rat in a sewer, and plant the thought that we should go back, and make me think it was my own?" he asked.

"That was the rough plan." Harry said with a shrug. He knew he should be more scared than he was in the presence of the dark lord. He could feel his scar burning, thought the pain was distant, as were all other physical things to him at this time.

"I must say that's rather ambitious of you Harry. Whilst I may hate you I know you have always been fairly level headed. Expecting to succeed makes me think otherwise."

"I didn't say I expected to succeed." Harry corrected. "Hoping, trying and expecting are different things."

"Indeed." Voldemort said as the silence returned.

"Are you going to try and kill me or something then?" Harry asked as he readied his mental defenses for Voldemort's assault.

"No, that would be a waste." Voldemort said as he rolled his eyes. "You seem stronger every time we meet. When I wake up in the morning I can sense you, like a numb limb… Maybe one day you will be able to enter my brain with a little more than a hope of success. Until then don't waste your time trying. It won't work." Voldemort said as he snapped his fingers, and Harry felt a burning fire engulf him, like the crucio curse on the mind, causing his senses to fade and his mind to black out.

"Goodbye Harry Potter." He said as he gave a small smile, as he removed himself from Harry's mind, and expelled Harry's from his.

"Well that was fun." Voldermort said to his Death Eater as he opened his eyes. The Death Eater continued his rowing but displayed a confused face. He wasn't aware his master had done anything, other than perhaps dozed off for a minute.

"I always enjoy it when people try and force their way inside me." Voldemort grinned as he filled the last jar of water.

"I didn't do anything!" The Death Eater replied in a scared tone. "I have a wife and kids I'll have you know!"

Harry woke up early the next morning as the sun began to rise in the sky, and brighten his vision, even when he has his eyes closed. He rolled over for a minute, before he found a rock digging into his face. It took him a moment to realize what had happened the night before, but as soon as he did he sat up, with cold shivers racking his body. What had he been thinking? It all seemed so stupid now that he thought about it… he hoped he hadn't compromised anything.

"What are you doing?" Blaise asked as she knelt down besides him. He was wearing shorts and a t shirt, which presumably counted as her pajamas. Harry looked down at himself and realized he was dressed in similar attire.

"I was sleep walking." He lied. He congratulated himself inwardly on a great excuse. It was so much better than the one involving ghosts and a bath tub of gravy which initially sprang to mind.

"You sleep walked out of the tent, undoing two tipped doors on the way, and walked a hundred meters all the way over here, without waking anybody else up?" She asked with a raised eyebrow."

"Er I guess that's what it would seem doesn't it." Harry said with a shrug. "You know me."

"I do." Blaise nodded. She knew well enough that there were aspects to Harry's life she wasn't involved in yet. He had secrets that he couldn't tell her, but for now she was ok with that. She wasn't going to push him.

"I might believe that Harry, but the others won't if they find you out here lying on the ground. If I were you I would go and put on some clothes and dust of your night clothes." She said as she pulled him up."

"Good thinking." He said as he brushed himself down. "What are you doing up so early anyway?" He asked as he looked at his watch which read it was just gone ten past five.

"I don't sleep late. I usually get up early so I can have a run round the Hogwarts grounds. You have to be in top shape if you want to be a good Quidditch player, and its a lot healthier than starving yourself."

"You were going for a run?" Harry asked as he saw she was wearing flip flops.

"No, I was going to sit out on the bench and read a book. The only reason I'm up now is force of habit, and I see no reason why I should try and change that. Besides isn't Marcus Pennywhistle meant to be stopping round early this morning? I don't know when but I would have thought it would be no later than half seven."

Harry went into the bedroom and chose what he would wear for the day. It would be warm he supposed, since so high up there would be little cloud, yet at the same time the altitude and breeze might make it a bit cool. In the end he pulled out an old pear of jeans and a green t shirt that Hermione had bought his the year before. He waited out in the living room area for a little bit.

Whilst Blaise showered and readied herself for the day. She was quiet quick for a girl." Harry decided. Once she was done she went out and sat on the bench with her book, whilst Harry went and got ready. After a quick shower he dried. (The reason it was quick, was that despite all the magic in the world, and all the muggle technology, they still could not produce a shower that gave the right temperature water. It was always scolding hot before quickly plunging into sub zero temperatures so cold the water froze within moments of having left the shower head, and as a result blasting him painfully with a series of pellets which stung his skin as he slipped round on the icy crystals by his feet.)

Harry did his hair, which he decided needed to be cut, before finally emerging. He could hear a bit of movement form the girls bedroom, which meant either Tonks or Hermione were waking up. He didn't wait to find out though, as he went out into the sun which had already risen quite a way up since he looked at it only half an hour ago. He took a place on the bench opposite Blaise, and stared at what she was reading. It had a funny title he didn't recognize, and the cover didn't give much away.

"What's it about?" He asked her as he tried to peer over at the pages. She tilted the book up a little so that he couldn't see. It's a story book about a girl at an all Ballet school. It's rather exciting."

"It is?" Harry asked as he tried to imagine what could be fun about wearing tights.

"If you're any good then it is. I used to be in several dance schools before I started Hogwarts. However now I don't have the time much and so I'm not very good. I practice a little bit when I have time, and sometimes during the summer I might enter a contest or something…" She said as she faded off with a blush.

Harry was staring at her in a manner which made her feel uncomfortable.

"What?" She asked him as she closed her book and put it down.

"Nothing." Harry said with a grin. "I just never imagined you to be the ballet kind of girl. Its quiet a sort of… elegant sport."

"What did you expect me to do? Kick boxing?" She asked with a laugh. "That's ok thought. Not many people know that I do a bit of dancing, and those that do think its kind of strange. It is quiet a difficult and competitive sport though." She explained as she went into a discussion about various maneuvers which were very difficult.

Harry smiled as he listened to her talk. He could listen to her talk nearly all day. He might go and get a sandwich once or twice, but other than that he could happily sit and watch as she told him about one of her hidden loves, whilst the sun played across her face through the swaying braches of a tree, and her hair danced in the wind.


	76. Calmera

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I'm going to be busy for a few more days and I really didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer.

They continued to talk to each other intimately until just gone seven o clock when Tonks emerged form the tent, shortly followed by Hermione, and then Ron and Remus last of all. They weren't sure if the Blights would be waking up this early or not, so they didn't bother to enquire. Instead Walter came out shortly after them, smiling.

"You're up late aren't you?" He said as he glanced at his watch. "Me and Alex have already been up for an hour feeding and cleaning the animals."

"You have?" Harry asked as he worried that they may have seen him lying down asleep on the ground. "I didn't see you…" He said.

"You were awake?" Alex asked in surprise. "Well we have been round the back so we could have missed you… Still it's a pity, I wouldn't have asked you to help." He laughed. Claire and Martha were still indoors asleep, but everyone else sat around for breakfast. Ron retrieved some of the cereals from their food cupboard in the tent, which they ate. There was one type in particular which was meant to look like cookies and taste like them to, but be a breakfast cereal! In Harry opinion it looked like cereal, and tasted like card, but despite everyone's opinion was actually defined as a food.

It was about quarter past six when they spotted the figure of Marcus Pennywhistle approaching from the distance. He was wearing a pale green robe, and waked swiftly with a staff clasped in his left hand. As he drew within ear shot they called their greetings to him. He gave a small wave as he carried on the last few hundred meters.

"Bloody weather." He called as he came to a halt and wiped away a bead of perspiration from his forehead. "It's hot even at this hour. No wonder people choose to live here. Your brains must cook so you don't know any better." He said with a trace of a smile causing Andrew to laugh.

Marcus only stayed for a few minutes, and that was to catch his breath and have a drink of freshly squeezed lemon juice. It was during this period that he briefed them on the mission ahead.

"I suppose you want to know what to do don't you?" He said as he placed his glass down on the table.

"Well it would help." Remus said with a smile. They all had there own expectations of what the next part of the task would entail, and none of them were exactly right.

"Ok well we will begin by porting there, or as close as we can get. I'm afraid wizards are forbidden from going near there, so to port key into the middle of one of the streets of Calmera wouldn't be a wise thing to do."

"We will arrive at the edge of the sector, where you will take a chain basket up to the top. In order to board this you will have to pay them a fee, as well as have a valid excuse for being there. I have already prepared some documents which I believe will be most useful. I have here for you a permit to trade, as well as a list of goods you will claim to be here to collect. You are going to pretend to be traders, so I'm afraid you will be weighed down with goods. Therefore try not to do anything rash, as a quick escape won't be possible." Marcus explained sternly.

"There isn't a strict time limit on how long you have." He continued. "However due to the altitude you shall have to be as quick as possible. I don't know much about it, for I have hardly ever spoken to anyone who has been to Calmera except for a short amount of time. However if you stay to long the altitude and lack of air pressure shall cause your blood to swell and your capillaries to burst. However if you are not in pain by this point, a good indication should be that your vision will become blurred, for the blood vessels to the eyes are rather sensitive."

"How long do you think we will have?" Ron asked worriedly. "Before we die up there." Ron asked. Marcus considered this.

"Well Ron there are many variable factors that need to be taken into consideration. For a start the temperature, as well as your physical health, and the distance from your heart to your brain, all in all I coulnd't tell you exactly, which is why you must be ready to leave at any time. However I should expect you will be safe for between twenty and twenty four hours."

"That should be plenty of time though shouldn't it?" Hermione asked. Marcus nodded.

"Yes I should think so, for you won't need to travel so far as last time. However you never know…Anyway, once you are there you shall request a presence with the prince of Harmonia. This is usual, for he often buys things from the merchants that visit. With any luck the chamber will be empty when you make your proposition, for what you shall ask him will most certainly be frowned upon by the population. You will attempt to bribe the Prince to allow you access to the great bird that lives atop the highest tower of the royal palace, overlooking the floating citadel."

"Most likely he will say yes, for I believe it to be in his personality. Don't tell him of what you intend to do, merely request that you wish to give it your offerings. The local people do on a regular basis, under supervision. People from outside Calmera however, may never he look at the bird, for it is a sentence of death that would be dealt to you. Anyway once you are permitted to see the bird from there on there is little danger. The bird itself, whilst once an elegant beast, is now a creature so heavy from food it cant even take flight from its tower. To draw some blood simply cut the bird anywhere you please. Do however try to stun it first, or at least make it so that it cant cry out, for if the guards from further down the tower hear anything you could be in very serious trouble."

Everyone thought for a minute about what they had to do. It sounded easier than it would be, though then again, most things did."

"I don't have any questions." Harry said, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Good then that means we can get cracking that much sooner. I shall be waiting at the bottom of the sector, down by the chain baskets. There is a café there, since it takes about an hour to be hoisted upwards. I do expect you may encounter one or two small problems, but I know how capable you are, and I also know that you shall be able to succeed."

"We shall set off in about five minutes after you have changed your clothes." Marcus said as he looked at them with a mild display of dislike. "If you want to look like traders you need to dress like it. It's a good job I for sore this problem as I have prepared some clothes for you all that you may wear." He said as he reached into his cloak and pulled out two piles of clothes. He handed one to Hermione and the other to Remus. Those are for you gentlemen, whilst those ones are for you young ladies there. They should fit, though if not I can make some quick adjustments. Now go on then sod off and get changed." He finished as he ushered them all away.

Harry and the others all got changed into clothes which would apparently enhance the appearance of their trader identity. Harry wasn't to sure about his, for it didn't look much like what he imagined. It was pure white, and baggy, and more than anything reminded him of something which may have been found in ancient china. Still he supposed it was best not complain, since at the end of the day they weren't wearing tights.

The girls clothes were causing more problems than the boys, whilst they fitted Blaise was rather indignant about it.

"They can see my stomach." She said as her top didn't come down far enough. Hermione sighed, for whilst she to wasn't happy about it, she wasn't about to sacrifice every chance of safety they had. Their clothes weren't white. They were purple and crimson and black, and all other rich deep colours. They were styled in an unusual fasion that if like anything on earth, would be defined as Arabic.

They emerged from there separate areas, and reassembled outside then tent not much later. The girls seemed to be disappointed that the guys didn't have something more embarrassing to wear, and it didn't help the fact that Ron kept laughing about it.

"Now I'm sure it's very funny." Marcus said as he rolled his eyes, but it is a long journey, and I don't want you wastng more time than is necessary. You will forgive me for not staying long Andrew." He said as he turned to his friend. "But you know how these thigns are."

"Yes, I know what mean. I wouldn't want to delay your mission." He said as him and Alex waved goodbye to the travellers.

"How will we find the palace of Calmera?" Harry asked as they walked the distance to the area where they could port. "If it takes up a whole sector then it must be very large."

"Well it does take up the whole sector." Marcus responded as he continued counting the distance in his head. "And it would be quite tough to find, but the chain baskets which will get you up there are only about a mile from the Palace, and since the tower on which the bird sits is so tall, you shall have no problem finding it."

They walked for a few more minutes until finally Marcus said that they had gone far enough. He pulled a long length of wire out of his pocket and held it out for them all to take hold of.

"We still have about a minute." He said as he checked his watch one last time, before returning to silence. Everyone held on firmly to the wire, and waited until the minute was up. It was strange, for although Harry knew to expect it, it still made him jump when he suddenly felt the sharp pull on him.

There was several seconds of indescribable speed before they slammed back down onto earth hundreds of miles from where they had been. They looked around, familiarising themselves with the new landscape that was presented to them. They were standing under the shade of an old oak tree. There were several dozen like this lining the edge of the sector. There was A small building a few hundred feet away, which was presumably where Marcus would wait for them. They could see round the back of the building there was a large area of ground fenced off.

In this area they could see several large chain baskets, which presumably would be carrying them up to the heights. Harry didn't mention it but none of them looked particularly safe. It was a pity his broom couldn't reach that altitude, because he would have felt much more comfortable on something which wasn't rusty and creaking in the wind.

"Stay here a second." Marcus said as he walked forward a few paces and peered round. After several seconds he turned to them and ushered that they should follow. "Even though they aren't Harmonian's down here, it still wouldn't have been a good idea for them to see us appear out of no where."

As they got closer to the building they could see movement inside through the window. "Oh well here goes." Blaise said as she gave Harry's hand a quick squeeze and they walked the final few paces towards the building. "It's a pity I'm afraid of heights." Harry wasn't sure whether or not to laugh at this, so he settled in just smiling. As they opened the door and walked into the building several people turned to look around at them. The building was obviously a trading post as well as a pub. There was a man probably in his early thirties, who was dressed in similar attire to Harry, who was speaking to the barman about several crates he needed carrying up with him.

There were also two other people, a man and a woman, both of whom had a slightly tinted look to their skin, which meant they were probably Harmonians, and had had long exposure to more direct sunlight than the rest of the world. Their eyes were wide, as though they were very aware and cautious. Harry couldn't tell, but the way the man kept looking over his shoulder suggested he was expecting to be attacked at any minute.

There were also three men sitting around a round table, each one in a state of drunkenness. They had nothing to do with the great floating sector in the sky, but were here simply for the fact that after long years of research, they found this was the cheapest place to get alcohol that didn't contain poison. Harry turned to Marcus, who was now sporting a hat which obscured his eyes. He probably always liked avoiding direct attention, since at the end of the day he was a wanted man.

Marcus strode over to the counter, and after several minutes of arguing with the barman came back with a smile on his face.

"I just got you some trade to carry up there with you. You will be taking carpets, wool and sugar." As he said this the barman was bringing out several boxes from the back room, as well as three large roles of carpet, each one requiring two people to carry it.

"Oh well there goes my back." Tonks said as she had a guess at the weight of it all. "Did you really have to get so much Marcus?" She asked as she gave a heave and lifted one of the crates of sugar a few inches off the ground, before dropping it.

"The more you have the more believable it is. You don't pay the toll to get up there, only to sell a dozen eggs." He said as he counted out some money from his pocket, and handed it over to the man who grumbled, but still displayed a smile.

"Right come on then let's get saddled up." He said as everyone set about getting loaded up with the good they would pretend to sell.

They broke open the wooden crates and put the bags of sugar into backpacks, which they could carry more easily. They still weighed a lot though, and lifting the bag from the ground onto their backs was a strain, and Harry suspected the straps on the bag might break if they weren't careful. They stuffed the wool into the small spaces they had left in their bag, whilst Remus hid some of it away in his magically enchanted cloak whilst no one was watching.

Finally they each went into pairs and took up a large carpet between them. Harry and Blaise took on, with Ron and Hermione taking another, and Remus and Tonks taking the last. It took them a minute to get used to it, as they had it balanced on one shoulder. Walking also proved a bit difficult, as if one of them went to fast then it would rub against them, giving their neck a friction burn. Still after a few minutes practice they had got the hang of it.

"Will we be able to stop for a break?" Ron asked Marcus as he swapped the carpet onto his other shoulder.

"Certainly Ronald." Marcus said with a smile. "As soon as you are finished." Ron grumbled something about slave driving, but let the matter rest. Once they were ready to set off they made their way out to the back area, where the baskets were.

"Wow, now that is something." Tonks said as she cast her eyes upwards. They had all been expecting to be able to see the floating sector, but the fact they couldn't made it quite probably more impressive.

"No wonder we can't get up there on broom." Harry muttered as he followed one of the thick chains as high as high as he could see before it disappeared into the clouds. Each link of the chain must have been three foot wide and judging by how far up it must go, it was either magically charmed, or else made in techniques not yet known on earth. Harry later found out it was the former.

"What is it that pulls them?" Hermione asked as she walked forwards to where one of the baskets was swinging gently, a few feet of rope trailing from the bottom was pegging it to the ground.

"They are powered by wind pumps." Marcus explained to them as a breeze blew past. "Still that's not to important. As long as you remember what to do, and managed to do it, that's what counts. I have given Remus a few more tips which may be useful, so if you step in we can be going. Things run on a timer after all, and the basket in front of you will be leaving in about three minutes. They turned to the basket that had been mentioned, and Harry looked at it rather unsurely. It had rust round the top where it was connected to the chain, and the door was sagging on its hinges so it no longer locked anymore.

There were some thin wooden seats around the other three sides of the curved metal human birdcage. What struck Harry more than the cage however, was that as he drew closer he could see where the edge of the sector stopped. It was a straight line that shot across from one side of his vision to the other. It was completely unnatural in appearance. He didn't know what he expected to be able to see as he looked down, though if anything it probably would have been sky, or space he expected. Instead he could make out vaguely that there were rocks that sloped slightly inwards in the way down, reaching into a deep dark nothingness.

"What's down there?" Harry asked as he peered as far down as he could.

"Nothing important." Marcus replied sternly, as he stepped to block Harry's view. "Just a few wild creatures and some rocks." After a minute of struggling they had gotten the three rolls of carpet into the basket, and then taken a seat. Marcus bid them fair well, and made his way back into the small building. The six travellers were left waiting in silence for the second part of the task to begin. Harry tried to concentrate on the fact that once it was over, they would have two thirds of it out of the way, and would only have to do one more before they could go home."

Without warning the basket suddenly gave a violent shudder and a loud grinding sound gave form somewhere far above them, as each chink in the chain shifted slightly, and they began to rise up into the air. Harry was surprised at first by how fast the basket was moving, for considering it was only wind which was driving the entire contraption it was pulling them quickly and smoothly. However after a while the speed became forgotten, as after fifteen minutes there was still no sign of the top.

The wind was much stronger higher up, and the basket was swinging threateningly in the wind. Harry who had one of the seats next to the open door way looked down grimly. He couldn't see that well for some of the low clouds that were hanging, but he could still see that the building, and the trees they had hidden by appeared as only tiny docks, so small as to be virtually indistinguishable. He could see the desert stretch as far out as his eyes could see, an endless ocean of golden sand and dry earth. No wonder it was so sparsely opulated he thought to himself.

On the other side the dark gorge stretched out. He tried not to look at it to much for it made them feel that much higher, and made the basket seem that much more unstable. Blaise held his hand tightly, and Harry looked at her with a smile of reassurance. Her grip eased a little as he managed to abate some of her fear. Ron and Hermione saw nothing of this, for the backpack was in between Blaise and Harry, blocking their hands from view.

"And to think that this goes on for an Hour…" Remus said in amazement. We may be more advanced than Pharaphax in some ways, but I suspect this is something we shall never forget. Pity about the clouds though, the view would be great otherwise." Hermione nodded in agreement before adding.

"Maybe in a few hours after the sun has had chance to rise more they will disappear. Hopefully I can get a picture. I bought my camera because I know that my parents and the others would enjoy seeing it."

Ten minutes later Harry felt his ears pop which wasn't suprising. He gave a few yawns to try and get things to settle down.

"Wow my ears just went." Harry said with a smile. "How high up do you think we are?"

"mine went a minute ago." Remus said as he took a drink from his hip flask. " And we are probably about three miles, though its tough to say.

On either side of them there were several chains in a line, which went down to the ground and the other carts. Only one of these was moving, and it was the one next to them.

"Looks like someone else is going down." Blaise said as she cast her eyes upwards and could just make out the form of a basket coming down.

"That may well be the case." Remus said knowingly. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it's empty. Concidering how much the chain weighs, it must be connected to another one, that way the wind pump only has to lift the weight of our basket, and the friction of the weight. I bet that basket is the counter weight on the same chain as this, and when we pass it that will mean we are half way. That makes sense really since we have been on this for nearly half an hour now."

The basket passed them, and it was indeed empty, which proved Remus' theory correct.

"Put on some suntan lotion." Hermione said as she passed across a bottle to Harry. It might not feel that warm, but up at this altitude the sun will be very direct. If there's one thing I learned from skiing with my parents, it's that you will get sunburned easily. Harry thanked her and accepted it. He applied it to his face neck hands and behind his ears. The rest was covered by the white clothing. He suspected white was a popular colour so that it didn't get to hot.

"Is it alright if I use a little bit?" Blaise asked." Everyone turned there attention to her, and Hermione gave her a curious look.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well it's just that I don't have any myself, and I won't use much…" She said awkwardly. Hermione shook her head.

"No that's not what I meant." She explained. "I just meant that you didn't need to ask since you're a friend now aren't you." Blaise blushed and looked down at the floor.

"I suppose so…"

The cage continued to glide upwards through the sky, until finally a black dot against the blue sky became visible. They were above the clouds by now, and they could feel the air was thinner. They had to breathe faster, though at one point Tonks had started hyperventilating.

"Wow we are finally there." Hermione said as the dot grew larger, and began to take on the form identifiable as rock. The five remaining minutes went by quickly, and as the floating sector grew larger, the sound of the chain mechanism also grew louder with its chinking grinding sound.

Harry had expected the floating sector to be flat underneath, though it wasn't. Rather than floating above them looking like a giant dark ceiling, it appeared more like an upside down mountain, torn from the ground. Finally they drew level with it, and watched the rock face roll past distantly as they moved up the last mile in altitude.

"Ok everyone be careful of what we say because we don't want to give our disguise away." Remus said as he made sure he had his wand at ready.

For one more minute the rock went past close at hand, until suddenly it was gone. They had risen to the level of Calmera and now could look across at the great sector. And great was just the word to describe it. Whilst it wasn't a technological marvel everything seemed so picturesque it couldn't possibly exist outside of a dream. The streets were cobble paved, just as in Harmonia, but the difference was that these ones were caved for, and showed not even a spec of dirt. In fact they were so clean that they had to think twice before stepping onto them with their shoes on.

The basket finally clicked to a stop, with a small platform a few feet long meeting up perfectly with the entrance of the basket. They all gingerly rose to their feet, careful not to ake the basket sway, before stepping out onto the brilliantly sunny city. The buildings were made of white or cream coloured stone. The cool breeze which swept through the city kept it cool, and so they didn't notice the sun overhead seeming so large and bright.

The people around them paid no attention to the travellers. They all carried on with their jobs, some of which consisted of selling things on a market which they could see a few hundred feet away, whilst others were busy cleaning the streets or in shops. Everyone seemed to have something to do in the idealistic self sustained sector.

"I'm guessing we want to go over there." Remus said as he took the weight of one of the rugs on his shoulder and nodded towards a giant tower that peared to be about a mile away.

There were many tall buildings that they could see, but this towered above them so high they could hardly see the top. It must have been scraping space itself to be that high. That was where the bird was. All they needed now was its blood so that they could get one with the quest, retrieve Hells Blessing, and be protected from Voldemort's most deadly of spells.

"Lets just hope this part goes easier than the last." Harry muttered as they slowly set of down the street, weighed down by all their luggage.

They hadn't got far when a young man, probably the same age as Harry came up to them with an angry look one his tanned face. "Come on pay up. You want to grow wings and fly up then do that, but if you use the cage you pay the wage, now fess up." He said as he held out his hand. Trying to avoid a scene they handed over some money to the young man, who after seeming happy with the payment, returned to the cage they had used where he inspected it to make sure they hadn't broken it any further than it already was.

"Come now let's not take all day. I have a feeling we stand out…" Blaise said as none of the other citizens of the town seemed to be wearing similar clothes. They walked as quickly as they could without arising any suspicion, and about twenty minutes later they came up near the gate which surrounded the bottom of the great royal palace. No one had tried to stop them, though they had received a few suspicious glances from one or two people who had paused from there morning work.

There were guards outside the gate, each one carrying two short swords on either side of their belts, and each one wearing silver plated wings. This was the sign of a royal guard, and as they shimmered in the sunlight it was difficult to convince oneself that they weren't going to burst into flight and attack the travellers.

"We seek an audience with your highness." Remus said as he went forward and the others stayed back. They all had their wands at the ready in case anything happened, but judging by the tight security over the whole place they weren't sure that even with their wands they would be able to make it out of here safely. After all when the only way off the sector was a ten mile drop you tended to use the cages.

"Where is your permit to trade?" Demanded one of the guards as it drew one of the swords a few inches out of its holder. Remus rummaged in his back hastily, knocking out one of the bags of sugar which burst on the pavement. The guards all exchanged furious looks and took a step closer. Remus pulled out the permit to trade.

"Its right here." He said as he held it out to them. They however did not look very interested, at least not after this act of sacrilege upon their town.

"Do you know what the penalty for littering is?" The one in front of Remus asked as he took the permit and tore it in half before stuffing it in his pocket. "It is execution on the spot!"


	77. I Choose You!

Sorry for the wait. I am aware it has been both a long long time, and this is a slightly shorter chapter than usual. Normally I try to get a chapter about 5000-6000 words, but this is only 4.5k, because it rounded off nicely. I hope you enjoy it, and check back in about a week for the next one, which hopefully won't take nearly as long.

Harry looked to his right to see Tonks raising her wand. He knew that she was capable of stopping a couple of guards, but then that probably wouldn't be the best thing to do considering they were trying to maintain their cover. Instead he drew a breath stuck out his chest and marched forwards.

"Do you know what the penalty is for tearing up a permit?" He asked as he rounded on the guard, who stopped his advance on Remus.

"Don't you try and tell me the law." The guard snapped at Harry. "I know it by heart." He said indignantly.

"In that case that you will know that an act of such counts as deliberate treason. By destroying a documentation of legal trade rights you are in the eyes of the Prince, viewed as stealing potential profits from himself and his kingdom. Surely you didn't overlook such a thing did you?" Harry asked as he raised an eyebrow. The other guards that lined the wall stood their place unsurely, whilst the one who had been doing the threatening only a moment ago looked taken back.

Who was this boy, not yet a man, to question the authority of a royal palace guard? What was it that gave him bravery when others merely ran off in such a situation? The guard managed to regain his composure.

"Well I see you know the law well. However like all things it's made to be bent. You see you are claiming that I tore it up, where as I say that you tore it up yourself. Therefore it's my word against yours, and my word is counted for a lot more." Said the guard smugly.

Everyone looked at Harry waiting to see if he had anything which could counter this claim. He paused for so long that everyone thought he must have been out of ideas. Just as the guard raised his sword again however Harry cleared his throat.

"It's a pity you don't remember me, for if you did I am sure you wouldn't behave in such a manner. After all is that really the way to treat the cousin of Prince?"

The guard looked at him calculatingly for a minute before replying.

"You are not the cousin of the great Prince Jamorias. He is older than you, and his hair isn't nearly so dark as yours. Pretending to be a member of the royal family is just another crime we can write up on the execution certificate."

"Well you are wrong I'm afraid, my dear Mr. Gallows. You see I am him, the only remaining cousin of the Prince of the kingdom that you serve. Perhaps your memory doesn't serve you as well as mine does me, for after all it has been over ten years now."

"It was a cold and stormy night late in September. Back then the late King Edward ruled. He was going round with the tax collectors, and I and Prince Jamorias were accompanying him so that he may teach us more about the running of this city. We knocked on your house, the small one at the end of Phillimores street to collect tax. Back then however you were jobless and poor. Your wife had fallen pregnant with your second child and you had been laid off your job because of a broken leg. I remember what you said word for word." Harry said in an icy tone as he stared into the mans eyes with concentration. Not once did Harry blink.

"You said, forgive me, my great king but I am poor this month. Fate has cheated me badly and left me with my wife to care for and a leg to stop me from working. Won't you grant me leniency this once for I vow on my honour that I shall pay you back in full when I can." As Harry said these words he watched the guard in front of him freeze. He continued on for a moment more as the guard stood stunned, his sword falling to his feet.

"I couldn't do that." The king replied. "The hour is late and so is your payment. I have given you all the opportunity I can spare, you must have something to pay off your taxes."

"Not even a copper coin of slice of bread." You said to him as you fell to your knees and begged for leniency. You took his hands in yours and asked for his kindness once more." Harry continued, as the man's eyes began to water. "And he looked down at you and gave a sigh before saying. "What about the gold ring you wear on your finger? That would clear your debts you owe to the kingdom. We can accept that as your payment." He said. You looked at him with a sorrowful look before telling him it wasn't possible.

"I'm afraid to sell this ring would be to sell my soul and my heart. This is my wedding ring and a declaration of my love for my wife and our child. To take this off would be to take off my clothes, leaving me naked and in shame. Ask for anything else but do not ask me to sell the symbol of the one thing I hold dearer to my heart than this great kingdom." You said to him." Harry recalled. "The king said that he could not grant any more leniencies, and that it would be your ring or the hand on which it wore it. Now tell me, do I need to continue telling the tale that you know as well as I do, or do you believe me yet."

The guard hesitated for a moment, emotionally weak and speechless. "You stepped out of the carriage; you were but a young boy at the time." He spluttered. "You said to your uncle, you said, spare him, spare this man, he does not deserve the hand that fate has dealt him. He may have a broken leg but there is no reason why we must break his heart. Give him a job at the castle and he can pay you back from that…It is to you that I owe my job and my house, the food that feeds my family and the money that pays for their clothes. I never even told my wife that tale. It is to you that I owe it. Forgive me your Excellency!" He said as he fell to his knees in adoration.

Harry placed his hand on the mans shoulder for a moment as he wept freely and the guards stared at him. "You paid your taxes as I knew you would, so don't act indebted to me. All I ask is that you allow me and my friends to the castle to see my cousin and discuss some trade. That is all I ask for from you." Harry said softly y as he released his hold on the man, and strolled forwards unstopped, through the gates and up to the palace in front of them. The others quickly followed behind.

"How did you do that Harry?" Hermione asked once they were out of earshot. "You have never met that man before have you? You're not related to the prince of this sector, you didn't make it up did you?" She asked as he stared straight ahead just in case any suspicious eyes were watching.

"Not at all." He said as he allowed the smallest of smiles to play across his face. "I simply told a story. It was a true one in every aspect. Everything I said was true, apart from when I claimed to be the cousin of Prince Jamorias."

"That guard really did say everything you just heard, over ten years ago. The way I know this is because his mind was an open book, and so I simply looked inside at the many stories that were there, and selected one that would leave him in our gratitude. It's true that I don't look like the person I claimed to be, but when I know the details as well as he does, who else can I be but one of the people who was there that night?" He finished with a laugh. "Come on then, lets not waste any more time, there's work to do!"

They strode along the stone steps towards the great palace. As they drew closer they could see the great marble entrance way was ornately decorated with beautifully painted pictures showing what the royal family had done in service of Calmera.

"Is everything convincing?" Remus whispered back to them as he tried to make sure they weren't wearing anything that would give them away.

"I'm good." Blaise grunted as she swapped shoulders. "Just let's be quick before my arms fall off."

There were two guards by the door, though as Harry and the others drew near they laid their weapons aside and pulled on the enormous doors, which swung open surprisingly swiftly and silently. Harry gave a small nod of his head in thanks as they proceeded onwards, into the royal palace itself. It was amazing what you could do if people thought you were royalty. Inside the palace there was again a large amount of marble. The floors were chequered with black and cream squares each about two feet across, and shining like a mirror.

"Thank god these skirts aren't any shorter." Tonks said as she looked down at her reflection. "If they were they would be able to see my underwear. Whoever thought of this floor must have been a man."

"Whoever thought of it must have been a genius." Remus muttered quietly, though not quietly enough to avoid a whack round the ear from an indignant Tonks. Everyone drew to a halt as they stood in the large hallway. There were no guard in sight here, the ony figure that could be seen was of a young man, probably the same age as Harry, sitting in a velvet lined thrown at the far end of the hall.

"Do we advance now or wait until we are invited?" Ron whispered out of the side of his mouth. Harry cast his mind round, seeking out soemones presecence, someone who's subconscious could answer his questions. He failed. There was no one in the immediate vicinity, and those that he could sense, were to strong minded. Also he was mentally worn down still from his recent attempt.

"Let's just press on. Traders are usually quite pushy after all aren't they?" Harry asked. Everyone agreed on this.

Slowly they walked forward, until they were about fifty places from the thrown where Prince Jamorias sat. They could now see that he had some slave women around him. One was fanning him, whilst another was sitting on the floor like an obedient dog. He ran his fingers through her hair idly. There was a line on the floor, which Remus supposed marked the point that guests were not allowed to pass without invite. They drew to a halt at this point and laid down their wears. Harry and Remus stood at the front, the girls behind them. There was something unnerving about the prince, as he sat watching.

"I wasn't aware that my cousin was a trader." Lucas Jamorias said as he changed position on his chair so he was resting his chin on one arm. He was thin in build, and dark in skin. He had a thick eyebrow which seemed to shift upon his head freely, in order to emphasis his mood. At the moment it suggested one of curiosity. "I also wasn't aware that you were my cousin, and since I know all about my family and their history, I conclude that you are in fact not my cousin. How did you fool my guards, or more importantly, why?" He asked, as he gently caressed the barrel of a gun which lay resting on one of the arm pieces.

"We came here seeking an audience with you." Remus said quietly, hoping that none of the guards would over hear the conversation. If Marcus was right, and he most probably was, then they wouldn't want to be over heard on asking to view the legendary bird of Calmera.

"To sell you're wears?" Lucas asked wearily, as he wrapped the coils of hair from one of his slave girls around his finger.

"If that was why we are hear would we have gone to such trouble?" Remus asked subtly, as he hoped the prince would cotton onto there being something more worthwhile.

"Perhaps. The fee you paid to have your crap carried here was no doubt high, and in order to go home and feed yourselves I expect you need to sell it. You may be here for that reason alone. If that isn't why you are here then perhaps I should call my guards." He said as he raised his fingers to his lips and made an action as though he was going to do a loud whistle.

"Call you're guards if you will, but we would feel much more comfortable speaking without them. The same goes for your female companions." Remus said, not wanting to assume that they were indeed slaves.

"Feel free to speak in front of them." Lucas said with a smile. "They have had their tongues cut out, so they aren't very effective at telling people about what they hear." Remus hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should beat about the bush or not. In the end as he received a small nudge in the back he went on.

"We were wondering, if there was something we could do to view the great bird." He asked, before a long silence fell. It wasn't an awful silence however, as the Princes face remained impassive.

"It brings luck to those who set eyes on it." He said casually, as though trying to ham up how wonderful this bird was, and therefore make them pay more.

"Yes, that is what we heard." Tonks said, hoping this would make a believable excuse. As Tonks spoke like this the Prince shot her an evil look.

"You are not a man, so don't take the place of a man in society. Keep your thoughts to yourself woman! He spat as he leaned forward in his chair, suggesting for a moment that he may even get up off his thrown, walk over and slap Tonks for being silly. He certainly wouldn't be the first one who thought about it. She looked rather indignant about this blatant act of sexual prejudice, but bit her lower lip and kept quiet.

"As I was saying, it is a great bird, said to endow luck and wisdom upon those who set eyes upon it. Such an enormous gift can't simply be given for nothing, and since none of you have performed any great acts of service to Calmera, what is it that makes you think I will grant that permission, what is it that you are going to do for me, to make it worth my while?

"We have money?" Remus volounteered as he jingled a bag of gold. However the reaction hadn't been quiet what they had hoped for. Rather than displaying a look of interest he merely shrugged.

"I already have rather a lot of money… I don't suppose there is something else we could bargain with?"

"Would any of our wares interest you?" Harry suggested, slightly worried. The look in Prince Jamorias' eyes and the way he kept his hand so close to the gun, was slightly unnerving, even though most of them had wands at the ready.

"I dare say they will but bring them anyway." He said idly as he switched positions on his throne and crossed on leg. Harry adjusted the weight on his shoulder. And was about to step forward over the line when Lucas held up his hand.

"Don't come any closer. I'm afraid I have reason not to trust travellers or traders to much, not to mention that men stink in my opinion. You may have the women bring forward your wares, though they are not to speak to me." He said dully.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, before Tonks Blaise and Hermione set off down towards the thrown. None of the women had a wand at the ready for they were all carrying rather a lot of stuff. Some of it had been left behind with the men. Harry was going to reach for his wand but the way Lucas' eyes stayed fixed on the men, made Harry hesitate. Was the Prince always this suspicious?

"Don't worry I have it covered." Ron said quietly from behind Harry. He was a foot or so back, and his right arm was blocked from view by Harry. He was the only one of them to have their wand ready in case anything turned wrong, as it obviously would.

"Hmmm I suppose we could use another carpet in the second dining hall. The last one I bought faded in the sunlight. Yours won't fade will it?"

"It has a four year guarantee" Harry said convincingly.

"Mmm well unroll it then so I can see." Lucas called to them. It seemed rather strange that their should be three women ten feet from him, yet he completely dismissed them, and called over the distance the commands which the women were to carry out.

Hermione bent down to unroll the carpet. She undid the tie, and threw out its purple shining mass, only to stand up again, and be the object of a lot of attention. The Prince didn't seem to notice the carpet at all, as he rose from his thrown, gun in hand and stepped forwards. He walked straight over the carpet leaving dusty footprints from his sandals. Hermione froze, making sure not to move or say anything which might give away the fact they weren't from this world. She desperately hoped she hadn't neglected something of her appearance.

He leaned forward so he was only a few feet away from her. He stared at her face, which was slightly turned to one side, with her looking at a point of the wall some way to the Prince's left. She didn't dare make eye contact. He looked her up and down, before circling her for a moment.

"My god…" He muttered under his breath before coming back to stare at her again. He leaned even closer and drew a large breath, smelling her. She smelt of honeydew and melon, like the body wash she used.

"What is your name?" he asked as he roughly took her chin and pointed her face at him. Hermione gulped in worry as everyone stood tensed. This could go so wrong in a fraction of a second. For once Harry was glad he wasn't the one with the wand at the ready, for even a moments hesitation could cause disaster, whilst at the same time they couldn't openly risk revealing their true intentions, as enemies.

"Come girl, you may speak to me." He said in a way that suggested she was having a great honour bestowed upon her.

"Hermione." She said truthfully. She didn't see any harm in telling the truth and she was to busy worrying about the gun pointed at her to think about anything else. Ron was cursing. Because of the way the prince was stood, Hermione was blocking the view. If anything were to happen he would be unable to stop it.

"Hermione…" Lucas said as he rolled over the name for a second. "Very well." He then straightened himself up, and called aloud for the whole hall to hear.

"Hermione, I choose you…"

There was a moment's pause as a stray gust of wind wafted by and an old person died many miles away.

"Pardon?" She asked in utter bewilderment. The prince gave her a sly smile as once again he said.

"I have chosen you Hermione. I have chosen you, to be my wife!"

Hermione displayed a completely unreadable expression, probably something between shock and horror and disbelief, and anger.

"You can't just marry me!" She spluttered after a moment as Lucas continued to smile at her.

"But I can!" He replied as he reached out and touched her bare shoulder, causing her to shudder. "I'm law round here, and I do as I please and have as I please." As the prince said this they realised that he wasn't paying the rest of them much attention any more, and so slowly they began to draw their wands. He could see Remus had his concealed under his sleeve, whilst his own he kept pointed straight forwards. There was no point being discrete now, not if they intended to get out of this alive.

"I think you have made a mistake." Tonks said as she stepped forwards. "I don't care how things go round here, but where we come from when a lady says no, she means it." Lucas looked towards Tonk's with the familiar expression of disgust, which increased as he saw she had a wand.

"Hmm yes that makes sense. I should have expected that you were a magic user. And knowing how things go, you all are, for you are like wolves, and travel in packs. Did you consider that perhaps you may not get to see the bird as you did wish? As magic users I'm guessing you needed to see it for more than a superstitious belief."

"You may guess right." Blaise said, as everyone began nudging forwards towards the prince. They outnumbered him six to one, and they could easily overpower him in they needed. All he had was a single gun, and that was down at his sides, where he probably had the sense to keep it.

"But how does this sound. You don't marry her, and you show us where the bird is so we can leave, without you dying."

Lucas took a step back, and blinked several times, as though he had been stunned, though quickly he recovered from this, and a thin smile began to spread across his face. Ron shifted uneasily. Even when you seriously out powered the opponent it was difficult to feel confident when they were laughing at you.

"You're brave, and reasonably clever, I will give you that. However you lack the wisdom required to get one over on me." He said as he let the gun fall to the ground, before raising his hands and giving a clap.

"Expelliarmus!" Yelled a depp voice from the far corner of the room. Harry felt the wand slip from his fingers, as his spare flew from his pocket before he could stop it. Unknown to them, at the yell from the prince, the palace guards had made their way to the main hall. Harry spun round, as the next few seconds poured by like treacle. He saw everyone's wands flying to a guard, whilst at the same time Lucas raised his gun with one hand, took Hermione by an arm and pulled her till she was up next to him, where he pushed the barrel of the revolver against her temple.

"Shall we revise the bit about me dying then?" Lucas asked as he let out a laugh, which his royal guards echoed.

He watched as two more guards ran forwards, and seized Hermione by the hands, whilst several others raised wands, or guns. Despite the fact that the prince was against magic, it seemed he had no problem with using it to his own advantage, even being a muggle himself.

"No, you can't." Hermione cried as she kicked and thrashed against the two guards who were carrying her by the arms. She cast Harry a pleading look, which made him feel guilty. He was so weak. If only he had been stronger he could have perhaps tried some wandless magic. However he knew how far his abilities went, and without a wand to focus his powers it was much too dangerous and unpredictable to try.

"You can't just try and…" Remus began, before he felt a gun pointed at him, which caused him to loose his voice.

"The wedding shall take place at noon tomorrow, Not that you shall be invited, take them to the dungeon!" He commanded.

Harry watched as some of his comrades surrendered, holding their arms out to be cuffed, whilst others had to be threatened or punched before they to gave in, all the time though Hermione stared back at them, as she was dragged from the hall, always with that look in her eyes, as though she had been let down.

"Hands!" A portly guard snapped at Harry, who wasn't really paying attention. Harry seized this opportunity to land a hard blow on the mans ribs. There was a crack sound and Harry wondered briefly whether it was a rib or a knuckle that was broken. "You filthy sod." The guard snapped as he raised his gun, a long rifle, which wasn't practical for short range.

"No blood on the floor please." Lucas sighed, before turning to walk out of the hall, following his newly found fiancé. There were preparations to make.

The guard watched the prince walk until he was out of sight. Once he was sure he wouldn't be seen, he spun his gun round and bought the solid wood and metal handle swishing down through the air, cracking over Harry's skull. Bright lights flashed in front of his eyes for a moment, as he battled against loosing consciousness. He fell to his knees, unable to keep his balance. He placed a hand forward as he went to get up again, but felt a steel capped shoe swing into his stomach, knocking the air out of him, so he couldn't breathe for what seemed like an eternity.

He rolled onto his side helplessly, as he hacked up a thick splatter of blood. He thought with a milk satisfaction that at least the guards had now disobeyed their orders, and would have to clean it up. It would probably need polishing as well. In the state of delirium that comes from extreme pain, and adrenalin rushing through the body, Harry was vaguely aware that he had been lifted up by the collar of his clothing, before being punched sharply round the face. He passed out at this, and fell limp.

"Stay down Harry." Ron cursed as the rest of the group watched, not aware that Harry could no longer hear them. They were being walked away towards the dungeons, whilst Harry several guards were still standing around the fallen boy. Blaise clutched her heart in pain as she prayed they had finished with him. She tried to calm herself as she felt that distant yet familiar feeling of chemicals in her body being released. She was stagnating.

"Calm down." She told herself, for the last thing they needed at a time like this was for Blaise to slip into another one of her commas. "It has been so long…" She thought, as everything became blurry. "Why…Why now…?"


	78. Inside the Mind

I actually got this chapter written before HBP came out… it's a bit longer than usual, and it may be the last

After reading the first half of HBP i thought maybe i could change this fic to make it current. However after finishing it and seeing relationship developments and a "situation." I now see it would be nearly impossible to change to make this current.

I'm not sure whether i would like to carry this on as an AU fic, due to the fact i have a certain amount of disdain for them, and regard them as something less than what they probably should be conceived.

I hope to get your opinions on the matter, but most likely I will just start on getting this converted into the original story I one day hope to have published.

Other than that i shall finish my short story "Sydney love" which I have been writing, and then i do not know. Its in the early stages to say, but I might find myself tempted to write a short 7th year story (short being under 200 000 words)

as I say your opinions would be valid, and promptly please. I have 3 days off work and i intend to get some writing done.

Thanks

The dull electric light flickered out in the stone corridor. It had been flickering for as long as anyone remembered, but then it was only the light in the dungeons, and at the end of the day who cared if they had to sit in dark. They were prisoners after all. The bulb continued to flicker in the corridor, passing its small amount of light into the cells coming off it. The cell at the foot of the stairs, was the best lit, whilst the one at the far end of the corridor was the darkest of all. This was where Harry found himself.

He gave a meaningless groan, as he rolled over, trying in some distant part of his brain, to make sense of what was going on, of where he was. He tried to slip back into sleep, or unconsciousness, or whatever it was he had been in, but felt unable to due to a dull pain across his face. He gave another louder sigh. Before lifting his head up, and trying to look around. His chin pressed against the cold stone floor, dirty through ages of use from occupants, some not bothered to use the toilet in the corner. (It was actually a hole, which led straight down off of Calmera, into the great gaping void miles below.)

One of his eyes was still closed, crusted over with dirt and dried blood which had come from his split lip. The other one peered round. He could see his cheek which was swollen, casing him to curse as he remember those idiot palace guards. As He remember them the rest of his senses started to come back, and gradually he returned to a bruised battered version of his usual self. He reached out to gingerly touch his head, where the dull throbbing was becoming more evident with each passing second. He winced as his fingers came into contact. The skin had split, and there was a patch where his hair was stiff with dried congealed blood. He took his hand away to see it was dry. At least the bleeding had stopped.

Looking at how dirty his hands were, having touched the floor, he decided not to touch the rest of his injuries, for fear of infection. He looked round the rest of the room, expecting to see something such as a sink and a bed. But other than the small toilet hole, there was nothing. The room was barely eight foot by eight foot, he guessed. His feet were touching the far wall, and if he reached out his fingers could brush against the solid iron door. He pulled himself into a sitting position which was painful. If nothing was broken then at least some of his organs felt bruised. It hurt if he breathed to heavily, and so he just sat for a moment, trying to judge his over all state of health.

How long had he been asleep for?

That was a question which suddenly struck him. As he peered through the thin gap, on the middle of the door, hardly an inch in each direction, he could see no clear indication of what time it was. It could be that he was only asleep for ten minutes, though the fact his blood was dry was unlikely. At the same time it was possible that he had been out for a day, but if they intended to feed him (and the small hatch at the bottom of the door suggested they probably did) then they probably would have done so now.

He concluded it was probably the same day, a few hours later. He couldn't see his watch in the darkness, but he could feel the face had smashed against the stone floor. He sighed to himself as he un-strapped it and threw it against the far wall in anger. Nothing went right. He peered about in the gloom a little longer, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness a little, and he wondered momentarily if this is how Sirius had felt. He desperately hoped not, for the five minutes he had been awake felt like forever, and he very much doubted that forever would feel like five minutes. That was how long he would probably end up here for.

Harry let out a sigh. He wondered if they failed to turn up, whether Marcus would come and rescue them. He smiled briefly at this thought, and felt a little relief before he realised it probably wouldn't happen. Marcus tried to keep a low profile. He was meant to be dead after all. The likely hood of him charging through the palace blowing things up and rescuing prisoners was about as likely As Dumbledore dancing in his study.

He paced the room several times, looking for any way out. Presumably there had been plenty of prisoners here in the past, and he doubted he would be the first to consider escape. There were a few suggestions that someone had tried to escape in various places, but the main was in the corner opposite the door and the toilet hole. There were dozens of scratches and one brick was missing. He eagerly fell to his kness and had a closer look. Touched the hole with his fingers in feverish delight as he saw the it was possible. However after a second it faded to a sickly feeling.

It wasn't a sandy kind of cement that held the cement together, but rather a kind of concrete, and the bricks felt like solid granite. Where the lone brick had been removed someone had scratched on the wall (though Harry couldn't see it) "To hard, given up."

He debated with himself for several more seconds before deciding to try some magic. That was one advantage he had which the other prisoners probably dint have. He had out his hand, his fingers all pointed to a point focused on the wall a few feet away. He had only briefly touched on the theory of wandless magic, so he didn't have high expectations.

He focused his mind on a simple spell, for that was all he would be able to do. He felt the power flow to his finger tips, and with all his concentration mutted "Reducto." There was a loud bang and Harry opened his eyes in surprise. Had it really worked? He saw just in time the pale blue shield of the wall fade before the spell bounced back, smashing into Harry. He felt himself being knocked over, straight off his feet as though he had run into a bar. He cursed the damn Prince. Even the cells were magically guarded. No point trying that again.

He walked once more to the door, and peered through the small hole. If Remus and the others weren't in this cell, presumably they were in others.

"Is anyone there?" He called out into the corridor. He hoped not to attract any more attention from the guards, but he didn't think they would be able to hear him. No one answered so he called a little louder. There was a pause and he considered that he must be the only one, and the others were in a further away cell or dead, but then he heard the reply.

"Harry? Are you alright?" A voice called that he recognised. He pressed close to the cold iron door so he could hear better.

"Remus, is that you?" He asked excitedly. Remus was much wiser than Harry, and he was sure that together they could come up with a way to escape.

"Yeah it's me Harry, The others are here as well, are you alright? You took a bit of a beating." He explained, as though Harry wasn't aware of this fact.

"I have had better days…" Harry called back, as he gave a smile. Getting injured was practically a sport of his.

"So have you got any plans of escape?" He asked Remus. There was a silence for several seconds in which presumably he was conferring with the others.

"I'm afraid we haven't got any plan yet. There is no way we are going to break out of here on our own. Its completely magic proof, and we won't be tunnelling out. The only thing we can think is if the guards open the door at any point, but that doesn't seem likely. I'm afraid it looks like we are stuck, and the chance of getting out, especially before the Veil of Darkness closes, is pretty slim."

"Well I'm sure we will manage." Harry replied with feigned optimism.

"Also there is one more thing…" Remus said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Um… Blaise is unconscious." He replied, as he turned round to see the young girl lying on the floor.

Blaise looked around her and although everything seemed vaguely familiar, she wasn't in a state yet to relaise what had happened. She was in a small house that she knew to be her own. She was walking down the stairs though something was different. The walls weren't cream, like she knew them to be. Instead they had flower patterned wallpaper that had been painted over some years ago.

"What is this?" she thought, though it was only a mild wonderment, similar to vague puzzlement that often posses drunk people or those on the brink of death.

There was a bright light shining through the net curtains of the front door, which told her that it was probably summer outside, or at the very least a very sunny spring day. The smell of freshly cut grass wafted in through the kitchen window, and into the hallway where she now found herself stood. Despite all this though the house seemed dead. No one could say what it was, out of those few that had ever visited, but over the house hung an aura like death, that could send a shiver down their spine in even the strongest of heat waves.

Some said that someone had once died there, though this was untrue. What was however true, was that a little girl lived there who was at least half dead. After all it was the home of Blaise Zabini, eleven years of age. It was as she stepped onto the deep, rich carpet of the living room, and saw a little girl sitting on the chair, a letter in her hand. A woman, who was Blaises mother was sitting opposite the young girl, with a scornful look upon her face.

"So that was what this was…" She thought to herself, as she watched the scene before her. It was a memory… or was it? It certainly was something that had happened, and yet she was dreaming, so this much have been a dream, though she had never dreamt of a memory before. She supposed this must have been both.

Her mother was younger back then, she didn't yet have the grey streaks in her hair, and she had fewer wrinkles around her eyes. She wasn't a beautiful woman, though she was not offensive to the eyes either. Blaise didn't look much like her mother. She had blonde hair where the later had brown, and her mother was tall, whilst Blaise had stopped at five foot three.

"Don't get excited Blaise. You know it's not good for you." Her mother said in a level tone, looking straight at her daughter, who stared down at the parchment in her hands.

"But mother what if?" Blaise said, a tone of hope, of optimism, in her voice. This was a girl with dreams. They had not yet been killed.

"No buts Blaise…You can't attend and that's the end of it. To be away from home like that, if you were to have another one of your turns you could be in trouble."

"But no one there would know about me, and I could make friends." She pleaded with her mother.

"You know you can't have friends, friends will hurt you and cause you danger and pain. The best way to avoid pain, is not to let yourself get close to anyone. Always remember that Blaise. If no one knows you then no one can hurt you."

"But if they were proper friends then they wouldn't ever hurt me ever." Blaise said as she stood up off the chair and tried to stand up to her mother. She was biting her bottom lip to hold back the tears as she lost the confrontation as she always did.

"There is no such thing as real friends dear, only you and everyone else. You're the only one you can trust, the only one who won't end up hurting you and the only one who will understand you, now be a good girl, and throw away that letter, it won't do you any good to get so emotional."

Harry told the others about Blaises condition, what little he knew about it. It turned out that they knew nothing, which was probably a good thing in a way. From Remus' reaction he could tell that perhaps they wouldn't have bought her along.

"So um do you know how to wake her up Harry? Smelling slats or something?"

"No I'm afraid I didn't really discuss it with her that much, but I'm fairly sure there isn't anything like that which would help. She said that she passed out for six months before, so its luck really I guess. She said she has some medication though. Apparently it helps keep her conscious, though im not sure if it would help now…"

Harry faded off as Remus disappeared from the thin gap of bars by the door. There was a muffled rummaging sound before he reappeared.

"Yes she has a bottle of something, we can't see what it is but it's defiantly medication."

"How much should you give her?"

"I don't know." Remus said as he shook the bottle it was half empty. There is some straw in here, Tonks is going to try and start a fire so we have a little light.

For the next hour they tried various things. They were only vaguely aware of what granite looked like, and the walls didn't seem to be made of it. None of them had matches, which was a pity. They were still in their rucksacks which had been left with Marcus back on solid ground.

"If you don't mind getting hurt you could always try and use some magic." Harry suggested.

"What about the cell, isn't yours magically sealed?" Remus asked excitedly.

"No it is, but when I tried to use some unfocused magic without my wand it created a lot of sparks. It won't help you escape, but at least if Blaise becomes conscious it will make things a little bit easier, and give us one less thing to worry about.

Tonks decided to try, as a trained Auror she had the most practice in unfocused magic. There was a loud bang followed by a small flicker of light. Harry couldn't see but Tonks had been thrown back against the wall, her hair singed and her hands shaking. The straw however had managed to catch, and quickly grew into a small pile of flames lighting the hole cell with its warm flickering glow.

Remus read the package as the flames began to die again. Tonks quickly chucked on some more straw, before looking round for something slower burning. What she wanted was a candle but there wasn't anything of the sort. She tried lighting her shoe lace, which smoked for a long time, but wouldn't be coaxed into flames.

Eventually the flames died out.

"Well ok it says they should be taken four times a day, or before times of extreme anxiety. It doesn't say that she shouldn't take them now, so I guess its no harm trying. What do you think Harry?" Remus asked.

"I think you should go for it, I'm tired though, I'm going for a lie down. My head is pounding. Harry walked away from the small hole, and went to sat down on the straw. He had too much to think about. Within a few seconds of laying down his eyes were closed and he drifted off to sleep.

In a restaurant some way off, over in the other side of Calmera, it was lunch time. The restaurant was named the Three Meadows, and was quiet popular today. Normally it was busy, but the nice weather had drawn out the people of the city, and its outdoors tables were full of happy people, all gossiping and talking in their usual way. The Three Meadows was renowned for its steaks, which were particularly rare in Calmera. People rarely worked during the middle of the day, with the high sun causing dehydration to those who weren't weary. For this reason it was not uncommon for people to have two or even three hours break from their jobs, and go out to eat.

The man sitting indoors was easily mistaken for one of these men, the intellectual type by the looks of it, probably out from some public library or even a school. He was a normal looking man, who appeared to be in his mid forties. He was dressed in grey, in a fashion which was a few years out of date, though considering his age this didn't arouse any suspicion. He had the complexion and facial features of a citizen of Calmera, and to look at him no one would have thought he came from the ground.

"Would you like anything else?" Bella, the owner of the restaurant asked. The man glanced down at his watch and paused for almost thirty seconds. Bella was about to repeat herself, thinking he hadn't heard, or was simply slow in the head, when he spoke.

"Just the bill please, I had best be going on my way thank you."

The man sat at the table watching the people outside, he didn't much like going outside, nor did he like the sunlight. He sat with his legs crossed. And reached one hand in his pocket to caress his wand. He knew it was there, but the feeling of it against his fingers was calming, and seemed to bring a higher level of clarity to his thoughts. He had a bag next to him, which had an appropriate change of clothes. He enjoyed these little missions, or games that he set himself. He had not much of a reason for wanting the particular outcome that he did, besides the fact that it would prove more of an interesting spectacle to stand back and watch.

That and the fact that Harry potter wasn't nearly as power hungry as Voldemort. At least not yet anyway. Early that morning when he sat with his astrological charts, and reviewed his findings of the previous night he found something he hadn't seen before, something hidden, to all but him. After all he was probably the greatest star gazer in all the lands. He could far outmatch any centaur, even if they did exist in Pharaphax. He would be needed tonight, after the third watch changed. That was when he made his move. Harry Potter depended on it, and the fate of magic depended on him.

Bella returned to the table where she placed the bill down, as well as some of the wrapped mints, which varied somewhat from the earth mints, but where particularly popular in Calmera at the time. The man left the mints, and without saying another word placed down more than enough money on the table and walked out. Leaving a tip was always a good idea, for the waiters or waitresses always felt they deserved a tip, and to deny them one would cause them to remember you angrily as someone who was tight fisted with money. The man in question wasn't concerned with this, as he was rather well off, and it never paid for him to be remembered by anyone.

He still had a little time to spare before he would be needed, so he spent a little while strolling through the streets, his jacket slung over his shoulder, looking as though he were on his way to or from work. After he felt enough time had gone by, and he had only slightly more than he felt he would need, he headed back in the direction of the palace. It was a large palace and he knew it well, having been invited as a guest under many of the previous owners. He had never been under the current one however, and wondered what the interior would look like now, as everyone seemed to want to pain it a different colour and hang up some bad taste tapestries.

The man didn't walk straight at the gate, instead he paced backwards and forwards, from side to side, whilst only growing slightly closer at each pass he made. The guards who weren't particularly attentive gave a yawn and dismissed him as someone waiting for a guest to meet him. After all the constant glancing at his watch would suggest just that.

He smiled to himself as he was now just ten meters or so from the metal fencing that blocked off the courtyard. As long as he never made to approach them directly, he could fall the guards, in just the same way you could trick a wild stag, or even an elephant, should you be daring enough to try and hunt such a creature. He rolled back his sleeve one final time, and looking down at his watch, he gave a mock sigh and muttering under his breath, marched off to his right, as though he had given up waiting for someone.

A particularly keen watcher would have noticed that as this mysterious person looked at his watch, his eyes actually stared at the palace guards, and he left in a different direction from that which he came from, and also that the street he went down, was a dead end, leading to the back of a bakers, or the back building of the palace kitchens. Certainly this gentleman, who could trick all around him, would enjoy a rather prosperous career in one of the many Calmera theatres, should he so wish to do so.

One he was half way down the alley he paused for a moment as he cast his eyes anxiously around him. The alley was deserted of all people, though a young lady would be out from the bakers in about fifteen minutes for a cigarette break. There was a large dustbin with lots of empty boxes in it, next to a vent where steam came from the palace kitchen. At this time of day the door was kept open at all times, for it was rather hot inside. That was some twenty meters further on however, and round a corner. He cast one last fleeting glance round to make sure he wasn't being watched, before shedding his shirt and trousers, and changing into the attire of a palace chef.

He folded up his discarded clothes and put them inside a large sack which said flour on the outside. With a royal wedding coming up the palace kitchens had gone into overdrive, so he doubted he would get much attention. He walked the remaining distance down the alley, until he came to the open door way. He hesitated only slightl;y until he stepped through into the clouds of steam and noise.

" Get out of the way." Oldman yelled as he pretended to stagger under a large weight. Several kitchen boys jumped aside as he came past. Though they didn't recognise him his age instantly suggested he was more important than them. Half the kitchen was working on the banquet which a few of the extinguished guests at tomorrow wedding would try, whilst the other half were working on a wedding cake of near structural impossibility.

He walked past a table where a large bald man was cutting vegetables.  
"Honestly." Oldman muttered in annoyance. "You're cutting the tomatoes the wrong way. If you do them like that then the inside falls out. Your new aren't you."  
"Yes sir." Said the man as he looked down at his feet nervously. Oldman stared back for a few seconds before replying.

"Well come on then man! No use standing there like a fat penguin. I told you what to do now get to it." The result of this was that anyone curious enough to wonder why they hadn't seen this man, instantly put it down to the fact that he himself must be new. However the presence that came with him suggested he was probably a foreign master of the culinary arts.

After this statement he slipped out of the kitchen, into the storeroom where he waited for nearly twenty minutes before emerging once again in different attire. This time he walked straight past three chefs, before going up a small spiral staircase which led directly to the third floor.

Although he wanted to get to the dungeons he knew better than to take the direct root. The king may well have been about, and he knew all the ground floor guards by name, to try and pass himself of as one of these would prove difficult, without the use of a wand, which for today's game he was keeping in his pocket. None the less, he would make it to the dungeons sooner or later.

Meanwhile in another part of the city in a dark dungeon which we have already had the pleasure of visiting, Blaise Zabini was still unconscious. It would be tough to say if she was better than before, because frankly it wasn't noticeable, the only person present who could tell was her, and she wasn't the most talkative of people right now. She was also the only one who could really make herself wake up, but much like a dream, whilst it is being had, the greater functions of the brain are somewhat hindered, and so with rare exceptions most people don't become aware of he fact it's a dream, and when they do, they still have trouble waking up.

Blaise stood and watched the empty playground. She had achieved the first part, to realise that she wasn't awake, but the second part was tougher, in much the same way as one doesn't want to wake up from a pleasurable dream, neither to those suffering from stagnation, even when what they were seeing wasn't pleasurable.

"This isn't one of my memories." She thought as a gust of wind blew across the deserted tarmac stretch. Everything was deserted, from the classrooms on the left, to the field in front, to the wooden building used for Boy Scout meetings. No one was around. "Am I still asleep?" She wondered. Although it had been some years since her last stagnation she never recalled revisiting places which didn't exist. Perhaps this was a good sign? It didn't look to bad after all.

She took a few places forwards, and although she tried to call out she felt her voice stifled, and so she could manage nothing more than a loud whisper. Even this seemed to out of place for such a baron place, accompanied only by the blowing of the wind and the stirring of the branches of the trees which sang back. When there was no reply, and when Blaise could see no reason to stay in this spot she moved on. She probably should have gone the opposite way from which she did. Rather than walking into the field, as she was about to, she probably should have turned round, gone past the classrooms, through the car park, and back to civilisation.

She should have, but she didn't.

Blaise carried on walking, to the edge of the playground, until she reached the field, which although not as real as real grass, was still somewhat pleasurable to walk on, mostly for a reason she didn't know. As she had gotten this far now she could notice something she couldn't quiet notice before. Rather than having the usual metal link fence surrounding the perimeter, the edge was bathed in a thick fog.

It didn't seem so much to obscure the distance, as to mark the difference between what is there and what isn't. The best way to describe what she saw, would be to say that someone had taken an eraser and dashed it through her memories, whipping out all traces of what was ever there. She cast one last fleeting glance backwards, towards the spot on the playground that she had come from, which seemed darker than it had a moment ago, more oppressive, as though there was a thunder storm, except without the rain and the clouds.

It would seem that this is the right way, she thought as she felt the sun shine down upon her. It does feel more peaceful here… With all the buildings behind her now, there was a nature area to her right, the kind where you have a pond and a few trees, which is meant to represent the great out doors. In front of her was a sand pit, where the long jump was performed. Blaise had been good at it she remembered, although since she had left for Hogwarts when she was eleven, she never had much of a chance to show this, except in Quidditch.

To her left was the sports track, stretching up to the far end of the field, where a line of trees normally showed the edge. There were no trees to day though. Just a brilliant light that drew her towards it, like a moth to a light bulb. She decided to go this way though she couldn't say why. She started walking until she reached the edge of the track, at which point she started following it. It wasn't quite as direct, as she was at the bottom of the elongated circle, but she wasn't in a rush. There was no time here.

She walked leisurely as though she had no greater care in the world, and indeed she didn't few people did when they were walking to their death. After all isn't god always supposed to tell you to come into the light? Blaise supposed this was just a metaphor. She certainly didn't consider how literal this was right now, certainly not yet at least.

As she reached the far end of the race track she looked ahead, to the white nothingness now closer than before, and could truly see that it wasn't fog, as we have already established. She cast one last fleeting glance back at where she had come from. She shuddered, almost in fear, as she looked at what seemed to be sinister, cold, and somewhat frightening. Was it like that when she was back there? Or had it changed since? She couldn't tell, and she wasn't about to, as right now she was distracted by something she had spotted.

There was a young boy sitting at the edge of the field, where it faded into light.

She tried to call to him but her voice failed once again. She didn't need to hesitate though, as she ran towards the figure. As she got to about ten meters from the person she noticed to things. The first, was that the ground disappeared where the light was. It was like a cliff face, or the edge of the world, where there is complete nothingness beyond.

The second was that rather than being bathed in this light, as she supposed the boy had originally been. He was actually emitting a fair amount himself, much like those strange breeds of fish found at the bottom of the ocean, except this wasn't natural light. This was, if any kind of light, not one from our dimension. She hesitated for a second, unsure, but quickly her curiosity overcame her and she closed the remaining distance between the two. Much like the light just beyond him, she felt herself drawn to him.

"What is this place?" She asked she could see it was a school playground and field, but she had enough senses to realise that it wasn't as it normally was. This was different, like the difference between the sky and its reflection in a puddle on a rainy day.

"I do not know." The boy replied, in a soft voice which had so many subtle tones she shuddered when she heard it. Blaise thought for a minute.  
"What is your name then?" She asked. "You do have a name don't you? The boy hesitated for a moment, and although he remained sitting on the ground not looking up, she knew he had heard.

She felt he could probably even hear her thoughts.

"I don't know. No one has asked before but I guess that you can call me Hope…" Blaise smiled.  
"That's an unusual name. You must have had weird parents." She said, though not meaning offence.  
"Quite." The boy replied, though the tone in which he said it meant that it was the end of the conversation, as opposed to an agreement.

"Well it's nice to meet you Hope." She said as she extended her hand out to him. She expected him to get up and shake it, but he remained sitting, looking at the ground with his hair hanging down over his face so she couldn't see it. Who was this mysterious figure of light? The slience was mildly oppressive so she spoke again.

"My name is Blaise."  
At this the boy looked up at her for the first time, and she looked into his piercing red green eyes before having a shiver run down her back and looking away.  
"You are not Blaise." He said accusingly. "Blaise is a real girl, you are not. "You're name is Reason."

She hesitated for a moment, before the presence of this strange boy, before her curiosity and longing for the light beyond drew her to speak.  
"What is the light just beyond you?"  
"I do not go there." The boy replied answering a different question. "I am afraid to go there."  
"Well I'm going to go there. Perhaps we could go there." She volunteered as she reached out a hand to help him up from the ground. He merely shook his head.

"I'm afraid that even with someone like you I wouldn't go into the light. I couldn't because I still believe, and whilst so do you, your belief is overridden by you. He spoke sadly.  
"What do you believe in?" Blaise asked as she stared impatiently beyond him. She supposed she could wait a few more minutes. It was, if not uncomfortable then at least strange, to be talking to someone so much lower than herself. Blaise decided to sit down on the ground which she suspected would be hard, but was not. The ground was nothing.

"My belief is the greatest of all, but not many people seem to share it these days. Some people don't even see me as they walk into the glowing clouds beyond. My belief is in myself. I believe in that more than I do anything else.  
"I can see you, I believe in you." Blaise said softly. Although this boy had a face which seemed ageless, she felt he was younger than her, or at least his personality was.

"You're belief isn't very strong though. That is why you see me as I am. A being of light with indescribable features. You see yourself however as solid as you are in real life. I to could appear like that, if your belief in me was as great as yourself.  
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to see you like that. I'm sure if I try I will see you properly." She said as she leant closer and tried squinting at him. It didn't help.

"It's ok, I'm used to not being noticed, to being forgotten. However, you seem like a nice girl to me and so I'm going to help you. I think in time I will become clear to you. But one cannot simply wish for me to appear. In order for that it would require you to change your way of thinking, and that isn't something you can simply do like that. It requires proof that I am real. I shall try to give you proof." Blaise listened intently. She didn't really understand what was going on, but she didn't mind. Was this boy talking in riddles? It seemed so.

"Are you sure you won't come and explore further with me. It would be nice to have someone to go with. Surely just because you believe in yourself that doesn't mean you cant come along with me does it?"  
"No it doesn't stop me doing that, and it is true one or two people have gone on further whilst seeing me very clearly, however I can never go, for to go there when I still so much enjoy here, would be senseless wouldn't it."

"I suppose so, but I will be going, for I don't particularly enjoy here."  
"I can tell. In this place your memories burden you. Is you're life happy?"  
"As happy as anyone has a right to wish for." Blaise replied, which was a noble way of saying not very.

"I know you are eager to carry on but would you spare a few minutes to tell me about it. It has been a while since I have seen anyone and I get a little lonely at times."  
"Certainly. What sort of things would you like to know?" She asked without looking at the boy, but beyond him. The whiteness seemed to be thinning, and she felt she could almost make out shapes in it, though It could just have been her imagination from staring for to long.

"Tell me about your life. Not all of it. Just tell me a few stories which were interesting, happy or sad."  
Blaise thought for a minute before beginning one. She started off when she was very young telling stories about when her and her parents had gone to the zoo and she had decided to go hiding and her parents thought she had gone missing. That was before her parents had split up, and the boy sitting opposite her could tell that whilst this was a happy memory it bought sadness to her.

Then she carried on, until she got to more recent ones. She had several stories involving Harry, such as the Quidditch match against France, and how Dumbledore had come to her and asked her if she would like to go on a mission to obtain protection from the unforgivable curses. The last story she told concerned the palace, and why she was here now.

"I see…" The boy said thoughtfully, as he became a little clearer. "Forgive me for asking but you love this boy don't you." Blaise blushed a little at this, feeling like one of those lovey dovey girls she so much despised at school.  
"Him alone yes."  
"Ok that is all I wish to know." The boy said as he reached out his hand to shake hers. She shook his hand, but as she did she cringed, for his hand was deathly cold.

"It was nice speaking to you but I must go now." She said, as every fibre in her body told her this is what she wanted, what she should do.  
"I would have let you but what you told me makes me think otherwise now. I'm afraid I can't let you go there."  
"You're going to stop me?" She asked the boy as she stood up. He didn't look very large. "Are you going to physically hold me back?"  
"No…" He replied in a voice so deep in emotion she alm ost lost her resolve to continue.

"My force takes place in my words. Listen to what I say carefully, Reason, for if you take one more step into that light you shall never come back, Blaise will never wake up. You will die Blaise, unless you turn back now, and wake up. The blood drained out of Blaises body, and she felt like her feet might give way beneath her. Somehow she still felt drawn to the light though, even though it would be her death. Wouldn't death be a relief from the pain?

"You must believe in me Blaise, as you believe in yourself. Only if your hope can overcome your reason can you turn back. If you don't turn back not only you will die, but so will Harry Potter. He needs you, as you need him, so wake up Blaise, for your hope is strong." These last words were said in such a loud commanding tone they reverberated not only in her head, but across the entire world in which she now stood.

The volume did not die down however and if anything it seemed to increase, like great waves of thunder crashing against each other, before her bery vision began to shake, as though there was an earth quake, as though the ground she was standing on was falling apart and disappearing before her feet. In all this cacophony she only brefily glanced at the figure of hope, now solid and colourful, and recognised him as Harry. With this realisation it felt like she was hit by a truck, and everything went black. A moment later her eyelids fluttered as she woke up.


	79. Rescue

The first thing she thought to ask was about Harry. Was he alright? What happened to him? Was he even alive? The sound of the impact Harry took to the head seemed to echoe loudly around her. She quickly sat up to see where she was. It was a dark room, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but once they did it became rather apparent that she was in a dungeon with everyone else…except for Harry.

"Where is she?" She asked before anyone noticed she had awoken. Everyone spun round to face her, seemingly speechless. "Where is he?" She asked again. Tonks fell to her knees as she stared into Blaises eyes, apparently looking for signs of brain damage.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she poked Blaise with her wand.

"Where's Harry?" Blaise persisted as she drew herself to her feet.

"He had to much butter beer to drink and has just nipped off to the loo." Ron said insensitively. Blaise gave a scowl and Tonks elbowed him in the ribs.

"Harry is just in another cell across the corridor." Remus said as he pointed between the thin gap on the door, to where there was a door. "I think he is asleep though. He said he was going for a lie down about an hour ago." Blaise pressed her face to the bars hoping to see some sign of Harry, but with the lone flickering light in the corridor there was no way she could see into his cell, let alone down to the floor where he was resting, his head on a pile of grimy straw. Straw so grimy that only the goat equivalent of Dudley would dare eat it.

"Harry, can you hear me?" She called to him softly. She wasn't comfortable with everyone else in the cell being able to hear her, but right now, she need to hear him to see him, to have him hold her. She knew he couldn't do the last, but at least by hearing his soft voice and have him smile at her, it would reassure her that everything would be alright. Even if she didn't see how it could be.

"Harry." She called again a little louder. Harry rolled over in his cell, a stray bit of moisture falling from the ceiling and landing on his head. If he was awake it would have been infuriating.

"Harry." He felt like he could hear someone calling his name. He slipped a little further bake into the conscious world. He gave a sigh as he thought it was aunt Petunia calling him to come and cook breakfast like he had so long ago.

"Harry it's me…Blaise." She called to him once more in hope. Although Remus said Harry was merely asleep she desperately wanted that confirmed by herself. What if Remus was lying to stop her having another relapse. What if Harry was dead, and they weren't telling her so she wouldn't stagnate. She felt the familiar tingling sensation ebbing into her heart and cursed to herself as she averted her gaze and tried to bring her emotions under control.

She was always at her most vulnerable just after she had awoken from unconsciousness. Although she had no proof personally, the doctor had always warned that if she awoke, and then became so distressed that she passed out again, that it would be even more dire than before.

"It's ok Blaise." Harry said warmly. Cuasing her to run back to the door. She peered through the gap of the door. To see Harry eyes staring back at her. She felt warmth spread through her body, and at that moment, not caring that others were around professed her love.

"I was so worried Harry. I thought you had died. I couldn't bare it if that happened. I love you, you know." Harry blushed with a lopsided grin. Remus exchanged a look with the others, who all thought the same as him, and moved to the far side of the cell. And tried to act intensely interested in the wall, their fingers, and a stray sausage which Ron had found tucked into his sock for just such an emergency.

Further down the corridor there was a man dressed in the attire of a dungeon guard. Few people would be able to say he didn't work there, for the Palace staffs were so numerous it was difficult to know all of them from one department, let alone all of them. Those who would know that this man was not usual were currently lying stunned in a cupboard with a pile of mops and buckets.

Oldman made his way down the stone steps to the dungeon where our friends could be found talking. The steps were slightly worn in the middle, from heavy use over the hundreds of years. His feet made no sound as they touched the hard surface. It was not an act of magic, which meant that not even his breathing was heard, but a form of understanding of everything, that meant nothing he didn't plan, would ever happen to him.

He reached the bottom of the steps where there was a flickering light. He went to carry on, but he saw someone was standing at one of the doors. He quickly slid back into the shadow and listened carefully. He couldn't make out particularly well what they were saying, and it didn't really matter. In the brief moment that he had seen into those eyes, he had known that this was Harry Potter. He could feel the burning fire within. A furnace of raw power that was rare in people, especially ones of his age.

Oldman drew out his wand. It was a dark wood, which was a normal thickness and length, apart from the fact the handle had engraving. Something which wasn't usual, at least not on earth. Harry glanced round. He felt he had seen something move out of the corner of his eye, but as he looked he saw nothing. "It must have been a play of the shadows." He thought to himself.

Oldman once more cautiously leaned round the corner a little, just enough so he could see with one eye. He placed down on the floor, the keys that the travellers would need to make their escape, as well as a pile of wands which he had managed to retrieve earlier in the day. He studied Harry's for a while. If rumour was true, and he knew it was, the core came from the same Phoenix as that of Voldemort. A classic sign of two people destined to fight, if ever there was one.

With the wands and keys on the ground he turned his attention back to the cell door behind which Harry was stood. He raised his wand, and with the briefest concentration of his mind the lock unclicked. With a smile of satisfaction he knew that his work was done. His mission was a success, as always. It would make a fine tale he could recount to himself during the dull winter months, as he sat in his house, by the crackling fire, drinking some of the imported wine from the wizarding islands. It truly was the best.

Harry was leaning against the door when suddenly the strangest thing happened. Soemthing that had been as solid as the walls a minute ago was now moving from in front of him. With a loud bang it crashed into the wall whilst Harry had just enough time to put his hands in front of him as he fell face to the floor.

"Harry." Blaise yelled in shock, whilst everyone else rushed to the door to try and see what the bang was. The gap wasn't nearly wide enough for them all to see through, and so after seeing that he wasn't hurt, Blaise allowed herself to be moved aside.

"How did you do that?" Tonks asked as she peered through with one eye, whilst Remus did the same with his greying hair against hers.

Harry pulled himself into a sitting position.and looked down at his hands which were rather dirty, though otherwise fine.

"I don't know." He said slowly as he shook his head to try and regain his senses. "I didn't use any magic. I guess I must have lent against the door funny and managed to pop the lock, he suggested." Though as he could see now the door was swinging freely, the lock was no more likely to pop than uncle Vernon. (Despite appearances after an experiment with a pencil Harry concluded it wouldn't happen.)

"Quickly Harry." The guards might have heard the door." Remus cautioned. Harry quickly sprang to his feet, and after deciding that he wouldn't stand much chance against armed guards he hopped back into his cell and pulled the door closed. He gave a sigh of relief as the door remained unlocked. If the guards came along hopefully they wouldn't test the doors.

We know that the guards won't come, for they were still in the cleaning cupboard, but to our young adventures, this wasn't the case.

"What shall I do if they ask what the bang was?" Harry whispered to them. Remus suggested Harry say he had tried magic to escape. After all the bang was rather loud. Harry was about to respond but Ron cut him off.

"Say It was you Harry. Say that locked away here, in this deep dark, dank pit of despair, you have given up your hope of freedom and a happy life. Say now that you realise that cell is your home, and the rats are your new friends. If they ask what the sound was Harry, say it was the breaking of your heart." He finished dramatically.

There was a long silence which followed this, in which Blaise glared at Ron, whilst, even down here in the middle of a lump of floating rock, a tumble weed blew past outside.

"Mmm I think I will go with Remus' idea." Harry finally said, to spare his friends feelings. "But that was rather poetic."

"Thankyou." Ron said, seemingly unaware of the fact his idea had been the equivalent of the titanic. "My mum has had me reading poetry. Says it will help me "woo" the ladies, whatever that means."

Harry didn't care to explain, and neither did the others. Instead they waited in silence for five minutes or so, to hear the footfalls on the stairs that never came. "I guess we are safe after all. He carefully stepped out of his cell and peered round in the relative darkness. I'm going to scout further down the corridor, see where the nearest guards are. I'm either going to have to try and break your door off somehow, or pinch some keys. He went to leave but Blaise called him back.

"Wait Harry, it could be dangerous." She said as one again she pressed to the front.

"I have to." He replied. "I can't simply wait here while you are all locked up and Hermione is getting married to some insane prince."

"I'm not asking you to stay. I just need to wish you good luck… You might get hurt again…" She said as she faded off.

Harry gave a small grin as he strode back to the bars and looked into her eyes. She looked scared, something which made Harry's heart burn with a hunger for revenge.

"Don't worry. I will be fine." He assured her, as he quickly kissed her fingers which she had slipped between the bars. "I will be back before you even know it."

He really was.

Harry made his way to the end of the passage, but stopped as something caught his eyes. The flickering light reflected from something on the dirty floor, that upon closer inspection appeared to be… a set of keys? His first feeling was one of elation, followed by suspicion. Had someone dropped the keys? As his eyes fell to the pile of wands he recognised as their own, his suspicion spiked. Why would they be lying there on the floor?

His mind was only slightly eased as he picked them up, and realised they were the genuine articles, and not some strange trap. He cast round furtively, for someone who may have put the wands and keys there, for someone who would have a reason for doing this. He saw no one.

He returned a moment later, the wands in his hands, and a confused look upon his face.

"I'm back." He said distractedly.

"You only just left…" Remus said, as he was the one at the front, and could see. "Was something wrong?"

"That depends on your definition of wrong." Harry said as he held up the wands. "I don't know what I would call this."

He was half tempted to put the wands back and go lock himself in his cell. At least he knew where he stood then. Before he had merely been peering over the edge into uncertainty. Now he had gone and taken a running leap into it. It had a bad smell, rather like scrambled eggs.

"They were lying on the floor." He said as he passed them to Remus.

"Do you think they could have fallen from a pocket or something?" Remus said as he turned his back to Harry, and handed out to other wands. He kept Hermione's for now.

"No, they were sitting in a neat pile. They must have been put there by someone, probably the same person that opened my cell." He mused.

"Well we can think more on it later Harry. I think for now we should be as quick as we can. We don't know our allies, if we have any, but we certainly know our enemies, and we are in their lair. Now we have our wands I recon we can break out. If we all use some focused magic." Remus began, before he was cut off.

"No need, there were these aswell." Harry said as he jingled the bunch of keys.

"I have never heard a sweeter sound than that." Ron said as his ears pricked. "Planning on letting us out then?" He asked sarcastically. Harry didn't respond, but merely walked forward and tried several keys until he found a short bronze one which with some force, turned the rusty lock.

The door swung back on its hinges with a sharp screech, which was thankfully was deadened by the solid rock walls.

"Wow I never though I would make it out of there." Ron said, before Blaise pushed him aside and ran to Harry. She stopped just as she reached him, embarrassed of her emotions, ashamed that she was weak. Instead she merely took a look at his head, and after seeing that the bleeding had stopped, settled on pouring some of the water from her flask on it to make sure it didn't become infected.

"You need to stop getting attacked." She cautioned him as he grimaced in pain at her touching him. "Stupid pig boy."

"Shh we have to be silent." Remus reported back, as he had made a quick look further ahead. "Although I didn't see anyone we can't risk it. We have three things which we need to do whilst we are hear. The first thing, is rescue Hermione. I don't know where she is, but im guessing the security wont be as high as it was on these dungeons, and therefore hopefully we can break her out.

"The second thing we need to do is complete the task. We are close now, and despite the fact we can't make it like we had planned, meaning peacefully, we can still break into the tower and take that blood by force. Once we do that then there is the final thing that needs achieving, which is that we need to escape. Obviously escaping comes last, but does anyone have any ideas as to which we should do first out of the mission or rescuing Hermione.

Everyone stayed silent a moment. It wasn't that they didn't know which was the priority, but each one had its own reasons why it should be first. Should they rescue Hermione and set off the alarm then there would be no hope to gain the blood of the Legendary bird, yet if they were to set off the alarm on their way from the bird then they could well pass Hermione on their way back. On the other hand if they went for the blood and set off the alarm then they may not be able to rescue Mione at all.

"We shall split up." Harry said resolutely. Remus opened his mouth to speak but Harry continued. "Unless you know something I don't then we assume that no one goes in the tower, would that be correct?" The guards are only stationed at the bottom of the tower." Remus nodded.

"That is what Marcus told me."

"Good, in that case we should send the main expeditionary force that way, whilst at the same time one of us goes to rescue Hermione. That way the alarm shouldn't be set off at any dangerous point. Hopefully we will be long gone by the time anything is noticed, but if that isn't the case we would both be in a good situation to leave at once."

"That is true." Tonks said as she gave Remus a pat on the arm. He was supposed to be the leader of the group, and yet lately it seemed that Harry was doing all the work. It made him feel useless.

"But what if something should happen to that person who goes on their own?" Remus asked as he stressed this point. He knew clearly the way Harry was thinking.

"I will be fine." Harry said in such a casual manner that none except Remus had noticed the fact Harry had now elected himself to go off separately.

"I have my invisibility cloak in my rucksack. They didn't take it because I keep it folded inside out, so you wont see it unless you know its there."

"You could loan me your invisibility cloak." Remus said as they began walking along the corridor. It was still quiet, with no sign of guards anywhere. "I have a better knowledge of spells Harry, and I have done stealth missions before."

"What about me?" tonks asked indignantly. "I have been trained to kill Death Eaters… I should go to rescue Hermione."

Tonks and Remus glowered at each other.

"No." Harry said finally. "My supremacy in Occlumency means I should do it. I will be able to find where Hermione is first, and I shall then escape with her via the chain baskets. We shall take the smaller baskets this time. Without all of our good that would be possible, and it would have the advantage that should the Calmerians stop the basket half way down we can hop onto the next one.

"Fine Harry." Remus said reluctantly. "But will you have enough energy for the mission? Your use of Occlumency earlier must have depleted a vast amount of what you have. You don't want to pass out from magical exhaustion do you?"

"I did use a lot yes…" Harry said as he didn't meet Remus's eyes. "But I have enough. My Watch makes it eight o'clock now. If the sun hasn't set yet it soon will. The shroud of darkness will mask our movements."

Harry bid farewell a minute later as they came to a turning in the passage way.

"I expect I will be waiting for you when you arrive back on Pharaphax." He said as he took the turning to the left, which would, according to the sign, take him past the entrance chamber to the sleeping quarters. He watched Remus, Tonks, Blaise and Ron disappear round the corner before setting his concentration on the task.

Although they hadn't met any guards yet there luck was about to run out. Harry crept along a passage which had painted sky views on fake windows. He was still in the great rock of Calmera, but he could smell the fresh air, and knew he must nearly be back on "ground level". There were statues on either side of the passage way, but other than that the corridor was bare. At one point he heard footsteps coming from the far end towards where he was advancing, so he quickly ducked down behind one of the statues and listened with bated breath.

The person had passed on. After a minute of silence had expired Harry took the rucksack from his bag and removed the invisibility cloak. He threw it over himself, and once sure that he was entirely covered, set off again, this time more confidently than before. He passed a scullery maid with bated breath. It seemed the magic of his invisibility cloak was just as effective in this world as it was in his home one.

A few minutes later Harry came to the main hall way. He gave a sigh of relief as he made it this far. He could see out of the high stained glass windows the pure blue skies outside. After being in the dank dungeons it was a relief to see. From this point on he would have to be careful, and remember exactly where he was going, because more likely than not he would have to come back the same way, most probably in a hurry. He gently tiptoed across the marble flooring, with the only sound he could hear being the soft footsteps which were unavoidable.

He walked over to where he had last seen Hermione dragged off. It was a long corridor with a spiral staircase at the end. He followed this. There was a faint smell of perfume as he went along, which he took as a good sign. Obviously if it had a fresh smell to it then it meant that humans weren't kept there for long periods of time. He started up the staircase, but had to turn back after he was half way up, as he heard someone else coming down the other way.

"His majesty asked for gold lace not silver, we can't give him this." Said a servant as he hurried past, talking to a tailor who followed shortly behind him. Harry continued on his way up the staircase until he came to the next floor. He could see another corridor, this one with three large rooms leading off one side, and full length windows on the other side. These could be identified as bedrooms, according to the sign before him.

Was Hermione on this floor? He couldn't call, less he have the whole imperial army down upon him. He would need to use Occlumency to find out, though he was still tired in that sense from his earlier excursion with the palace guard. He strode along the corridor staying to the side until he came to the first room. He carefully pressed his ear against the door, careful not to rattle its lock. He searched with is mind, as though probing the inner room like one does for matches in the dark. He couldn't be certain but his search yielded no results. Besides he needed eye contact as well. He tried the next two rooms with similar success, before heading back to the stairs, to carry on up to the next floor.

The others should be on their way up the tower now. Maybe even at the top?

As He stepped out onto the next landing he had a positive feeling. He could hear a sound, talking… Rather than risk walking to the door he stood with his back to the windows, which were identical to the floor below. He heard a bang sound and a moment later a woman, who was clearly a maid, stepped out of the middle door. She went to walk past Harry, but he stepped in front of her, looked into her eyes, which looked straight through him, before concentrating every fibre of his being on reading this weak mind.

The woman looked around breaking the eye contact. She felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle as though she were being watched. With a small shudder she shrugged it off and carried on, giving Harry just enough time to side step her, having gained enough information to know he was at the right place.

"The Future queen is in there." That was what he had managed to read, though not in those words. The maid had also thought about going to get something, though Harry hadn't had chance enough to learn what that was.

Once the woman had gone down the stairs and her footsteps had faded into nothing Harry turned to the door and let his fingers gently touch the cold brass handle. There could be someone else in there still. It was a risk he was willing to take. He was skilled with his wand for his age, and he had invisibility on his side. Even if his opponents knew magic, which was quite unlikely, they would have to find him first. Harry clasped the door handle and quickly pushed it open, wand ready. He needn't have worried however as the room appeared empty.

There was a step down to the centre of the room, which had an ivory coffee table, and a large crimson couch. There were some potted plants as well as three artworks hanging, which showed what was very valuable in the floating city of Calmera. He wondered briefly had he been right? He couldn't see Hermione, but after a second appraisal he saw a door to his left which at first he had missed. Its door handle blended in with the pattern of the walls. He moved over and opened the door without hesitating this time.

"Mione?" He asked as he looked round."

"Harry?" The familiar voice shrilled in delight. He looked to where the voice came from, to see a small head floating in a large bath which was practically overflowing with bubbles. As she suddenly remembered her lack of decency she screeched at him. "Get out stop looking, pervert!"

"I'm not looking." He said hastily as he turned his back before removing his invisibility cloak. Hermione checked herself, and once satisfied that he couldn't possibly see her she continued.

"You took your time didn't you?" She asked as she looked at her watch which was lying in a pile along with her clothes. "But tell me Harry, you were locked in a dungeon weren't you?" How did you get out? Where are the others?" She asked in succession.

"Yes, I wish I knew, and the others have gone ahead to try and complete the task." He responded as he remained facing the wall. Should he mention there was a mirror to his right?

"So it's just you that has come to rescue me?" She asked slightly uneasily.

"I'm afraid so." He responded without a smile. "I would have preferred company but I think the others will probably come into more danger than us. However we can both fit under my cloak, so I should think we will be able to make a good escape."

"Harry, would you mind?" Hermione asked as she peered up at him.

"Why would I mind? You have been under my cloak loads of times." He said with confusion."

"No, I mean leaving the room." She said with a laugh. "If we are going to escape I would like to be clothed and I can't have you standing there, especially when there is a mirror which I suspect you can see me in."

"I'll just be outside." Harry said hastily as he excused himself, thankful that Hermione couldn't see his face or his blush. "But be quick I don't know how long until someone comes back." He went and stood in the main room, closing the door behind him. He took a seat against the back of the chair, so he was facing the door. He heard the door open as the maid returned. She took a few steps into the room before she spotted Harry, opened her mouth to scream, and fell silently to the floor stunned.

"Oh." He said sarcastically. "What a tragedy."

Five minutes later Hermione emerged looking mostly dry, and clothed as she had been before. Her hair still looked a little bit damp.

"I asked you to be quick." Harry grumbled as he turned his attention to her.

"For goodness sake Harry I'm a girl." Hermione replied hotly. "I was like lightning in there."

"Being a girl is no excuse." He countered, though he knew this was probably one of the only times in his hole life he would ever see a girl get ready in five minutes. "We are talking life saving minutes here…You don't need to bother with make up and stuff."

Hermione made a huffing sound.

"Well it might be ok for you to go risking your life with your ass hanging out but it isn't for me." She said sternly. Harry quickly looked down at his trousers, which were still entirely up, he was pleased to report. "Oh it was a figure of speech, any way what is that?" She asked as she pointed to a large pile of at least a dozen bodies. A guard walked into the room and fell onto the top of the pile as Harry waved his wand.

He looked at her, and without even a smile, replied

"You had visitors."

Harry took Hermione's hand and pulled her out into the corridor impatiently. They had wasted too much time. He hadn't yet had time to put on the invisibility cloak, and this as it happens, was one of the times he needed it. A Guard had just appeared at the end of the stairwell, and before Harry could give a well aimed stunning curse the guard had raised a gun and given a cry for help.

A bullet narrowly whizzed past his ear. This distraction threw his aim, and rather hitting the man squarely in the chest he hit the wall some inches to his right. A large chunk of the wall exploded and several chunks flew through the thin glass windows down to the courtyard below.

"Buggar." Hermione said as she jinxed the man. Harry had handed her her wand which had been in the pile with the others when they were returned, as we know, by Oldman.

"That's gonna have set off the alarm I bet." Harry cursed as he peered out of the hole in the window. Indeed it had, already he could see several of the guards that had been stationed in the courtyard were making their way towards the entrance. "Hermione, where did you put my invisibility cloak?" He asked as he turned to her. "We will need it. The next stop is trouble!"


	80. Gravity

Hope you enjoy this chapter. I quite liked it, for two reasons. Firstly, because ever since I thought of the "Calmera adventure" (as I call the few chapters it spans over) I have wanted to write this, and secondly because it ends the action for at least a little bit. Hopefully the next chapter will contain some more emotional development, if that's what you like. If it isn't what you like, then im sure plenty of action will follow that aswell…

Hermione offered him the cloak, which he refused. Instead he rushed forward towards the staircase.

"We can sort that out on the way down. If we don't move now we may get cut off, and I don't fancy facing an army of wizards and muggles with guns." They made their way down the one flight of stairs, but by this time guards had already begun the accent up the straicase, leaving Harry and Hermione cut off.

"Put it on." He instructed her with such ferocity she simply complied. "Now stand back." He said as he gave her a quick shove into the corridor that Harry had briefly visited before going up to the floor on which he found Hermione.

He pointed his wand at the ceiling.

"Rictesempra." He said, causing a massive explosion which bought down masses of stone blocks from above. Once the cloud of mortar and dust had cleared Harry could see with a satisfying grin that the staircase was blocked.

"That won't stop them." Hermione said unsurely as already the guards had reached the barricade, and she could see one or two of the small stones roll down onto the floor.

"It doesn't need to, now come on, out the window." He instructed.

"But Harry, it must be at least fifteen feet." She said as she peered down to the ground.

"No it will be fine, trust me, If you look over here there is a roof you can jump down onto, from there it is only seven or eight feet." As He said this he took a step back, and gave a running leap through the glass as though it wasn't there. He went flying through the air some way before crashing onto the slate roof tiles above the entrance door which was sloped at a forty five degree angle."

He slid from there onto the ground where he landed with only a small amount of pain in his feet. In the brief second it took him to get to his feet again Hermione had followed, though she was mostly covered by the invisibility cloak at this point. As she landed on the floor and stood up the cloak fell around her and she disappeared from view. However, Harry was still quite visible, and the guards which had remained staitooned around the gates started to advance on him.

"Not that way." He sighed. "Follow me Mione." He said before dashing back into the castle.

"They are going inside, go back down the stairs." Called a soldier who had broken through the collapsed part of the staircase. Hermione followed Harry in, with guards chasing both of them and firing curses and bullets. As they passed the entrance hall they could hear footsteps coming down the staircase, which Harry carefully aimed his wand at. There was another explosion and another baracade of rocks blocking the path.

"You would think they learn after the first time." He said with a strained laugh.

"Where are we going?" Hermione yelled to him as they skidded across the highly polished floor. A bullet flew past grazing his shoulder as she said this.

"Well we aren't going the way I planned," He said between gritted teeth. I'm going to find the others and regroup; we should be able to conjure a sufficient Shamans Barrier to protect us so we can escape safely."

"But I thought…" She said as she jumped to the side to avoid a man who was running at Harry, and didn't see her invisible form. "I thought that you said the others had gone off the complete the task. Won't they have finished already?" She asked. Harry knew it was a possibility, but he was willing to bank they hadn't. They ran past the throne which Lucas had sat on earlier. There was a small wooden door beyond, which they were headed for. Some would have thought it was a broom closet or something, but those who had paid careful attention to the outside of the building, and the way the princes eyes flicked towards the door, showed that this was the way to the tower, upon which the Great Bird sat.

Harry ran through the door, and once sure Hermione had passed him, he slammed it shut, and threw down the wooden bar which sat in a bracket either side of the door. They were plunged into relevant darkness, which was quickly illuminated as Hermione lit her wand.

"Why aren't they advancing?" She asked after several seconds silence elapsed.

"I don't know," Harry replied "I would guess they need the prince's permission to continue, but lets not hang about to find out. We need to get to the top of this tower, and to Remus and the others."

At the end of the corridor was a large passage way, which had stairs leading down. Harry didn't know what was that way, but by going down into solid rock he wouldn't have much chance of escape. Instead he turned his attention to the wide spiralling steps in front of him and somewhat to the left.

"I warn you you're going to be exhausted by the time we get to the top." He said as Hermione hiked up the cloak to make sure she didn't trip as she ran closely behind Harry.

"That's ok, I'm sure I can hold my own against a little bit of running." She countered. They were trying to make light heart of it, yet they both knew that by the time they got to the top (which due to the structure couldn't be seen) they would be barely able to walk. The stairs weren't very inclined, and the tower was very wide, so the steps were rather flat, and made a very large spiral, around a solid stone pillar which was at least ten meters wide, though in the dark passage way which was only lit by very thin windows it was tough to tell.

The climbing wasn't hard work at first, which was good. Harry knew there chances were much better over a long period of easier excursion than a shorted one which would drain all their energy. Harry pushed Hermione to the inside against the pillar so the distance she had to cover was slightly less, but still Harry's larger stronger form meant he found himself pulling ahead of Hermione, despite her protests that she could manage.

"I'm going to set a few simple spells down." He said as he fell in pace behind her.

"You keep running ahead." He instructed. Hermione went to argue that she could help but he knew it wasn't necessary. "As long as you keep running I will catch up shortly enough." He promised. Hermione agreed reluctantly and gave a fleeting glance over her shoulder as Harry disappeared round the corner, his back to her, staring with concentration at the stairs.

She carried on running, her feet pounding on the stone floor as she continued to climb higher. She caught a fleeting glance out of one of the windows and made an estimate that they were ten floors up. She smiled at this as she considered what good progress they were making, and how the top wouldn't be two much further away. After all how high was a normal tower?

She glanced back over her shoulder, wondering where Harry had gotten to, when he reappeared round the corner.

"That didn't take long," She said with a breathless pant.

"I only did a simple ice charm," He replied. "I expect they will be able to get around that quickly enough, but hopefully it will buy us more time. I tried a few other spells but they didn't work, unfortunately. Also I don't want to risk another cave in."

"I'm not sure I could even if I want to. I think this tower is probably also constructed with magic. You can feel it can't you?" He asked as he ran along side her.

"I can feel something." She replied with a blush.

"Do you want some more bad news?" Harry asked as he ran a little ahead to try and encourage her to go faster. "I heard guards."

They carried on running for some more minutes, until suddenly they could hear the distant sound of feet below them, and yells." They are gaining on us Hermione." Harry said to encourage her, rather than alarm her. "They have obviously made it over that little charm. I don't think it is worth the extra time it took to make it to be honest." He carried on as he panted onward. "Let's just go as fast as we can, and I'm sure we will beat them when we get to the top."

Harry looked out of the window. By now the buildings he could see were tiny, and he could see miles into the distance every time he passed one of the tiny windows. He hoped the guards below couldn't hear them, for if they knew there pray was so close then they might be spurred on with renewed interest.

"Harry I can't go on much longer." Hermione said as she stumbled on one of the steps and nearly went down. Can't we do something else? Can't we both just hide under the invisibility cloak against one of the walls?" She asked

"No I don't think we could," Harry replied as he took her hand to drag her onwards. "Firstly by the sound of the soldiers there must be a lot of them, so I doubt we could sneak past them, and secondly even if we could then they would carry on up and surprise Blaise and the others. We can't put our friends in any more danger than we have already." Hermione didn't reply to this for she needed her strength. Her legs felt like jelly and each time she stepped forwards they wobbled underneath her, not feeling like they could possibly hold her weight.

She felt light headed from the lack of air at such an altitude, and it had given her a headache, as well as making her feel like she would be sick. Harry was experiencing similar things as well, though the concentration on the mission managed to occupy his mind for now. How tall was this tower? Indeed it did seem they had been running forever, impossibly long even. Perhaps it had been charmed so that they couldn't get to the top by simply running. Harry would have believed this except that the guards wouldn't be chasing them if that were the case.

They would have been better off by flying, but they had left there brooms back at the blight farm which was much too far away to summon from. The sounds of the soldiers and guards from below grew louder, until now they could hear the clinking of their armor, and the sound of guns being primed and loaded. Harry even felt he could hear there breathing, and feel their breath upon his neck, but knew that this was his imagination. He didn't look ahead of him any more, because he could see ten steps ahead, and knowing it was at least that far away from the top was a depressing thought.

Instead he concentrated on one step at a tie, and said to himself, just one more, just one more, its only one more till we reach the top. Hope was a powerful tool, though he knew that alone would not save him if his one more didn't turn out to be true soon. Hermione tried to run but stars were swimming in front of her now as her brain was begging to get a lack of steady oxygen. She smiled briefly as she thought she could see the light of sky in front of her, but this was merely her imagination. Her foot caught on the edge of the step, causing her to fall forwards.

Her senses returned just in time for her to throw out a hand and stop her landing face first against the solid stone steps. However this was still to late, as her ankle was now twisted. Harry tried to pull her to her feet, but as soon as he let go of her hand she fell to the floor again.

"I can't move Harry." She sobbed. "Leave me, I will be safe." She said as she pulled the cloak a little tighter round her. She knew this wasn't true. Harry knew he couldn't do much for her, but as long as he had life he would defend and help his friends. After all it was for him that they were here for.

He bent down and lifted up Hermione, before hunching over and laying her over his back.

"Hold onto my shoulders." He said as he hiked her up and held under her knees.

"You can't carry me." She said though she made no effort to fight. She knew what Harry was like, and if she were to die then he would do so with her, and with honour. She put her arms round him and held him tightly as she cried to herself. She felt like she had let him down.

Harry tried to run, though the best he could manage was a jog. Every step he took seemed to weigh down on his legs, and the very effort of lifting them seemed titanic. His shoes felt as though they were made of lead, and Hermione felt as though she were gold. It was a good job she wasn't fat. Harry could feel her sagging slightly so he tried to hoist her up, though his arms were tiring faster than he had expected. He felt out of shape, though this was not the case. Something had flared up in his knee. Every time he placed his right foot down a pain would flare up in his leg. He had either strained something, or trapped a nerve, either way it caused him to grit his teeth as he soldiered on.

Cries could be heard from behind, and he knew any moment now they would be spotted, and a second later a rain of bullets would come down upon them. At least if we would die it wouldn't be alone. Not that he wanted to die, and he certainly didn't want Hermione to die but to die in such good company would be an honour. He summoned up his last strength as he pushed a little further. He was so weak, physically, emotionally. He had let the others down, and he had let himself down.

"There they are." Cried a voice from behind. Harry didn't need to look round to know his enemy. They were in danger now, and the moment of their death would be soon. He merely hoped Hermione would have the pleasure to die quickly.

"Rictesmpra," Hermione said, to Harry's surprise. A spell flew back at the soldiers, knocking one of them off his feet, and bring two others down with him, However a solid mass of soldiers pressed on so it seemed to make no effect.

"Keep up the good work." He said to her, for even if they crawled to the top any extra time they could get would help. She fired another spell, with similar success. They fired some bullets back in response.

"Try something more effective." Harry panted as he climbed a few more stairs. He turned round briefly to face the soldiers, and was surprised to see how close they were.

"Crucio." He said as he gave his wand a small wiggle from beside Hermione's knee. A man fell to his knees in screaming agony, The running soldieries stopped briefly as they looked at their comrade in horror. Harry didn't spare a glance as he turned back and carried on his laboured running.

"Harry…" Hermione said, with a tone of fear in her voice. "How…could you?" She asked in his ear.

"Not now Mione, just fire." He instructed her as she shot another basic spell at them. A bullet flew by narrowly missing Hermione, and sinking deep into Harry upper arm. He gave a deep throated groan as he faltered slightly. A crimson stream flowered freely down his arm, and soon his hand was a red slippery mess so that he could hadly keep his grip on Hermione.

And then there was light. In the middle of the darkness, both literal and metaphorical Harry found the top of the tower. He saw the light shining on the wall ahead, and knew, that they had reached the top. He also knew that Remus and the others would be there, and knew that they would be safe once again.

"Harry the top!" Hermione said excitedly as they drew round and the wall of solid light shone, like the gate of heaven.

They stepped into the bright clear blue sky, like man taking the first step in the world. Wind swept across Harry's sweat soaked face, and for a minute he forgot that death still lurked only briefly behind them. However he was snapped back to reality by two things. Firstly, by the enormous, fat, wheezing bird which sat in a large woven next to one side of them. The second, more prominent fact however, was what really hit home. There was no one else here. Just Harry, Hermione, at the end of their strength, and utterly alone.

"Where are…" Hermione began before Harry cut her off.

"They have completed the mission." He said in an emotionless voice. "And we shall not be turning back." He continued. He took a few more limped steps forwards as he peered down at the world around them. The city of Calmera seemed a mile below, and through the thinner patched of cloud, many miles below that he could see the rest of the world.

It was an amazing sensation to be at the top of the world, and to be able to look down, and know that no one will ever be higher than this. That it isn't possible to see the world any smaller. It was as he saw this land stretch out before him that he knew what he would do. With Hermione still on his shoulders, he took a few running steps with bullets whizzing past him, stepped up onto the side, and made a leap into the void where he begun to plummet to his death.

The first second was the longest, as it drew out with his mind knowing he should fall, and yet with gravity still having to take hold of him and Hermione. This moment passed to soon however, as Harry felt his stomach rise as he began to fall, whilst his organd wanted to reaming where they were. He felt the unpleasant lifting sensation in him as he began to fall, faster and faster.

He kept his eyes closed at first, not wanting to look at the small edge of town in front of him, just in case he had miscalculated and they went crashing into it. He was vaguely aware of Hermione screaming beside him, as he kept his hand firmly clasped round Hermione's wrist, less they become separated to dire consequences.

His clothes billowed around him, as they hurtled downwards. From here the tower they had climbed seemed short, for it passed so quickly and effortlessly, like watching on a television. However this was somewhat more real. As they built up pace the wind became a roar around them, until he could hardly hear Hermione anymore, though of course it was entirely possible she had run out of air in her lungs, and was now merely mouthing a silent scream, as would many in the situation.

His white scarf tore from around his neck, and seemed to shoot up past him, like a rocket, before it gently folded and floated, seemingly weightless, like a feather blowing in the wind. The air stung his eyes as his glasses had fallen off. He had a spare pare in his bag, but for now he would have to make do without them. He realised that until now he had been holding his breath, and with great difficulty he managed to convince himself to do so. He opened his mouth and his lungs seemed to fill with air, though it was thin. Thankfully at this height there were no insects or impurities, or else his face would quickly have become covered like the headlamps of a car.

They hurtled down, narrowly passing over the edge of the great rock itself. It was a good job the tower was so close to the edge, and that they had a running jump or else they never would have made it. Harry watched as the mass of rock blurred past a few meters in front of him before disappearing, leaving an endless open sky reaching out before them obscured only by a few chain baskets which stretched down to the ground.

Remus, Tonks, Ron and Blaise sat in the steel basket which lowered slowly down to earth. It felt like it was moving far to slowly, for each of them was worried at any moment that an alarm would be raised and the basket halted in mid air, leaving them powerless to escape.

"I hope the others are alright," Blaise said as she sat with her legs crossed. "I hope they have escaped without any trouble."

"Don't worry," Said Remus reassuringly. "I will be dammed if Harry will let us down. I have never known someone his age with so much determination. I think not only will he make it back safely; I bet he will beat us back home as well!"

There was a second's pause, as everyone eyed the bottle of blood thoughtfully. No one saw the two figures speeding faster than a bullet, go by.

"Did you hear something just now?" Tonks asked as she looked up with a puzzled expression.

"No…" Remus replied. "It was probably just the wind."

As Harry and Hermione fell through the clouds, their momentum began to take effect, and as anyone who has ever gone sky diving will know, they began to spin. Harry felt himself turning in mid air, so he tried to shift his weight to counterbalance the motion. However as he quickly realised, this infact shifted hs centre of weight, sending him into a mad tumble as he shot downwards. He felt his grip on Hermione loosen and eventually break, as they both separated, spinning so madly their limbs felt like they would tear right from their bodies.

Harry watched, as Hermione began to overtake him. I must be less aerodynamic, he mused as his clothes flapped madly like a storm of birds. They shot out of the clouds as quickly as they had entered them, and were now left with a perfect sky view of the area below them. They could see the chain baskets reching down to the tiny building which was only a dot to their eyes. They could also in the distance make out the dark clouds that hung over Harmonia, as well as the great dark chasm that was under the floating city, where the world seemed to fall into nothing.

"Hermione." He screamed over the impossible roar of the wind. "Reach backwards." He cried to her, as he managed to stabilize himself. He threw his arms and legs back, as though he were being lowered from the heavens, dangled by his limbs. This was how sky divers fell, or so he felt. He couldn't debate the subject to much however as their was the much more imminent problem arising named the ground, which was somewhat solid, and somewhat unappealing.

Hermione couldn't hear him, nor could she see him as she was tossed and turned in air like a jumper in a tumble dryer. She could vaguely make out a blur but he was gone before she could focus. Surely this nightmare couldn't be real could it?

Harry looked to the ground, and supposed it would be about thirty seconds till they hit, if he was lucky. How he had thought this was a good idea was beyond him now, as he tried to think of what to do. The wind was blowing across slightly, so they could land a little under the form of Calmera, which now wasn't even visible in the sky through the thick clouds. Hopefully they wouldn't land in the black void, as Harry didn't care to sample it.

He bought his arms to his sides and pressed his legs together as he went into a dive to try and reach Hermione so he could stabilise her. He still had his wand in his hand.

"Accio Hermione." He tried, but the wave of his wand threw him off balance, and wasted valuable seconds of time. He didn't try again, but put all his effort and fibre into willing himself further, faster, beyond terminal velocity. If he could reach Hermione he could save them he knew it. He hadn't figured out how yet, but he knew he could do it.

The distance closed between him and the falling girl, and he smiled briefly as he compared the experience to playing Quidditch, and gaining on his opponent. This however was a lot faster, and the consequences a lot less sunny. By the time he drew level with her he was a little to the side, so he tried leaning, so the wind would steer him as he fell. It didn't seem to have much effect.

He quickly reached out to make a grab for her, though his fingers narrowly brushed her clothes. He instantly rolled over in the air, and after a second to regain his balance he tried again, this time to success. He felt his fingers close on the thin material of her top. He pulled gently for he didn't want to tear it, yet it was still enough to pull him to her. He took hold of her wrist, as she continued to spin, and set about trying to stabilise them, and ultimately save them. By now the ground was fifteen or so seconds away.

He pulled her to him, so their bodies were together, before wrapping his arms around her and curling his legs back a little so they would start leaning a little more. Their flight stabilized and in that moment everything seemed to go silent.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked, as Harry held her in his arms.

"I don't know." He replied honestly.

They could see the building, to one side of them, and the small garden area out back where several baskets were stationed. They felt like they could see everything, they were so close. It seemed they could almost reach out and touch the earth with their finger tips. If only the Crelatio charm worked, Harry could have made some parachutes. Unfortunately it was one of the spells which wasn't compatible with this realm. Harry felt his heart pounding in his chest, like a drum coming to the crescendo of a song, about to play it's final beat.

And then it did, or so it seemed. His heart ceased to pound, and everything fell silent. He turned his head, to see that they were no longer falling, or if they were it wasn't fast enough. He held the wand in his hand, and looked round at this world, so similar and yet so different. He wondered briefly what was going on, before he shuddered at two realizations. The first, was that he recognised this sensation, this world. The fabric of time had been altered, and whilst it had not frozen, it had slowed down, so that each second stretched out for ten.

The second realisation, which was no less shocking than the first, was that this time he knew it was him that had created the time freeze. He could feel it was. He could feel the energy, slowly trickling out of him, into the expanse of time. He didn't know how he had created it, but he knew why, he needed to save Hermione…

He needed to save them all.

He let go of Hermione, before bringing his arms up and pushing her away from him. She slowly began to separate from him, as the fractions of second passed onwards. He drew his eyes skywards, and raised his wand, before closing his eyes.

"Aquilo onism" He said softly, though in the tone that left little doubt over the nature of the spell.

There was several seconds pause, as nothing appeared to be happening, before the clouds above them began to swirl, and darken. Within a moment it had turned from evening to a stormy night. Harry smiled to himself as the spell had been cast. With that he fell limp in the air, the time unfroze.

The stormy cloud above spread and a crack of thunder rumbled loud enough to shake the ground. A second later there was a flash of lightning which split the sky, followed by two more of no less ferocity. Hermione looked down at the ground, coming closer, so close now… Where was Harry? He had been holding her a moment and now he was some way to her left. She didn't have long to contemplate this however, as the wind increased. The clouds above came down, and a great updraft lifted her from below. She felt her descent slow, as small stones rose from the earth, and met the clouds which had begun spiralling, and now formed what could only be described as a tornado around her.

The wind stormed around her, though she found herself in the eye of it all, and thankfully for now, it seemed safe. She had stopped falling, though she didn't know how a tornado like this could have come out of no where… It must have been Marcus. She looked all around for Harry, but with the impenetrable swirling winds she could hardly see a meter in front of her. She called out his name but her voice was swept away so even she couldn't hear it.

Another bolt of lightning came down, followed by another, and another, until the whole sky was flashing with a brilliant light. The was a movement in the clouds, one that at first looked like the wind was merely blowing, but after a few moments of inspection, became apparent to be more than just that. Hermione stared up, at the centre of the spiralling tower, where she saw something that defied belief. Something seemed to be emerging from above, some object, or some person.

The wind swirled round the figure, which descended form the spiralling clouds, seemingly unaware of anything going on around it. It couldn't be said whether it was male or female, for it was primarily made of air. The only way it could be distinguished was by the fact that it appeared stiller than everything else, and it looked as though light were shining onto it, even if there was no obvious source.

As it neared Hermione she was tempted to make comparisons to an angel, but a lack of wings kept her from this. As it was close now she could see it was much larger than her. Its shoulders were probably about seven or eight feet wide, and as it passed by, it stared, with closed eyes, and a small smile. It spread its arms, slowly, and leisurely, creating to rips up opposite sides of the tornado, which left the funnel to whisper out.

As quickly as it had arrived, the tornado had left. Hermione felt herself gently lowering to earth, and as her feet touched ground her heart leapt, knowing she had lived. She glanced briefly away from the spectral figure, to see Marcus striding over towards her. As she glanced up again she saw the angel was gone, and she was now left alone, standing in the small clearing of grass. She hadn't even seen Harry falling down into the dark chasm where the floating city of Calmera had once been torn up.

She hadn't seen him fall, for in her fear, she forgot to think of him, in the same way that in his fear he forgot to think of himself.


	81. Love Hate

Well writing this whole chapter was quite a lot of fun. It was nice to get to write something different than the action I have had lately. Especially as I got to write backstory, which is my favourite. This chapter is kind of episodic, but hopefully you will enjoy it without it seeming to jumpy. Also a small note, I now made comedy the secondary genre, as it has been somewhat devoid of laughs for many many chapters now.

Enjoy.

Marcus wore a grave expression as he strode over to where Hermione was standing, alone, in the clearing. He didn't meet her eyes, but merely looked heavenward, as though looking for the basket with the others. In actual fact he was looking at the remnants of the spell.

"Pandemonium…He summoned." He whispered to himself. "Not right. Not right at all."

A few minutes later the basket came clinking down the last stretch before it touched down with a gentle bump on the grassy bank just near where Harry had fallen. Hermione had asked where Harry was, but Marcus refused to answer until the others returned.

"Splendid, your back!" Marcus said as he shrugged off the worry for now. Remus and the others stepped out of the cage and walked over to where Marcus was standing. No one else was in the clearing, so they were free to talk here.

"Oh Hermione!" Remus said in surprise as he saw her. "I wasn't expecting to see you back. Is Harry not with you? Did you manage to escape on your own…Harry was going to fetch you…" Remus said uncomfortably as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled with a sixth sense. "But did you see that weather? I don't know what was going on but we were worried the chain would snap. It hardly seemed natural."

"The two matters are directly related." Marcus said stiffly. "You are right though, that storm wasn't natural at all. It was a storm bought about by magic."

"I didn't know there were wizards that powerful." Tonks commented. "It must have taken you a lot of effort Marcus. Why did you do it?" She asked as she stared at him with an impressed gaze.

"Firstly Tonks, I didn't do it. Secondly, your right, no wizard can do something like that. The only human who could make a…summon…" He said as he gave a shudder at the word. "…Is a warlock!"

Hermione gasped at this. Blaise was still anxiously glancing around for Harry.

"It was Harry, who performed the summon, and he did it in order to save Hermione."

"What did he save you from?" Asked Ron, as he was one of the first to recover from the shock of the statement that Harry was a Warlock.

"We fell…" Hermione said numbly.

"From what?"

Hermione didn't reply, she merely pointed towards the sky. Everyone gazed up, before Remus paled slightly.

"You fell… from all the way up there?" he asked as he placed a hand against his heart willing it to slow down.

"It would seem so." Marcus answered as he slowly walked along the edge of the garden, that overlooked the chasm. "And Harry summoned the forces of wind, in order to save Hermione."

"And what about himself?" Blaise asked as she tried to remain calm. She knew she could relapse if she wasn't careful.

"Well unfortunately it would seem that he didn't think that far ahead. Seems he forgot to save himself. He fell a little further." He said, almost uncaringly as he peered over the edge. "Still with a little bit of luck he will turn up sooner of later."

"What do you mean?" Tonks asked angrily. "You say that as though you don't care."

"Well that is because I'm afraid to say I understand a little more clearly. You see if he fell down there, as I know he did, then he is either alive or dead. If he is dead, that's a pity but there is nothing we can do about it. If he is alive, then I'm sure he will be alright. After all if he can do spells like that…Then he shouldn't have to much trouble with what is down there."

"And what is down there?" Ron asked uncertainly. Everything had seemed so promising that morning, and now although they had completed the task, at what cost? Was there even point in continuing without Harry?

"My dear, I really couldn't say." Marcus said in genuine surprise. "I myself have never been down there, but I suspect there are probably all sorts of monsters, if the books I heave read are anything to go by!"

"Are we not going to try and rescue him then?" Remus asked.

"You won't know. I will come back tonight, after dark, and go a little way in for a look. Your departure seems to have been hasty, due to the manner in which Harry and Hermione travelled. Would I be correct in assuming that you had your identities discovered?"

"Yes."

"Well that's a pity. I'm afraid then that they will probably send a search party down to look for you, so we probably should be on the move. I have more matters to discuss with you when we get back home.

"I don't suppose you were lucky enough to complete the task were you?" Marcus asked, as they walked away from the dark emptiness in which Harry was, back towards the small café for travellers.

"Yes, we did." Remus said quietly as they passed through the room, where several people looked up from their drinks or food at them.

"Well good good. We can talk more on that later as well."

A little while later back on the Blight farm, the travellers and Marcus sat around the white plastic table inside the wizarding tent. It was cool in here, and after being stuck in a dungeon everyone fancied a quick freshen up, though that would come after the discussions. The Blights had spoken to Marcus briefly when they returned. He explained how they had completed the task, but that Harry had been delayed. He didn't go into to much detail, but they could tell from his tone that it wasn't a simple matter. They didn't press it however and instead set about readying dinner for the large group.

"I think our most pressing matter is Harry." Marcus said as he stared at each one of the group in turn.

"And how we are going to rescue him?" Remus asked. Marcus shook his head as he drew his hands together.

"No, I mean about how he is a Warlock. How he used magic which wizards don't use. You see this was never mentioned to me, and if it had been I most certainly wouldn't have helped you this far… How long has he used dark magic for?"

Everyone looked a little puzzled, for Ron and Blaise certainly didn't know what the difference was between a wizard and a Warlock.

"He isn't a Warlock." Remus challenged. "Harry isn't evil, and just because he happens to have used one or two spells which are generally not used by good wizards, doesn't mean much. After all plenty of people have thought of using unforgivable curses when there angry haven't they?" Marcus didn't reply to this, but Hermione did.

"Harry used an unforgivable curse…" She said in barely a whisper as every pair of eyes turned to her, and she felt rather small.

"Pardon?" Marcus asked as he looked over his glasses in a Dumbledore like manner.

"When we were running up the stairs to the top of the tower, where we jumped from, we were being chased. We tried using some curses to slow them down, but there were so many they just kept coming. Harry blasted one of them with the Crucio curse, but only for a little bit." She hastily added.

"Mmm indeed." Marcus said as though he already knew this. Everyone looked at each other guiltily, as though wondering who would argue what had been said. No one did.

"But that was for protection wasn't it?" Blaise asked after several uncomfortable seconds of silence had elapsed. "It wasn't like he was doing it for fun like the Death Eaters. He was doing it to protect her."

"Would he kill a man to protect you?" Marcus countered as he looked straight into her eyes with a gaze so piercing it felt as though he could read her soul.

"There is no need for unforgivable curses, nor any other spells of a Warlock. Albus Dumbledore is over one and a half centuries old, and he only ever used an unforgivable curse once, so there is no need for Harry to be doing the same. I'm sure he could have thought of a dozen spells just as useful to use in aiding your escape." Marcus stopped briefly, before pouring himself a glass of what appeared to be a dark fruit juice or a whine, from a flask in his jacket. He took a sip and continued.

"Still I dont suppose it's his fault. Presumably he became involved in that branch of magic through his quest for power. It's a mistake, that few have the talent to make. Is he of a long line of wizarding blood?" Marcus asked.

"That doesn't matter." Hermione said indignantly. "Muggle borns are equally powerful."

"No, im afraid your wrong." Marcus replied. "You see whilst it is true, that muggle borns are as powerful as a wizard, that is only in a general term. You see it is actually a fact, that long blood lines can produce powerful magicians.

"Each generation that is born will be slightly stronger than the one before it, generally speaking. There are a few occasions where the offspring is less powerful, or a squib, as you call them. However the amount of power that each generation increases by is so very small that normally it isn't even acknowledged. Most powerful wizards are so by study, or just nature. A muggle born magician may be far more powerful than one who has had ten generations of wizard blood, but the fact remains that the eleventh generation should be stronger than the tenth, and the muggle borns children should exceed them."

"Well I know Harry's father had a fairly long line of wizards in his family." Remus said. "His great grandfather was a wizard, I know that much, though I couldn't say about before that. His mother was muggle born, though I should add that she was quite capable herself."

"Indeed." Marcus replied as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "And has he displayed any other signs, that I should know about. Has he done anything beyond what a normal human could do?"

"I haven't seen anything," Blaise replied.

"Actually yes," Tonks said, as she looked to Remus before continuing." A few months ago, when he was angry, he froze time…"

Marcus pulled a face before replying. "Yes I see. I thought I felt something else earlier, but now I know I did. And for how long was time paused?"

"Albus said he couldn't be certain…" Tonks continued, as Blaise Hermione and Ron all looked surprised and bewildered. "But he said it was roughly two months…"

"Two months!" asked Marcus as he paled slightly.

"And what's more is it seems Harry didn't know that he had done it. We told him that Voldemort has done it, and that he wasn't excluded from the time freeze because of the connection they share."

"Connection?" Marcus asked as he raised an eyebrow. The situation was briefly explained to him, how Harry's scar sometimes burned, and how he could feel when Voldemort was angry or happy, and how through his dreams he had even read Voldemort's mind.

"That is why he is now highly trained in magic of the mind." Tonks finished.

"Very well then is that all there is I should know. He has displayed these power, that no good wizard should show… Has he ever shown any other intentions besides good. Has he ever had any evil inclinations?"

"No." Replied everyone resolutely. Everyone except Ronald that was.

"Good, in that case I think we should go to dinner, and after that I shall return to where Harry was last seen. I will find him one way or the other, though from what you have told me, and from what I have seen, I should be somewhat surprised if he is dead."

Everyone got up from the table.

"I'm just going to freshen up first." Blaise said as she made her way towards the bathroom."

"Me to, my hands are a bit messy and my hair is a disaster." added Blaise, as she went to join Hermione, who after Harry, was her best friend. Marcus Pennywhistle stepped out of the wizarding tent, which was magically set to a certain temperature. In the daytime it was cooler in the tent, but tonight was a little chilly. They would be eating indoors, and from here they could see the large wooden table where several items of food were set out.

He was about to make his way to the house, when someone called his name. He turned round to see Ron standing a few feet away.

"Can I help you Ronald?" He asked as he looked the boy up and down. There was something troubling him, for his expression seemed uncertain, as though he were about to say something he would later regret.

"There is something you should know, something about Harry."

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

"Blaise was in there, and she and Harry are going out I think… I didn't want to say it in front of her."

"Very well, then say it now." Marcus said as he gestured that they should walk. They began to circle around the farm, first going round the side, past the outdoor shower, then past the carrot patch and past the cart which they had used just the day before after getting back from the underground caves of the goblins.

"Well you see at school I share a dormitory with Harry, and so I know things the others don't."

"One night this year, I woke up and I heard him laughing. It wasn't just a small chuckle or anything. It was a full blown laugh, as though he had seem something really funny. I'm surprised it didn't wake him up, because it woke me up. It went on for about a minute, before he stopped, and carried on sleeping. In the morning I asked him about it and he didn't say anything. He said he couldn't remember anything he laughed about, and I remembered. I mean it happens often enough doesn't it."

"But the thing is, that wasn't the only time. It started happening more and more… Every time I asked him about it he always replied that he didn't know anything, but he was being kind of edgy when he said it, so I didn't believe him. He always used to be honest with that sort of stuff, so I knew that if he was hiding it then there must have been a reason."

"And I suppose you know that reason do you?" Marcus asked as they strolled on.

"Yes." Ron replied, before several seconds of silence had passed. He eventually continued. "You see he normally wakes up before me, but one morning he didn't. I was awake, but he didn't know. I pretended to be asleep and I heard him moving. I could just see out of the corner of my eye, as he reached for his wand. Then he started rummaging round under his bed until he found his pensieve. I thought he just used to use it to help him with his Occlumency lessons, but it turns out that's not the case. I saw him putting some thoughts into it, and although I know I shouldn't have looked, I did."

"I didn't try and get him to show me, because I knew he wouldn't, so I waited until later in the day when I knew I could have a chance alone. It was during one of my free lessons, I went up to the dormitory and I had a look. He had it hidden behind a load of old books, as though he didn't want anyone touching it. I had a look, and now I wish I hadn't. It wasn't filled with anything I would have expected." Ron said in a strained voice.

"Its ok." I understand it's hard. You feel like you're betraying Harry, but until we understand we can't help him." Marcus said softly as he placed a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"They were dead…"

"Who?" Marcus asked.

"All of them! They were all dead. All the people we know. Voldemort his enemies, even his friends. They were all dead, and he had done it, he was laughing. There were so many of the memories, I thought they would never end. In one of the memories Hogwarts was gone, completely destroyed, and Harry was standing in the middle of the massacre, laughing his head off, but Dumbledore was still alive, just. Harry looked down at him, and then killed him. That wasn't the worst one though… There were others, more detailed, where he took time killing them. In one dream he had Hermione tied up, and he was torturing her…He was doing things I don't think Voldemort has even done…"

"Mmm I see." Marcus said, somewhat disturbed.

"But I don't think it has anything to do with real life. Harry would never hurt Hermione, or Dumbledore. Harry isn't a murderer."

"Not yet."

"He won't be. Harry is as good as they come."

"If you like…"Marcus said as they came back round to where the wizarding tent was. "You know him better than I do Ron, so I'm not going to change your opinion. Anyway I'm going to see if I can go and help with dinner."

As Ron separated from the old man, and walked into the tent. Marcus looked at him with a pitying glance which wasn't seen by anyone.

"If I were you." He said, as he considered all that he had been told. "It wouldn't be Voldemort I'm afraid of."

"So why didn't you tell me about you and Harry?" Hermione asked Blaise as they stood inside the small wizarding bathroom. Hermione was washing her hair at the moment.

"Well… there wasn't much to tell." Blaise said modestly as she blushed. Although she supposed she considered Hermione a friend, she still had trust issues, which made her overly cautious.

"Not much to tell?" Hermione asked with a small laugh. "Last time I checked going out with someone was fairly big news."

A silence fell between them and Hermione sensed that Blaise was a little uncomfortable.

"Look Blaise, Harry and Ron are my oldest friends, and despite the fact you seem to act towards some people I can tell that you're actually a nice person, as well as someone I consider to be a friend. If you're going out with Harry then that's a good thing I guess. He deserves to be happy." Blaise smiled a little.

"We haven't really been going out long…" Blaise said as she looked back on yesterday, and how it seemed so much longer than that."

"I could guess that much. Harry isn't the best at hiding his feelings, so sooner or later I get to know these things, despite what he thinks."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think you would support it. I know you said you were friends with me, but some people say things they don't mean. I believe you now… But don't you like Harry?"

"No, why would you ask that? Hermione asked, though she could guess the answer. The mistake had been made more than once.

"Well its just that you two have such a close relationship… I don't know two other people like you two who are as close, but aren't going out."

"Yeah, I guess I can see what you mean. But no, I don't like Harry like that. I might have once, but then that's bound to happen when you know someone so well. Plus there is far to much history between us. We are both happy just being friends, and I really don't wish for any more than that. Perhaps the reason we are so close is because we have been through more than everyone else. When you have been in a life and death situation, as we have several times now, it changes you. To know you can trust your life to someone is a great thing. Something that we have."

"I wonder if me and Harry will ever have that bond?" Blaise asked.

"I'm sure you will. Harry has already risked his life for you, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you and Harry are even closer than him and I."

"Do you think it's strange, that Harry is ready for a relationship so shortly after Cho's death?" Blaise asked after a moment in which Hermione finished washing her hair and started drying it. "I haven't asked much about it because it's awkward…"

"I can understand how you would feel that." Hermione said softly.

"Harry said that he knew Cho was going to die, and that he had accepted it, even before it had happened."

"I wouldn't like to say what Harry knows, but I can believe that is the truth. He has always been a little weird in that way, but that's just him. I wouldn't feel to bad about him dating you so quickly. It's not like he's on the rebound or anything. I sometimes don't know if Harry even loved her. I think maybe once he did, or at least he wanted to."

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked.

"Well, I mean that she was the first person Harry actually liked. He liked her back in fourth year, and they went on a date last year, but then there was a big argument and they broke up for a bit. Sometimes, and I might be wrong, I think he only went out with her again was because he had liked her, and pretending to like someone can sometimes be easier than owning up to not loving them at all."

"I can understand that…But he does…"

"Like you?" Hermione interrupted. "I'm sure he does. As I said though I may be wrong about how he felt, and I certainly wouldn't say it to him if I were you. It's just what I have gathered, from the way he behaves and odd things he has said."

"What do you think though? About the things the others were saying earlier?" Blaise asked as the conversation had changed direction. Blaise was washing now, and she was thankful for the fact Hermione couldn't see her face for it made the conversation easier.

"About him doing dark magic and things? Well I haven't given it much thought yet. After all it was only a little while ago when I did see him use and unforgivable curse…and personally although it's wrong, I think Harry does what he does for the right reasons."

"When Harry was a baby and Voldemort's spell rebounded back, Dumbledore always said that Voldemort had made a connection with Harry. He said that is why he has his lightning scar, and why Harry and Voldemort can read each others minds, even when they are hundreds of miles away. I think perhaps that is why Harry sometimes does things normal people doesn't, and why he can. I think that's why he can do magic others can't. As for why he does… he does it to protect the people he cares for. That is the most important thing to him, and to protect them I know he isn't afraid to do what he feels he must."

"So you don't think Harry is a Warlock like they were saying?" Blaise asked, becoming happier with each passing moment, despite the fact he was still missing.

"No, I shouldn't think so. After all it's not like he secretly has a desire to kill us all." She said with a laugh.

On the other side of the tent, in one of the bedrooms, Tonks and Remus were sitting down, having a discussion no less intimate than the two groups we have already seen.

"I think we should tell them." Remus said as he took her hands in his. "It's not fair that they shouldn't know. It's not fair on you."

"But I don't mind." Tonks confessed. "I knew this trip would be dangerous before I came, and I was willing to risk my life for it. Just because I found out I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not still willing to risk that."

"But it isn't that simple." Remus replied as he shook his head. "I don't mind risking my life, for I know it's what I must do, and although I don't like it I know you also feel you must risk yours in order to protect Harry and restore peace to the world. I can't however, risk loosing the baby, should something happen. I can't loose that much again!" He finished as he let go of Tonks' hands and felt the piece of paper in his pocket.

It was the same one that Harry had seen some months ago, back in Remus' office when time had frozen. It was very old and worn in places, and looked like it had been folded in his pocket for far too long. The picture itself was drawn in crayon, and showed him standing and smiling with someone next to him. This drawing was his most valuable possession he owned, for it was the only gift from the other person in the picture, from his daughter Natasha, named after her mother, who had passed away some fourteen years ago.

"It won't be like that this time." Tonks said as strongly as she could. She knew that Remus regretted every day that his daughter was growing up, unaware that her father was alive. "Everything will be different this time, because I'm with you, and I always will be. I won't ever leave you."

"But you don't have control over death do you?" Remus asked in a melancholy sulk. "No one does."

"No Remus, your right on that. I can't control death, but you need to have hope. If you can't hope that everything will turn out right then how do you get up in the mornings? The possibility of disappointment is worth the risk. Besides, medicine has improved since then. I assure you nothing will go wrong." Remus tried to believe her. He knew he should, logically, but it was so hard. Especially when his fiancée had died during child birth.

A long silence had fallen between them before Tonks spoke again, this time saying something which she had never mentioned before.

"And I think Remus, that perhaps you should get to know your daughter better."

"No that's a bad idea." He replied. "It's been far too long, and she doesn't even know if I'm alive. I don't know anything about her either. I don't know what she looks like or what sort of person she is. She probably has lots of friends, and having me as a father would just be an embarrassment."

"You're wrong!" Tonks said defiantly. "Every person deserves to know their father, and even if she didn't like you, which she would, then she would still be happy to know."

"I don't want to believe that." Remus said softly, as he shook his head. "To believe what I always have believed in makes me sure that I haven't made a mistake. Please don't make me doubt myself Tonks, because that isn't fair on me. My daughter isn't part of my life, and I'm not part of hers. That's the way it must be."

"If you think the children should know then you can tell them." Remus said vacantly.

"You were the one who thought they needed to know. Why am I making the choice?"

"Because I know you will make the right one." He said. "Now if you don't mind I need a minute alone, I need to get changed." Tonks knew she didn't need to leave for that, but if he needed to be alone for other reasons, which she knew was the case, then she was happy to comply. It was rare to find one man so full of self loathing.

Remus sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Why do I care?" He asked himself, though he happened to cast his eyes skywards. "It has been so long, yet still I resent what I know I must do." I was on the day of Natasha's birth, and the last day of a woman of the same name, that he had come to the same conclusion.

As he glanced over at the hospital bed, to where his heart lay still and pale. She looked as beautiful as ever, and despite all the pain she had been through at the end, she looked peaceful now. He painfully tore his eyes away from her, and looked down at the tiny child the nurse had just handed him. So small… and yet so much trouble in delivery.

His blinked a few times and a tear rolled down his cheek as he tried to keep his voice steady.

"Aren't you something." He said, though his voice fell to a whisper in those few words. "I'm called Remus, and I'm not your mother. She is over there. But she can't hold you right now." He bit his lip until he tasted blood as he tried to hold back the emotional flood which would wash over him at any moment. "You won't remember her when you're older, but I will. You're lucky in that way. I will miss her always, for she was my soul."

"Perhaps one day…" He said, before he took several heavy breaths and adjusted the baby's weight in his arms. "Perhaps one day you will ask about her, and I shall tell you, and I shall smile. I would like that, but it won't be today. I can't imagine I would smile on any day. When I get home, I might have some dinner. You can have some to if you like, though I don't know what to give you." He carried on, speaking for the sake of speaking. "You don't understand me of course, which I like at the moment. That makes you a very good listener. I'm sure you will listen to me lots from now on. I don't have anyone else to talk to."

"I haven't given you a name yet…" He continued as he looked at her and tried to think of something. The only thing that came to mind was Natasha's death. "Well I guess her name will do." He said with a sniff as he cast a glance towards his fiancé who was exactly the same as when last he looked. "We never considered it, because it would have been confusing, two people with the same name in the house, but I guess that's not a problem is it…"

"They say every cloud… has a silver lining." He choked, before breaking into shaking fits of tears.

The nurse nearby came and took the child from him.

"Thank you." He cried before turning away from them, and back towards the still figure of the one he had loved more than any other. James and Lilly had died a year ago. His parents six months ago, and now this. Surely his turn couldn't be far away. He hoped so. In the grave perhaps he could receive the release from the pain, which seemed as though it would never lessen.

"Why did you have to die?" Remus asked Natasha as he sat on the chair at her bedside. He took her hand in his, which already felt cold. "Why! You were so much better than me, so much kinder and wiser. You knew everything and I know nothing. I haven't read all those books and I don't know how to look after a baby! I need you Natasha. Please, I need you." He whispered as he shook her hand, to rouse her from the never ending sleep.

_I need you to wake up and take me home tonight. I need you to hold me tight and tell me it will be alright. I need you to wake up, and be my light, in the darkness of my life._

He stayed with her, for another half hour, humming softly to himself as he held a conversation with her. She didn't reply, and he didn't speak. He simply imagined it.

"I see." He said finally, as he stood up. "You make a good point." And with that, he strode out of the room, muttering to himself, in madness. "Everybody dies! Everybody. Everybody. Everybody…"

When he had calmed down a little he had the papers signed, and had his daughter handed over to an orphanage in Australia, in the home town of her mother.

"It has been done." He said, as he walked away from the tall building in which she would spend her early life. "I have done it for you Natalie, just like you asked me to. She will be nice and safe there. Tucked up and safe. Nice and safe… I can't hurt her when she is there. When she is there, away from me, she will be nice and safe, just like you wanted. Even when im a wherewolf, even if I escaped, I could never get to her. She is safe in there. So, very, very, nice and safe…"

And with that, ended what was the darkest chapter of his life.


	82. Natasha

Just wanted to apolagise if there are any mistakes on names. I think i might have called characters by thw wrong name in a few instances, but other than that I don't think so.

Next chapter should have some more action if that is what floats your boat. Also I wanted to apologise if any confusion arose from something I said. Someone seemed to think that last chapter was the end of the story. That's not the case. There is about another 20-30 chapters probably.

Also congratulations me! The story has reached 500,000 words. Thanks for all those who had been reading.

A few years ago, in a small school in Australia sat a young girl, names Natasha Lupin. Her teacher was complaining about how his students never showed him any respect, which was true. However to think that they cared was a mistake. None of them could be bothered to listen to a word he had to say.

"Want to go round Amy's after school?" Lucy, her best friend asked.

"No I can't." Natasha replied regretfully. "I have to go straight back to The Home apparently. They said it was important.

The Home, which Natasha was referring to, was a care home for young girls about her age, who either had no parents, or had parents who weren't worth having. She had transferred to The Home three years ago; as did most girls from the orphanage she had spent her earlier life in.

"They probably just want to try and blame you for breaking something." Said Lucy, who was what Natasha probably considered to be a sister. They shared a room back at The Home.

"Yeah, probably…" Natasha mumbled as she twirled the end of one of her locks of hair around her finger just in time to see the teacher walk out of the classroom.

"No body loves me!" He shouted at them as he pulled his poor quality teacher trousers a little higher. (They were the best he could afford.) "I don't need to take this kind of abuse!" And with that he left.

A Little over an hour later the bell rang signalling the end of the final lesson, and time to go home.

"You sure you don't want to come to Amy's?" Lucy asked. "Last chance to bail!" Natasha considered it, but in the end went with her original decision. After all she wasn't badly behaved.

"No that's alright. Maybe another day, See ya."

She slung her bag over shoulder, before closing her locker, with the combination lock she had had for several years now. She wasn't sure why but she had a feeling that it was important. It was as though she knew, with her sixth sense, as she called it. She couldn't call it magic really, though that is what it was, but sometimes when she was angry or sad things seemed to happen which didn't happen to other girls. Things seemed to happen, that never should happen.

The school was only a fifteen minute walk from where she lived, so she didn't have to long to wonder over exactly what it was that she had been called for. Usually the rules were quite slack, so she assumed that whatever it was, she must have done something seriously wrong, which she couldn't remember.

" Come along Natasha." Said Marie, and elderly women who had been working at the Home for many years. "We don't have all day."

"We don't?" She asked, as she thought for a moment. Was the telling off really that urgent?

"No we don't. Just consider yourself lucky you're not any later. The gentleman has just turned up a few minutes ago. He said he was delayed.

"There is someone here?" Natasha asked as she forgot about being told off. "Someone here to see me?" No one had ever come to see her, except of course for the local council official to check that the money that was being spent to look after her was being well used, and that she would grow up into a decent hard working person.

"Yes, a man! You heard me the first time so why do you make me repeat myself." Marie muttered as she tried to make Natasha look a little bit neater. Something which made her feel this person must be important, whoever he was.

"Why would someone come to visit me?" Natasha asked as she remained stood in the hallway with her bag on her shoulder.

"How should I know? It's not my job to know, but if they say its important then it is, so you had better be on your best behaviour."

"When aren't I?" Natasha scowled as she gave Marie a look which made the old woman break her stern tone.

"Don't you look at me like that?" She said, for she always tried not to get emotionally attached to the girls that came to stay, for all too soon they would leave. However sometimes she failed in this.

"I'm not meant to tell you but it seems this man has traveller all the way from England to talk to you about your parents." She said as she scooted the young girl towards a doorway at the end of the hall, which was where visitors would normally wait until they were ready to be received.

"My Mother is dead and my father didn't want me." Said Natasha as though this defined who she was.

"Yes, yes but that doesn't mean you can't still talk now does it?" Marie asked rhetorically.

"Now don't speak until your spoken to, look but don't stare. Don't slouch and don't look bored. Pay attention and don't try and be funny, because your not! Now in you go." She said as she opened the wooden door. There was a man standing, with his back to the door, facing the window which overlooked the large garden.

"Miss Lupin is here, as you requested sir." Marie said, as she closed the door, leaving the young girl and this strange man alone together.

Natasha expected the man to speak first, for he was the one who had asked for her. However he made no sound, and continued to stare out of the window, as though he had heard nothing. In the end the silence was so strong, so pronounced, that each tick of the clock on the wall felt like a drum beating inside her mind.

"You asked for me?" She said, just to confirm this stranger really was after her.

Another silence fell for several seconds, before the man replied in a distinct English voice,

"Yes, have a seat." Natasha sat down in the leather chair by the side of the room, with a small coffee table in front of it, and three or four magazines upon it. The man continued to stare out the window, so she could not see his face. She could however see that he had dark black hair, which was somewhat messy.

"May I enquire as to your name?" she asked, for sake of talking rather than wanting to know. He considered briefly.

"Yes. My name is Potter. James Potter, and I am an acquaintance of your fathers."

At this Natasha shallowed. Her Father? What could this man, an acquaintance, have to say to her? What could anyone who knew her father have to say that would interest her? He didn't want her. It was that simple.

"And?" Natasha asked curtly, as she now had more than just a hunch to hate this person.

"And it was decided that perhaps you would like to know something more about him. From what I gather you don't know much about him."

"Who was it decided by?" Natasha asked, curious as to whom exactly this stranger was, whom had yet to look away from the window.

"Well it was decided by your father some years ago, that when you reach a certain point in your life, that you should have the option made available to you. After all doesn't everyone deserve to know the truth about their life?" He asked.

"What do you mean by the truth?" Natasha asked. It seemed like a strange way of wording it.

"Well by truth, I meant the answers." He said as he lowered his eyes from the sky outside and turned round to face his daughter. "How is anyone meant to judge something fairly without knowing the answers?"

"I know enough to make my judgement." Natasha said as she felt her eyes drawn toward the man in the room.

We may recognise him as James Potter, for that is whom he appeared to be. However his eyes were frightening if you stared into them for any amount of time. They spoke of a lost soul, but also one who could read your mind, in the way that few could.

"Well Natasha, I can see you're a bright young girl, and I can also see that you don't seem to be too keen on the subject of your father, this is understandable. Perhaps you would be more inclined to talk about your mother?"

"You knew my mother as well?" She asked in surprise. Her mother was a rather different subject, and she would happily hear about her mother.

"A little, though not nearly as well as your father. However your father introduced me to her once, and I was in her company on several occasions following, therefore whilst I'm surely not the best to say, I expect I could give you a bit of insight into her life, and what she was like."

"Will you tell me?" She asked anxiously, as she found herself edged forward on her seat.

"Yes certainly. I came here to tell you about your father after all. I certainly don't see why I shouldn't tell you about your mother whom you are no doubt more like."

"I have a picture here if you want to see her." He said as he reached into his pocket, and drew out a small picture of a man and a woman. The picture was framed, and showed them sitting by a small tree with a crumbling stone wall in the background. This was Remus' garden. Natasha anxiously took it from him, and stared at it very closely. The woman reminded her surprisingly of herself, only the woman in the picture had more defined facial pictures.

"You can keep the picture." He said, as she went to sit back down with it. "The man in the picture is your father." He told her as he watched her reaction. She didn't seem top surprised.

"I could guess… I have seen a picture of him before." She confided. "When I was young he sent me a picture, in case I ever wanted to get to know him."

"From what he told me I'm guessing you didn't take up his offer?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"No…I didn't." She replied. "My fathers hair looks kind of grey how old was he?"

"He was always a little grey." James replied, with a small smile.

"So tell me about my mother then." Natasha said as she got comfortable in the seat.

He did just that. He spent the next forty or so minutes, describing Natasha as well as he could, which was remarkably well. He told her several stories, about how Remus and Natasha had met, how he had first asked her out, how they has had an argument.

"Are you making this up?" Natasha Lupin asked as a silence fell in the room.

"Why would you ask that?" He said as he stared at her, his smile fading a little.

"Well you are giving to many details. It isn't natural to remember that much stuff. You must be making it up." She explained.

He didn't say anything for a long time. A minute passed, in which he just stared at her, his smile gone now. She tried to stare back but found herself unable.

"Well you did make up some of it didn't you?" She asked again, as she looked at the floor.

"They were my best friends." He explained, as he moved from where he had been standing, over to where she was. He crouched down a little, so he could see her better.

"Look at my eyes." He instructed her. She looked up unwillingly, into those lifeless eyes, devoid of feeling. "Have you ever watched someone die?" He asked her.

She gave a feeble nod, before breaking the gaze. She couldn't hold it any longer.

"I stood and watched my best friend, sit at the bedside of his future wife, as she died. I saw her die, and I saw him die inside as well. I remember everything!" Natasha felt goose bumps rise on her back and she gave an involuntary shudder. When she finally looked up James had returned to the window. His eyes had begun to water, and his heart was pounding in his chest. It was all so hard…

As Natasha remained seated and silence returned to the room she felt she had said something wrong. Indeed the atmosphere was somewhat tense, and when the man did finally speak again, although it was quietly it made her jump.

"Hopefully you will never see someone go through that, but if you do, then you will be certain to remember all the times you did have together."

"You will find yourself remembering details you didn't know before. Still anyway, I have told you about your mother, the little that I know, if you still don't want to know about your father, that's your choice, but I advise you do. I wont tell you that he was a good man, because he wasn't, not when it mattered, but perhaps I can tell you how a good man can become bad, how he can make bad choices, and how he ended up leaving you in an orphanage"

Natasha did not respond, so James took this as an agreement to listen. He begun talking about what had happened, about what had driven Remus to the decision he had made, though he changed it a little to avoid mentioning the werewolf. By the end of the conversation he felt she was a little more inclined to share his view, though not entirely won over.

"Can I ask you something personally?" James asked, as he sat beside her. "I won't tell anyone else, I promise, but I'm just curious to know, have you never thought to try and contact him? I know you're only young, but still, it must have crossed your mind. Wouldn't the orphanage have been able to give you an address or something to write to?" he asked. He actually knew part of this wasn't true. Remus had said he made sure that she could never contact him.

"I did once." She confided. "But you definitely won't tell my father then? I don't want him to know."

"I swear on his life and mine." James replied sincerely.

"ok then, well it was shortly after I got a picture of him. As I said at first I thought he would come by and pick me up, but after a while I thought maybe he couldn't find his way. I was young at the time so I didn't really understand things back then. I decided I was going to go on an expedition to find him but of course I wasn't allowed to leave."

James laughed at this, though not in a patronising manner.

"And that was the only time?" he asked in polite curiosity.

"Yeah, I decided that it wasn't my job to rescue him after all…I did draw him a picture though. I thought that he might not recognise me so I did a picture so he would know it was me. I didn't want to take the picture though in case it got damaged."

"That's very sweet. You seem like a nice girl." James said with a smile. "Remus ought to know at least that."

"If he must." Said Natasha as she became a little more defensive. "But not about the picture!"

"Of course not, even though you do still have it." He stated, though it was in fact a question.

"How do you know that?" Natasha asked accusingly.

"I didn't until you just told me." There was a silence that fell between them before James looked at his watch and stood up.

"I think that is about all there is to say, don't you. I shall report to your father that you are well. You are well aren't you?"

"Yes." She replied as she rose to her feet to show him out.

"And you are safe as well?" He asked, this time with concern in his voice.

"Yes, thank you."

"Very, very… nice and safe?" He asked, as he turned his back to her.

"Er… yeah." She replied, not noticing as he calmed himself.

"Good then I think that concludes our business. It was a pleasure to meet you, goodbye." H said as he strode to the door. Natasha didn't know why but for some reason she felt herself inclined to ask this man something. It felt like a force within her was telling her to do it.

"Wait," she called as his hand was half way towards the door handle. "Did my father ever say anything to you about… strange stuff… unusual stuff?" She asked, as she looked at her feet in embarrassment. He would probably look at her as though she were mad.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he felt his throat tightening. He knew she probably would be, after all it would be strange if she wasn't. However to hear it, was strange."

"Things sort of like luck." She said, hesitantly, as she didn't want to say something wrong "But more controlled." He lowered his hand from the door handle, and turned to face her, a small smile on his face.

"Do you ever make strange things happen Natasha? Things you can't explain. Things nobody else does, and things that they can only dream of?"

She didn't respond, but he knew the answer was a yes.

"In that case perhaps we should sit back down. I believe there is a little more I should tell you about yourself, and perhaps a little more about your father. You don't mind if I have a drink before we continue do you? I suspect I will be talking a fair amount and my throat is a little dry."

He didn't wait for a response and instead took out a small flask before pouring himself something to drink, which she couldn't see. They talked for about an hour after that. He made sure she was talking about magic, which wasn't tough, and he then explained to her a little more about it, and the way it worked. In Australia the magical education system was a little different, and whilst if she had been in England she would have already received her letter of acceptance, here it was a little different.

In Australia Children could start the magic academy at the age of eleven, though this wasn't required. Indeed it was perfectly acceptable not to send a child until they were thirteen; if there parents didn't feel they were ready. Those few students with magical abilities, who had been bought up not knowing about it would carry on with Muggle school until thirteen, for it was believed that whilst there abilities were not less, that it was generally easier all round if they didn't join at eleven.

"My father was a werewolf?" She asked, at one point during the conversation.

"Yes, I'm afraid I couldn't tell the entire truth earlier, but that is the real reason, not the extremely rare turkey pox as I had said."

As the conversation drew to a close he began to say goodbye again.

"Time is getting on, if you don't mind." He said, as once more he stood up.

"So you will send the letter?" She asked him anxiously. She felt like this stranger held all her hopes for the future, along with this strange world in which she belonged yet had never set foot.

"I shall have you transferred for the start of the school year if that is what you wish." He said with a nod.

This time she walked him out of the room into the hallway where she said goodbye at the front door.

"Will you wait a moment?" She asked him. He cast a look at his watch before quickly agreeing. He watched curiously as she disappeared upstairs for a minute or so, before reappearing with something small folded in her hands.

"If you like you can give this to my father. It's the picture I drew. Although I'm not ready to talk to him now, I suppose I can forgive him a little, considering his situation."

"I'm sure it will make him the happiest man in the world." James replied with a wide smile. I shall have the letter sent tomorrow, so be expecting your acceptance within the week." As These words fell out of his lips though he felt something strange happen, something which although expected roughly now, was still quite a surprise to him. His eyes widened and the smile disappeared.

"Nice meeting you, goodbye." He said as he put his hand out to shake before turning and walking out of the front door. Natasha watched curiously as she could see something about this man was changing. His hair was becoming a little shorter, and a little greyer, and his face was becoming a little thinner, and a little paler. He also seemed slightly shorter. She saw him walk hastily down the street, till the front of the porch was blocking her view.

"Wait." She said as she stepped forward out onto the pavement where she would be able to see him. There was a loud bang, and the stranger was nowhere to be seen. It was as though he had vanished from the face of the earth. How strange… she though, as she considered what had happened over the last two hours. His hair was becoming greyish, and only after several seconds' consideration did she think something which sent shivers down her back.

Was it possible that the man she had been talking to for the last two hours was actually her father?

Back in present day Dinner was just about ready. The evening was slightly cooler so they would be eating inside the house. Blaise was just finishing washing her hair whilst Claire and Alex helped set the table.

"I think we are just about ready if you are." Andrew said as he stuck his head inside the wizards tent.

"We will be right there." Tonks said with a smile as she slipped on a pair of flip flops and stepped out into the cool night. It was at the awkward period just after sun down where there were lots of storm flies hanging about, so she quickly made her way inside the house. The others followed.

As Blaise came to the dinner table she wondered for a moment. Normally she would sit next to Harry, but he wasn't here right now. Instead she took a seat in between Hermione and Claire. The Blights had obviously been told not to mention anything about Harry, as Claire was fidgeting uncomfortably every time she looked at Hermione or Blaise.

"I'm afraid I can't stay for dinner." Marcus said as Andrew pulled out a seat for him.

"Oh, Why is that?" Andrew asked with a small frown.

"Well its just I need to return home for a few hours before I can go off looking later. I have been away from my house for a while now, and I don't wish to risk my health."

"You're not going to go and look for Harry yet?" Claire asked, unable to contain herself. "But he could be in danger now, surely you shouldn't wait." Marcus didn't respond to this straight away, but gave the young girl a curious look.

"As I told the others." He said in a kind tone. "If he is alive, and I strongly suspect he is, then he can live a little longer. There isn't much danger where he is. The only thing he has to worry about is the guard of Calmera which is looking for him. They should return to there city soon, for their beliefs don't allow then to work late into the night, with a few exceptions."

"Anyway I'm sure you will have plenty of fun without me, forget about Harry and I and I'm sure we will be back before you know it." Marcus finished as he left everyone else in the dinning room. Andrew went to greet his friend out.

"I hope that Harry is safe too." He said as he stood by the front door.

"Pardon?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I said I hope Harry is safe too."

Marcus nodded to this, before turning and leaving. He walked across the hard dry earth, not looking back over his shoulder.

"Strange man." He muttered to himself when no one else could hear him. "People always hear what they want. I said I suspect Harry is alive… I never said I hoped it."

Andrew stood in the doorway watching his friend walk off. There was something going on here, something that he didn't know. He could sense it, in the same way that he could sense magic, but he didn't know what it was. He would have a word with Remus later. Clearly there was something more than Harry Potter's disappearance on their mind. He went and joined his family and the five remaining travellers at the dining table.

"What did you do today then?" Remus asked politely, as he made conversation. Martha was going to speak, but her husband stopped her.

"Now now Martha, don't go telling them yet. Let's save that for later, for it is dull enough I'm sure it will put the children right to bed. A general round of laugh followed this comment as various foods were passed around the table. Hermione took a peace of bread from a plate and put it on her bread as the conversation continued.

"You can tell us about your day." Alex said excitedly. "What was Calmera like? Did the people there look weird?"

"Alex, mind your manners." His mother scolded him. "It's not polite to ask those sorts of questions." By those sorts she meant ones which involved a possible death of a friend.

"No that's alright Martha." Remus said genuinely as he cut up some of his food. "I', sure it is at least a little bit interesting, if you don't mind it involving a bit of magic that is."

A small silence fell, as both the Blight children knew their parents weren't to keen on magic, even if they didn't know why.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter." Andrew said. "After all magic seems to be important these days, plus I do know Alex would love to hear it."

"Well if you're sure then. I warn you though it might be a long story, rather a lot happened." He said as he began reciting the events of the day.

At some points other people joined in or even took over the story as they told their point of view, and events that only they saw happen. Towards the end of the story Hermione took over, for her bit was somewhat more exciting than a slow descent in a metal basket. The story must have taken the best part of an hour, so when they finished talking the meal was over.

"But how could Harry survive that?" Alex asked, earning him a kick under the table from his younger sister who was slightly more tactful.

"Oh I'm sure Harry will manage. He is rather good at staying alive." Ron said with a smile. His belief in his best friend was unwavering. "I will bet him and Marcus are sitting in that café right now having a cup of tea." He predicted. It was somewhat a somewhat wrong predication.

"Do you kids know how to make a fruit salad?" Andrew asked after moment.

"Yeah." His son replied, looking at his father as though he were slightly dim to wonder this.

"Well you can go and prepare desert if you like. My back is aching at the moment and I don't really want to get up." The two children grumbled a little as they got up from the dinner table and headed into the kitchen. "It's what children are for." He said with a hearty laugh before suddenly becoming much more serious once his children were out of earshot.

"Is there something more on your minds than what we know of?" He asked. "Forgive me if it's rude to ask, but it's just the feeling I get."

"Well I would have told you sooner if I thought it were important, but I don't. However there is no reason why you shouldn't know. Earlier in the tent Marcus just raised the issue of the fact it seems Harry has used a few spells normal wizards don't use." He went onto explain the discussion briefly, missing out a few of the things such as the unforgivable curses, and the word Warlock."

"Well your right. I don't think it's important really." Said Martha as they had finished. "I would worry if I hadn't have met Harry, but I can see he is caring young man, and has a heart of gold." Blaise felt her heart swell a little with happiness at this comment, as though she had just found a new friend, one who supported her feelings for Harry, and didn't try to say he was deranged."

Alex and Claire came back into the room with two trays, each one with bowls of fruit salad on. The room fell silent as they placed the trays on the table and took the two empty seats.

"Were you guys talking about us?" Alex asked suspiciously as he stared at his father, who wasn't a great liar.

"No, not at all." Andrew responded as he took a bowl and passed one two everyone else within his reach.

"Whatever." Alex responded as he started on his desert.

"Where is my spoon then?" His father asked as he raised an eyebrow, noticing his two children were the only ones with a spoon."

"Oh darn, I knew I forgot something." Alex said theatrically. "You won't mind running and fetching some more will you dad?"

"Its just our backs are really aching." Claire said mockingly.

Andrew looked between his two children, who seemed to be becoming increasingly difficult each day.

"You're a couple of slave drivers you know." He said with a laugh as he got up from the table and wondered off towards the kitchen, rubbing his back and putting on a limp. "Making a poor old man do it." Everyone laughed, though they wouldn't be later. They didn't know that that night there would be Death Eaters on their doorstep.


	83. Escape!

Back on Earth, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in a wooden chair at the front of the small building looking intently at the Veil of Darkness. He could not afford to take his eyes off it again, less he have more unwanted results.

"So what did you call us for?" Molly asked, as her and Arthur hung up their coats. Albus Dumbledore had summoned them, so that they may speak. Despite the hour they had left immediately, and had just now arrived, even if they had only left to return home earlier that day.

"I felt I should tell you a little bit about what is going on inside the Veil of Darkness." He said softly, as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He didn't like the situation, not one damn bit, but then there was nothing he could really do about it. Not as long as he had his responsibilities right, which he did.

"I thought you said you didn't know anything about what was going on inside." Molly asked, somewhat confused as she removed her scarf. "Didn't you say that once the children had gone through the Veil you wouldn't know anything until they return?"

"If they return." Arthur added helpfully, before his wife gave him a hard jab in the ribs.

"Yes, you are quite right on that." Albus replied.

"The reason you are here now does concern you, and the children as well, even if I don't know how well they are doing. We know they have made contact with Marcus Pennywhistle, and that he is helping them with the tast. They should have completed the second stage of their mission, or else be leaving to do so in their tomorrow."

"However, before I continue I do want you to remember Marcus is with them, and he is as powerful a wizard as I, and so they are quite safe… But none the less it has come to my attention that Voldemort and a few of his followers have also entered the Veil of Darkness."

"What?" Molly asked, as in that brief second her soul began to crack.

"I am afraid Voldemort is inside the Veil of Darkness." He continued. "It does not seem that he is after the children, but rather that he is after components so he can complete whatever his Rite is. We have no reason to suspect that he knows the children are in their, or to suspect that they will cross paths. They will most probably be rather fine." He said as he pushed his glasses a little way up on his nose.

Now would be the awkward part.

Molly was rather like a boiler, and once the heat was applied, the pressure would build and build within till she exploded, sometimes quite literally.

"You mean to tell me that Voldemort is in their, together with the children and there is nothing we can do about it." She asked, with her teeth gritted.

"With them being together, in the same world yes, though that is generally the case for most of their days isn't it." He stated optimistically.

Mollys blood began to flow to her face as flames flared up within her eyes.

"And you just sit there calmly?" She shouted shrilly.

"Perhaps you should calm down." Arthur tried as he gave her a weak smile which quickly evaporated under her gaze.

"Don't tell me to calm down, don't you dare tell me to calm down." She snapped at her husband. "Maybe you are the one who should calm down!"

"But I'm not angry…" Arthur said helplessly as he cast a quick pleading look towards Dumbledore, who happened to be watching a bird in a tree, rather intently.

"Well who's to say I am either?" she said satanically. "I think all things considered I am rather calm thank you. Telling me to calm down… I should calm up!"

Arthur decided he valued his life, so said nothing more. She took this as a sign that he agreed with her.

"And how did you let them slip past you?" She asked, rounding on Dumbledore. "You were supposed to be guarding the entrance, what were you on the toilet or something?"

Dumbledore gave a small cough, and darkened slightly.

"As I said, I'm sure they won't die." Molly's anger built a little bit more, before she fainted, and fell to the floor.

"I think it's safe for me to remove these." Arthur said with a small smile as he took out a pair of carefully concealed ear plugs. Albus looked at him for a moment thoughtfully before replying.

"Why did you have those in? It might have been good news I was going to tell her. She might not have got angry at all."

"Oh well you know." Arthur said with a shrug of his shoulders. "If it's not that then it's the toilet seat."

"My lord, I really think it would be best if we returned to earth now." Said one of Voldemorts followers.

"And I don't care what you think. I don't pay you to do it, I pay you to kill, now tell me have we got all we need for the rite?"

"Yes my master, we have all we need. As soon as we return to earth we may begin the preparations, and then we may open the Arc of Spirits."

"Hmmm in that case we can forget about that for now. Although I don't want the boy dead, we could still capture him. Whilst he is still here he isn't under Dumbledore's protection, and that gives us a good chance. Do we know where to find Harry Potter yet?"

"No sir I'm afraid not." The Death Eater replied once more.

"God damn it, what the hell is the intelligence department doing then?" Voldemort snapped.

"With all due respect, your greatness," The Death Eater said, casting over his shoulder. "The intelligence department is one Death Eater with a typewriter, he can't very well find out that sort of information."

Voldemort rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"Can't he use the internet?" He asked hopefully.

"No, I'm afraid he can't, especially not with a typewriter." He explained. Voldemort was top notch when it came to murders, but sometimes he was a bit behind on the times when it came to technology.

"Well we shall sort that out later then, I do believe I can see Lucius coming down the street, he should have some good news, if he knows what's good for him." At the moment Voldemort and his death eaters were sitting in a private booth in one of the many bars of Harmonia, the centre of Pharaphax low life. Here, even if they were overheard, would not be thought anything of, for murder was as common place as a healthy meal (which was admittedly rather rare in Harmonia, but still far more often than murder in any sane place)

A minute later Lucius strolled into the booth, though he was not alone. There was a hooded figure trailing behind him, whose face was obscured by shadow.

"Greeting's my lord." Lucius said with a small bow before taking a seat. "I have returned with some good news. Whilst I was unable to gain any more help from Oldman, I have on good authority, the location of Harry Potter."

"And would this good authority be your new found friend Lucius, or had you not noticed there was a rather inept spy following." He said rather indifferently. "The robe is something of a give away my friend."

Lucius quickly cast a look to the figure in the cloak who was still standing, at the signal of a nod the figure lowered his hood, to display a stern face, half of which was covered in tattoos.

"Greetings. My name is Phillius Sartaxum. I served under the great dark lord Gaeylmer, I am here as a representative of his followers, which serve him even in his grave."

"Gaeylmer? Why does that name sound familiar?" Voldemort asked in a bemused tone, half jokingly half serious. Lucius explained to him briefly about the great war between wizards and Muggles some years ago now. At the head of the war was Gaeylmer, whom you may or may not remember, was the same dark lord Martha and Andrew spied on during their youth.

"Oh yes I remember now." Voldemort smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "It is like a veil has been lifted from my eyes. It is like a fog has gone from my brain. I can see clearly now. The rain has gone! Metaphorically speaking." He said, as he tried to get a rise out of this dark supporter. He didn't succeed.

"So you say you know where this boy is that we are looking for do you?" Voldemort asked. Why would you wish to tell us, for I'm sure you don't wish to join us."

"I do know where he is." Phillius said, as he stared straight into Voldemort's eyes with an unflinching gaze. He wasn't current leader of Gaeylmer's troops for nothing. "And here is what I am telling you. There are millions of people in Pharaphax, and whilst you suspect he is currently in the plains that alone would take months to search, and I know you aren't intending to stick around after the Veil closes.

"I speak for his remaining loyal followers, which I'm afraid only numbers about a dozen. However we are all highly skilled, and are ready to help you in your task. He is currently living with a family, with which my men have a certain score to settle. Unfortunately for us, this family is under the protection of a wizard far more powerful than us."

"We cannot get near the family or their home, so we are unable to execute our revenge. We will help you if you help us. We will show you where this Harry Potter is, if you break the protection charm. If you are as powerful as you're _Death Eaters…" _he said the word sneeringly. "If you are as strong as they say you are I'm sure it won't be a problem for you."

"You want to see my power?" Voldemort asked as he rose to his feet, dorm clouds forming in the room and miniature lightning bolts blasting down around them. "If its power you think I wield then you have no idea. No charm has ever stood up to me."

"Glad to hear it." Said Phillius, realising perhaps he shouldn't challenge this man.

"What time suits you?" Voldemort asked gleefully as he liked his lips. He could almost taste the success. It tasted of cigar smoke.

"Well the pubs close as dawn, so if we want a victory drink then ideally before then."

"Splendid. Then it is settled! Get your followers ready and the murder shall begin."

On the Blight farm it was now dark. The sun had gone down some time ago, and the dishes had been washed up. Martha had sent the children up to bed, whilst the adults, plus Ron, Hermione and Blaise (who were very nearly adults) played cards. Ron didn't know how to play a lot of card games, and he had a bit of difficulty grasping the concept that at no point would there be any small explosions.

"Ha, snap!" He yelled triumphantly as he slammed a four of hearts down on the table.

"Er, Ron, we are playing poker." Hermione said as she covered her face in embarrassment.

"Say Remus, what do you say we up the stakes a little?" Andrew asked as he jingled a few coins in his pocket. His wife gave a strongly disapproving look, considering they didn't have much money, something they were rather modest about.

"Mmm sounds like an idea." Remus said as he threw some money onto the table. At this point everyone except Remus and Andrew stopped playing, for whilst they had an understanding of how to play poker, knowing how to gamble was a mildly different matter. They merely watched as each man fought against each other in the ultimate showdown. Not a showdown to the death, for those were everyday events, at least to one of them. No this was far more serious. This was a showdown for petty cash.

The game drew out for another half an hour, by which point it was completely dark outside. There was no electricity on the farm, so there were many candles around the room, but a lot of these had burnt somewhat low, and were now flickering as the wick was nearly smother by the wax, or else had burned out entirely with nothing more than a thin line of smoke to show that they were gone.

In the end Andrew won, though Hermione had her suspicions that Remus had let this happen.

"Oh well that was good fun. I think we should probably be heading off to bed though soon. I know its not that late but Marcus is probably going to stop by early in the morning. I should think him and Harry are at his place right now. He probably is probably polite enough that he would worry about calling round so late."

"But what if he doesn't find Harry? Will we still be continuing?" Ron asked, a question more than one of them had been wondering.

"Well Ron, I know you are only talking hypothetically." Remus said in a manner which clearly stated there was no point mentioning it, because it would get them all worried. "But if we were certain that Harry wouldn't be turning up at any point, and we are almost certain of the opposite, then we would have to stop."

"After all whilst it's not his fault, without Harry you are in no more danger than any other student at Hogwarts…"

"Except you Ron!" Tonks interrupted accusingly. "I know a couple of kids have been bullying you about the colour of your hair and the fact your robe has holes in it. Don't worry though, when your older you can get a job and buy some new robes and some dye."

Remus gave a small cough to show that this wasn't really appropriate for now.

"We shall spend the remainder of our time looking for Harry, before returning, in a worst case scenario." Remus said gravely as everyone sat in a grim silence. After he finished speaking there was a long pause in which everyone was in their own thoughts. It seemed wrong to break the silence, even if they wanted to.

"So shall we…" Remus said as he pushed out his chair and stood up. At that point however he didn't get to finish what he was saying, for their was a brilliant white light outside, brighter than anything they had ever seen. It poured in through every window, making everything inside seem as though it were glowing with brightness. Blaise covered her eyes with her hands, but still the light seemed to find its way into her pupils. Gr a moment she worried she was blind, but that passed when it occurred there were greater worries, and most blindness could be cured by magic.

As the bright light reached its peak, there was no noise. It was a little like an atomic bomb, without the deadly explosion which burst out afterwards. As it began to fade, and their senses began to return to them they gingerly opened their eyes. Everything seemed to still be composed of whiteness, but as the seconds went by they could see everything getting darker ands returning to its normal shade.

Alex lay in his bed grumbling to himself.

"How many candles do they need?" He asked in disbelief, as a considerable amount of light leaked in from the gap under the bedroom door.

Andrew, being the only one besides his wife to have a clue as to what was going on, yelled to them.

"Get down!" No one questioned this, but fell to the floor. Blaise cast a quick look out the window, and saw something strange. In the air, all around the house was a strange glowing aura, like the sun shining through rippling water, playing across the floor of a swimming pool or shallow sea. Suddenly there was a loud bang, as it flickered, and disappeared. The windows shook a little, but nothing broke.

"What's going on?" Tonks asked as she looked at Remus, and then at Andrew and Martha, all of whom had mildly blank expressions.

"The protection barrier has been broken." Andrew replied after he summoned his courage. "We are under attack!" True to these words if they looked out of the window they could see what appeared to be several shadows a short distance away from the house, coming closer. They were fully robed, except for one, who walked with his wand down at his side, and his eyes straight forward, looking at those in the house. This was Voldemort.

"Martha! The plan!" Andrew shouted to her, as he pointed to the kitchen. She nodded before quickly leaving the living room.

"Please, we have to run." She said to them, as she lowered Remus wand arm. He would have stayed and fought, even if he knew it was a loosing battle. However since he had the lives of others to consider he needed to think with less pride and more rationality.

"Do what you're told." He insturced Ron, Hermione and Blaise. "I will be right behind you."

Andrew had run upstairs to fetch his children. He stabbed his foot on a toy car half way there, and allowed himself the small luxury of swearing in pain. As he reached the children's room he threw open the door.

"Alex, Claire, are you awake?" He whispered as he strode over to where his daughter lay and picked her up.

"Dad, I'm fourteen." Alex replied. "And it's nine o'clock. You really think I was asleep?"

"You weren't?" His father hazarded before remembering why he was here. "Get out of bed right now. Get your shoes, no don't put them on, we don't have time, just get them!" his father said in a shouting whisper. "And come with me, we are in danger."

Martha knelt down by one of the cupboards in the kitchen and opened the door. Inside Blaise could just make out several tins of food. She was about to comment that there was not nearly enough hiding space there, and nor was it particularly safe either. However Martha crawled forwards and pushed the shelf giving way to a small tunnel.

"Quickly, you must hide." She told them as she eagerly pulled Hermione down to the floor and began pushing her through.

Hermione disappeared from site, as did Ron shortly afterwards. Blaise watched Remus, who was cautiously peering from the window.

"Duck." Andrew instructed his children as they walked past the living room window. They hunched over so that they wouldn't be seen by the Death Eaters. If they look hard enough they may find the entrance to the small tunnel, so there was no need to let them know the pray was fleeing.

"Come on Blaise, your turn." Martha said to the young lady, who had been considerate enough to wait for Ron Hermione and the Blight children to go before her.

"Damn!" Remus cursed as the window exploded in a shower of fragments. One grazed Blaise's cheek, leaving a small line of blood. Blaise averted her eye as she crawled into the cupboard and made her way into the dark cupboard, and into the hidden tunnel. She cast one final look over her shoulder to see Remus throwing up a Shamans Barrier, before moving into the darkness.

The tunnel turned out to have a steep descent only a few feet after it started. The surface was of highly polished wood, so she let herself slide down, as was intended in its design. She found herself in complete darkness now as she reached the bottom. She stood up, and bumped someone, though she knew not who.

"What's going on?" Claire cried.

"I don't know. Where's dad?" Alex asked, also in fear, but also with a hint of anger.

"Shhh, stay quiet and keep where you are." Don't go running off." Hermione instructed. Being the oldest of the group she seemed to take on a leadership role. A moment later Martha came down the slide feet first. Once she had climbed to her feet she took over the role, for she understood the situation better than any of the children.

"Quickly children run as fast as you can." She told them, despite the fact it was completely dark.

"Where's Dad?" Alex asked again.

"He will be right along." Martha assured him, though she wasn't entirely sure. As she had left she saw the magical protection Remus had summoned up collapse with a single look from the death Eater who was ghastly white. Tonks slid down the tunnel as Blaise felt the wand in her pocket. Despite all she knew, the small piece of wood felt of little comfort, as she felt all the incantations wafting round in her head like a jumble of useless gibberish. She started forwards, slowly at first, the ceiling was low, so she slouched a little, and the walls were close together. She could put both her hands to her side as she ran, so she could follow the tunnel without hitting the wall.

She could hear someone breathing in front of her as she ran, though she didn't know. It was probably Alex, for he was the last down before her. Blaise continued running forwards, before she bumped into the person ahead of her. In a second she had accidentally knocked them over, and tripped herself over as well.

"Owww," cried a voice confirming that it was indeed Alex who had fallen. Blaise tried to right herself from the tangle of limbs. Martha slowed down, realising someone had tripped, though the only sense that gave any indication of where was hearing.

"We are safe." came a voice from shortly behind them, as Remus and Andrew came up to them. "I closed the exit so we should have a bit of time to catch up. Why has no one got a light on?" Andrew asked rhetorically as he drew the wand from his pocket and lit it. The whole tunnel was lit with its light. This was nothing special to Blaise, who pulled herself upright. However to Alex on the floor it was a turning point in his life, as he saw his father use magic.

He didn't get a chance to say anything however as his mother grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him after her as they hurried on to where the others were a short way ahead on the outer stretches of the light.

"What is going on, Blaise asked as Remus, Tonks and Andrew rand along side.

"It's Voldemort" Remus responded between breaths. "But all those Death Eaters…"

"Some of them weren't your men." Andrew said, meaning people from earth. I recognise some of them as being followers of Gaeylmer. Looks like they have teamed up for a common cause."

"What are we going to do when we get out?" Remus asked Andrew, who knew the area best. Most of the surroundings was just endless plains, and so they could easily be spotted should the Death Eaters follow the tunnel.

"Hopefully the darkness will mask where we are going. There is a bit of a wind as well so we shouldn't have any problems with footprints." He said as he ticked off points in his mind. "If only there was some way to contact Marcus, he could help us."

"He couldn't kill Voldemort." Tonks said as she clutched a hand to her side where she had a stitch. By now a few of the others had lit there wands as well, so everyone could see quite well where they were going.

"That's not what I meant. It's just that unless you know something I don't they only way we can get all of the children to real safety, would be with a portkey, and I believe you said you didn't know how to make one."

"Yes…I'm afraid so." Remus said as they all ran on. There was a few seconds pause before Remus responded again.

"We have some brooms, though I don't know if they would be much use."

"No," Tonks replied. "They are travel brooms and don't have much speed to make a run for it… Besides if Voldemort did a magic scan he could sense there location I think.

"I don't know…" Remus said hesitantly. "The brooms won't give out much, and as far as we know that spell won't even work here. It's a choice we might have to make."

It is worth mentioning, that the brooms they were considering using, were at this moment in the wizarding tent, that Remus was carrying under one arm. As Voldemort effortlessly knocked down his Shamans Barrier, he cast a look to the side a little, where two Death Eaters were proceeding towards the tent. He quickly muttered the reverse spell, which caused it to spring closed, before summoning it to him. In its folded state it would never way more than a small amount. He held it in his arms tightly as one or two of the followers tried to call it back to them.

"Hmm…they are fleeing." Voldemort said with a small smile. "No good, you are surrounded." He said to himself. Little did he know as he said this that Remus was now diving down the small chute going down into the underground tunnel with Andrew hot on his heels.

Claire and the others came to the end of the tunnel, where a short flight of stairs led up, until they hit what appeared to be a wooden ceiling, different from the rest which was concrete.

"What do we…?" Ron began before Martha pushed her way to the front. She climbed up and put her hands against the board and pushed hard. It didn't seem to be moving at all, so Ron Quickly joined her. With the addition of his greater strength it gave a small creak and bean to lift up. The smell of cool night air filtered into the stale passage as with another heave they pushed open the cover to the exit. It was a thing wooden board, covered with a thin layer of earth and dust which was completely camouflaged from outside.

The only way it would have been found from outside would be if some one were to try and walk on it, in which case they would feel a springiness unnatural to the hard earth. However in the endless plains which stretched on for hundreds of miles the chance of this spot, a mile or so away from the nearest spot of interest (the Blight farm), of being stood on was rather non existent.

Everyone eagerly climbed out into the cool night air, which suddenly felt cold upon them. Claire and Alex were in their pyjamas, whilst Ron and Hermione were only wearing shorts and t-shirt. Blaise and the remaining three adults came out finally, leaving the tunnel empty, or so they hoped.

"What now?" Martha asked in a whisper, not wanting her children to know that they didn't know what they were doing.

"We think the best bet would be to fly on the brooms to the small mountain range of the oasis." Andrew asked, though the "we" he spoke of in fact only involved him. Remus hadn't discussed this idea, though he couldn't see a better one.

"Meanwhile Tonks shall fly separately, to the other side of the Plains to the point where we expect to find Marcus. When we find him he will portkey, back with her and hopefully Harry, to the mountain range where we are safely hiding." Remus added. It was a plan with many possible downfalls, but then that was life. A mess of uncertainty, which one bumbles through with the hope of not dying before at least one divorce, one bankruptcy, and one child who throws away their education for a job at a fast food restaurant and minimum wage. No one wanted to die before missing out on what, to be pessimistically realistic, was probably as good as it got.

Hermione nodded, for being quick of mind she had already evaluated the situation, and realised their choices were rather limited.

"The only problem is." Remus said as he laid the tent down on the ground several feet away from the hidden passage. "Is that it will take a few minutes for the tent to erect itself? I know we shouldn't stay here but we must do for a moment. After all we won't get very far on foot will we?"

He untied the strap and the tent slowly began to unfold until it took up a large space on the floor, it began to rise in the middle, as the poles slotted together by themselves. Although there was no way that the Death Eaters would be able to hear it back at the house, which was about a mile away, the motor sound that the tent made sounded loud in the night. It was a good job the wind was still here, or else the noise may have carried.

Martha and the children stood in the cold night, staring back at their house, hardly visible in the distance. They could see a small glow where the living room candles still flickered. Hopefully the Death Eaters would quickly realise there prey had escaped and abandon the hunt. Hopefully they would leave the house in a tidy state. Hopefully, but not probably.

A mile away, on the Blight farm Voldemort stood in the living room (though he found it hard to believe anyone could live in these conditions) waiting for his death eaters to do their job.

"They must have apparated away." Said Phillius as the whole house had been found empty.

"You're wrong." Voldemort said, with eyes that would mean murder should anyone disagree. "We know they were here, and when I summon up an anti apparation ward it works. They cant have used magic to escape. They must be hiding some where. Check the cupboards check the ceiling, check under the beds and check under the floorboards if you have to. They have to be here somewhere."

Phillius walked over to the kitchen where he began peering in all the cupboards, he even looked in the one which led down to the secret tunnel, but carefully concealed behind the fake back no suspicion was aroused.

"I don't know the way your old boss did things." Voldemort began, as he watched this curiously. "But I do things differently. You aren't looking for a feather duster so stop looking in such a manner." With this he clicked his fingers.

"You know the drill." He said to them as he strode out into the night air. He took several steps away from the porch before tuning back to look at it.

There was a bright glow coming from the windows.

"You and your followers will learn, that it is much easier to find someone once you have taken away many of the places they may hide. It is very difficult to hide in a house that is burnt to the ground. Not to mention we all enjoy a good bonfire." He said with a maniacal cackle. He pointed his wand at the sky and a green glowing skull with a serpent coiled through it shot into the sky.

"You watch the armchair now. That will go up in a jiffy!"

The tent was nearly up as Alex grabbed hold of his fathers arm.

"Look!" He said as he pointed to their house in the distance… A green skull appeared in the sky, which didn't mean anything in particular to the Blight family. However what drew Alex's attention was the flames which he could see smothering one side of the house. "We have to stop them!"

"No, we can't." Andrew said as he watched his house being engulfed in billowing clouds of smoke and fire. A lifetime of memories was burning down, along with their way of life as they knew it.

"We have to dad, they are destroying everything. We have to stop them."

"No Alex, we can't even though we want to. We can't do anything." His father replied solemnly. His son didn't realise just how much things would change.

"You can." Alex said scornfully. "You can."

"This isn't the time for that." He snapped. "This isn't a game son, so stop behaving like a child. You want me to treat you like an adult, then think like one. You must know when to stand and fight, but more importantly you must know when the best thing to do is turn your back and run."

"Like a coward?" Alex asked. He hated his father lecturing him.

"So im a coward for protecting you and your sister am i? I'm a coward for protecting your mother? You know nothing about the big wide world we live in son. You know about life on the plains, and you know about farming, but you don't know anything about murderers do you. You think they would have honour and fight one by one?"

"They attacked in the night, so we know they have no honour. If I hadn't been a coward, as you put it. I would have stayed and fought. I would have been outnumbered and I would have died. They if you're lucky they would have killed you. If you were unlucky they would have tied you to the dinning table and let the heat and flames kill you and your skin blisters and burns. You know nothing about what we are up against, so don't tell me what I must do." He finished, realising his voice had risen to a shout.

Claire was silently crying as she held onto her mothers hand tightly. She had never seen her father so angry. Nor had Martha for that matter. Not since they moved to the plains at least. Perhaps he could have handled things a little better, but she knew that things were changing, and regardless or their hopes it seemed everyone was being thrust into the dangerous world they had tried to escape for so long. Alex was only a boy, but weakness was not something they could afford.

"It's ok." Remus said as he placed a hand gently on Andrews shoulder.

"But we lost…" Andrew began softly.

"I know, I know." Remus said. Under such pressure, such danger and such responsibility anyone could snap.

"It's just all the effort we went to, to protect our children. Not a day passed when we didn't worry. We tried so hard, fought so hard, and I thought it was so they could be safe, but they aren't. What do we fight for then, if it was all a waste."

"It wasn't a waste." Remus said, as he tried to speak quietly, not wanting Alex or Claire to hear to much of what was being said. "You have kept them safe all this time. You fought for the long, and it was worth it. You will always fight for your children, as would any parent."

"But I can't keep them safe any more… What else is there to fight for?"

"You will fight for the future." Remus said bravely. "My father said to me when I was younger, when my life seemed to be falling apart, he said "the man of tomorrow fights his battles today" I know you have the strength needed to fight, so don't worry. There will come a day again, when your efforts pay off, and once again you're family can live peacefully, and your children will be nice and safe." He finished as his eyes glazed over a little.

"Right I have the brooms." Tonks said as she broke the silence which had fallen. She had just emerged from the tent with Ron and her holding six brooms between them. "Now get the tent folded away, and we shall get back to running. It isn't safe to stay here!" Andrew gave a firm nod, to say he was ready to carry on. They folded the tent down, and divided the brooms, so they could continue on what would be, a rather dark night.


	84. The Dark Night

Hi, sorry things are late as usual. I have been caught up in books and films and series 4 of Smallville. Hopefully you have all been having as much fun. I hope you enjoy.

"Ok Tonks needs a broom to herself so she can fly quickly. That means there will be five brooms left to share between the eight of us. I know that really isn't ideal, but I' afraid there isn't much we can do about that. Two people have a broom to themselves, whilst everyone else will have to double up. If possible the two heaviest people should have a broom to themselves, whilst the others are doubled up so that the heaviest of the remaining six is with the lightest. I know these flight brooms can travel for a long time but I don't really know much about the load they can carry." Remus explained.

"Tonks, you should leave now, for it is imperative that you make good time." Remus said as he handed her the best of the brooms. "Good luck, to you." He prayed.

"No, not to me." Tonks replied as she mounted the broom. "I am lucky. I have been given the safest task. It is you who I fear will need the luck." She gave a small salute, before kicking off and flying off silently into the dark night. She kept low to the ground, as she flew a safe distance around the farm. The most direct route would take her straight over it, but that wasn't an option.

"Ok now, Ron, you're a tall lad, you can have one to yourself." Remus said as he passed one to the boy who stood a few inches above Remus. "Andrew. You and I are about the same height but you're quite well built, so you should also have one to yourself."

"Err I'm afraid I don't know how to fly." Andrew admitted sheepishly as he shuffled his feet. "Could you teach me in time?" He asked optimistically.

"No, im afraid not. That would take time, which we don't have. I guess I will just have to put you with someone who knows how to fly, and hope the weight won't slow you down to much."

Out of the group of six that would be sharing, Hermione, Blaise, Andrew, Martha, Alex and Claire. Only two of them knew how to fly. Remus recognised this problem.

"Darn… Im guessing none of you know how to fly then." He said as he looked at the Blight family. Those less kind may think of leaving the family behind, who would no doubt slow them down. However no such thing would occur to Remus.

"Well we can still make it work then." He said as he did a quick calculation.

"Ron, you and Claire will have to share" Remus said as he paired off the heaviest and the lightest. Then it will be Alex and myself in the second pair. Hermione, I'm afraid you will have to go with Andrew, and Blaise, you will be with Martha. That leaves us with one spare broom, whilst each of us is paired up with someone who knows how to fly. Im guessing the heaviest pair will be Hermione and Andrew. So you can take the spare broom and fix it to the first. He gave each pair a broom, before pulling out a length of rope from his cloak and binding the spare broom to the one Hermione and Andrew would have to use.

In actual fact the heaviest pair was Remus and Alex, but Hermione was probably the least proficient out of those who could fly, and the extra flight strength would serve her best.

"Um, are you sure this will work." Martha asked anxiously as she looked ath the brooms. Broom flight wasn't generally practiced in Pharaphax, and so even though she was a witch, she was still somewhat suspicious.

"Im as sure as we can be." Remus replied honestly. "Blaise is a very good flyer, as are all Ron and Hermione. They all play Quidditch, a broom sport, for their school, and are some of the best for their age I have ever seen. If we can get the brooms of the ground then im sure we will have no problems from there."

Everyone got ready for flying. Claire and Martha seemed rather worried, though Blaise was to. She felt rather uncomfortable flying with someone on her broom. Especially someone whom she didn't know that well. She was at least thankful for the fact that she hadn't been paired up with Andrew. That would have felt like she was betraying Harry. If she went for a ride with another man.

"This is ridiculous." She thought to herself as Martha sat perched far on the back of the broom. Blaise went to kick off, but felt the additional weight change things completely. She was balanced differently, and had greater drag.

"If you don't want to fall off the back you should move forwards and hold onto me." Blaise said through gritted teeth. She hated people, in general. Harry was an exception, and she supposed Hermione was quite nice, but generally she didn't like the proximity with anyone else.

She adjusted her hold on the broom, and tried again, this time with more success. The broom rose a few inches before swaying slightly as a gust of wind came over them. Blaise pointed it right for a second, and the broom stayed where it was. She would be able to manage, it would seem, unless there was a storm, which thankfully there wasn't. The night was still quite still, though it was darker now than it had been, as a cloud of smoke wafted in front of the moon.

"Is everyone ready then?" Remus asked, as he looked around at the other three pairs, each one hovering a foot or so above the ground.

"Yeah, let's go." Ron said as he readied himself. He was the fastest of the pair, but Andrew and Hermione would be leading, as they could best find the oasis and the mountains at night. Remus and Alex however would be setting the pace, as they were probably the slowest of the lot.

In total silence the journey began. They kept very low to the ground, to avoid being seen, and also so they could follow the trodden path that led to the oasis. This path would have been a concern, had it not been so invisible. Most of the plains was bare baked earth, with occasional tufts of wild grass here and there. Andrew was the only one who seemed to be able to tell the difference between the spot he was looking at, and one ten feet to either side.

Can't we go any faster?" Ron asked as the brooms trundled along. Compared to Quidditch these brooms hardly even seemed to be moving.

"I'm afraid not." Remus said from the back. This is as fast as I can get it up to, and whilst im tempted to tell you to go on ahead, I think it is safest if we stick together. Voldemort won't be as powerful here, without all his spells to use. In the slim eventuality that we do come across him, we may fair better than we normally would."

He called it a slim eventuality, but he realised that it was quite possible. After all with the house ablaze like that it wouldn't be to long before he realised they had escaped, probably through a secret tunnel. However there was no need to worry anyone more than they already were. The small mountain range wasn't to far away, so they would probably arrive in about ten minutes with a good wind. All they need pray was that Voldemort wouldn't make it so soon.

"Are you sure we are going the right way?" Hermione asked tentatively. She didn't want to offend Andrew but the mountains had been visible in daylight, and now when they were closer than they had been, they couldn't see a trace.

"I'm sure." replied Andrew in a tone that said it would take a long time to explain how he was sure. "The reason why we can't see them at the moment is because of the weather."

"What do you mean? The sky is clear."

"It may be here, but over there are probably some pretty dark storm clouds. They are common this time of year, so that's why you can't see the mountains. It's also good because it means we will be able to hide more easily."

"Can you think of anywhere to hide when we do get there?" Blaise asked, as she had been listening to the conversation. Andrew considered briefly before replying with a small smile.

"One or two places…"

Marcus hobbled down the cliffy rock of the void that Harry had fallen into. It was damn near impossible to get down safely, for the platforms were thin and often crumbling. He wondered briefly whether Harry's way down would be safer. He had already slipped several times, and stubbed his toes against a rock. It was a damn pain.

The time here was a little behind compared to the Blight farm, so whilst it was dark there, and the building was blazing like a beacon in the night, here the sun had only set about twenty minutes ago. The guards of Calmera were still buzzing around the area. Many of them had spread out to the surrounding land, after having turned over the small bar next to the baskets. A few however had descended a short way into the dark crater.

Marcus had been able to slip past these with simple attire. Like Oldman he knew that looking that part was half the battle, and so after casting him a glance and assuming he was doing the same thing as them, the Calmera guards left him alone. Marcus gingerly stepped down onto a lower platform that was no wider than his foot. He balanced here only a moment before jumping onto another one some feet down. If Harry had fallen all the way to the bottom then it would take some time yet…

"This is pointless." Complained one of the guards from nearer the top. He wasn't as agile as Marcus so he was still fumbling down only twenty meters below ground level.

"We aren't paid to complain." His friend remarked as he held up a naphtha lamp.

"We are hardly paid at all."

"True, true. We are paid for the time we take though, not the criminals we catch. If they want us to go looking for a dead guy then I think it's fair enough. There are plenty of worse things than standing here."

"You might think that but you're biased. Just because your sister in law spent a few days down here once you seem to love it. I don't! The air doesn't smell right and the ground is solid. I tell you it's not natural to live like this. It gives me the willy's just thinking about it!"

Marcus carried on. The guards were some way above him now, so he put away the torch which was more trouble than it was worth, and pulled out his wand, which provided a much more reliable light. Even so the floor and other side were so far away it did little but light up the rocks on his side, and it wasn't to likely that Harry fell there. If he did though he would stand a better chance… After all it was an acknowledged fact that monsters, among other things, lived at the bottom.

He could safely look for another three, maybe three and a half hours, before he needed to head back out. He needed to get out after all, and the magic that had ripped Calmera from the earth and hung it in the sky, had left its marks. He certainly wouldn't be using a port key to get out. As he went to place his foot on a rock it gave way beneath him. Thankfully he still had a firm handhold, and so he didn't go down with it. He watched as it tumbled down into the dark void below him. It made a few small sounds as it hit a few bumps at first, and then it fell, forever perhaps. There was no sound, and so if there was a bottom it was still to far away to think about.

Could anyone, even a warlock, have survived that fall? Marcus could only guess. Several minutes later, down the bottom, in total darkness, a small pebble bounced, once, twice, before making its final impact on a torn sleeve.

_What happened? Where am I? I was falling and then…Am I alive? Everything is so dark…What was that sound though? Something must be moving…_

Harry blinked, and opened his eyes.

As Ron and Alex flew just behind Andrew they were the first ones to spot the mountains. They were young and there eyesight was sharper, so it was with surprise that they suddenly noticed the faint outline low to the ground. A minute later of flying and they could all see reasonably well, the smallmountain range which spiked up into the low lying storm clouds, just as Andrew had predicted.

"What part do we want?" Remus asked from the back as they drew closer. "If there are any good places to hide then we should head straight there."

"Well I can't say I know for certain, Andrew said as his brow furrowed. I have ideas, but since I have never actually tried hiding in the places I have in mind I don't know how good they will be. I do know however that there is a small cave just behind the bottom of the water chute, it should be big enough for all of us."

Even a mile away the Blight house could still be seen clearly burning. The mass of the house had burnt through, and now it was only the thicker parts such as the beams and a few cupboards that were left. Voldemort stood, waiting for a few more minutes, before it would be burnt enough. They weren't in there, he could tell that much, but they had escaped, and it would only be a matter of time before he could find out how.

"Let's land quickly." Remus instructed as they reached the edge of the oasis, where thick trees were growing. The trees weren't very deep, so it would only be a minute before they got to the pool of water with the waterfall behind which they should be able to hide until Marcus came to their rescue. The air was cold here, with a damp feelings common before and after storms. The grass beneath them also seemed slightly squelchy, suggesting it had probably rained earlier, though looking at the sunshine they had had this wasn't what one would believe.

The group of eight ran through the trees, before emerging into the clearing only the day before, under much better circumstances. The fact they were in danger, greatly changed the atmosphere. Where before a dark patch of shadow had seemed natural or mysterious, now it seemed sinister and threatening. It was in their minds, but they felt as though the very ground they stood on wanted to kill them.

"There…" Andrew said as he waded out into the cold water. "That is where we can hide." He said as he pointed towards a small waterfall at the base of the chute they had been playing on yesterday. Perhaps it wasn't a commonly known fact in Pharaphax, but waterfalls always had hidden caves behind. It was like a law. A law of Custard.

"Shall we hide our brooms?" Blaise asked as she gave one final look at the water before deciding to follow. She didn't have much choice, but she did at least manage to slip her shoes off first. There was no reason why she had to be uncomfortable later.

"No, we can't risk them being found. Besides if we were discovered they would be useful for escape. After all people can't fly without a broom, and Voldemort doesn't use brooms." Remus replied as the water rose to waist deep by now.

"Why not?" Alex asked, who thought broom travel was fantastic.

"Dunno. Maybe he doesn't think it's cool enough." The water was cold now, though not cold enough to be dangerous. They held the brooms above the water as they slowly moved forwards. They had reached the deepest point now in the lake, and Claire was standing on her toes so it wouldn't go above her neck, and was therefore making the slowest progress. None the less the water began to get a little shallower as they reached the water fall.

"There should be nice and safe." Andrew said loudly over the splashing of the water as it foamed at the bottom of its journey from up near the top of the small mountains. Standing just a few feet in front of the waterfall they couldn't really see through it. Perhaps if there was bright sunlight, it might be slightly transparent, but in the dark night the water shone and reflected back.

They moved forward a little, until the water was pouring down from above. They closed their eyes and held there breath as they walked through the waterfall which felt much deeper than it actually was. It was quite strong however; stronger than it had been the day before. With the storm up near the top of the mountains the fresh rain had caused it to surge somewhat.

Finally they all emerged into the small cave behind the waterfall. It was quite low, only head height at entrance, falling to around three foot at the back of the cave, which was perhaps seven or eight feet in. It wasn't as comfortable as they had hoped, due to the fact that they were still standing in a foot of cold water.

"Blast." Andrew cursed as he was the first to see the problem. The increased strength of the waterfall, mean that it was also moving faster. Now, as the water fell through the air having left the edge of the rock that was the top of the waterfall, rather than cascading down like usual, it continued to move forward somewhat. Although they hadn't noticed, there was a gap just shy of two foot wide between the edge of the waterfall, and the entrance to the cave. If anyone were to approach from the side the secret hiding place could quickly be noticed.

Andrew pointed at what he had seen, and explained, what we have just learned.

"They probably won't notice." Martha said as she held her children close to her. She didn't feel safe here, but she knew out there was even less safe, and her nerves had reached the point where she wouldn't be able to move, even if she knew it was the right thing to do.

"They will." Remus responded grimly. "They will find the tunnel, and follow it. Then they will see that we aren't out on the open plains, and check here."

"We will have to try somewhere else then." Andrew said firmly. "I know a couple of other places perhaps. The only thing is I don't know if it is large enough for all of us. We might have to split up.

"No, that is too risky." Remus said firmly. " This looks like its as good as it gets. Even if we were found it's a strong place, we are defended on three sides…"

"Or trapped." Alex said tartly. It was something that they all had been wondering slightly, yet it was something they also had chosen not to think about. No one likes a morbid bastard.

"If the water is flowing to quickly then we just need to change that." Remus carried on. "I should be able to nip out there and put some rocks or something there to slow it down. Once the water has slowed the water should fall as it normally does, and this will be hidden again, is everyone ok with that idea?" He asked.

A few of them nodded, though none spoke.

"Very well. I will be as quick as I can. You just wait right here." He instructed as he placed his broom down at the far end of the cave. He was about to step through the waterfall once again when Blaise grabbed him by the wrist.

"I will come and help. We will get it done twice as fast." Remus began to utter an argument, but she continued. "It's what he would have done." Remus gave a reluctant nod and a sigh. She was right, and whilst he didn't want her to be in more danger, if he was to slow, all of them would be in danger.

The two stepped through the water fall, and began making their way over to the side of the lake. They emerged onto the soft wet sand, leaving foot prints. Remus crouched down by the waterside and splashed some water at where they had been until evidence of their presence had been eradicated. He stood up again, and stared up the naturally formed pathway they would take. A gust of wind blew, which caused them to shiver in their wet robes.

The house finally finished burning, though a few embers continued to crackle with a glow under the burnt exterior.

"Do you like Snakes, Phillius?" Voldemort asked as he walked along the floorboards, many burnt through, others several feet high with debris where the upper parts of the house had crashed down upon it.

"I don't really have an opinion about them." Phillius replied honestly. He didn't like Voldemort. He spoke in far too many riddles. This was an opinion Voldemort knew entirely, for it would seem Phillius knew very little about Legilimency.

"I have always found them fascinating creatures." He carried on, as he walked into what was the kitchen. "You see the thing about snakes is they can take on an opponent many times their own size, and they can strike with lightning speed, and yet despite being brave creatures, they are also clever and know when the chances are against them. They know when to flee. I find that life often imitates nature, don't you?" Voldemort asked s he kicked away a board, which covered a small tunnel going down into the ground.

He only gave it a brief look, as though he knew it was there all along, and had merely burned down the house for fun and dramatic tension.

"A snake always has a hole to run to? Don't you Phillius?" Voldemort asked, as he rolled a blackened jar of marmalade under his foot.

"No, I have never had a need."

"Well, that's a pity." He said with a smile creeping across his face. "There is a first for everything."

There was a loud flash that followed this, as his Several Death Eaters all executed spells simultaneously. A few seconds later, with hardly a fight, the last followers of Gaeylmer were dead.

"How weak." Voldemort said as his lip curled in disgust. "Shame on us for wanting their help. Shame on us indeed." And with that, he instructed his Death eaters to go down into the underground tunnel, and find out where it led. There would be more death tonight, of that he was almost certain. His loins practically tingled in anticipation.

Blaise and Remus made their way up the path around the side of the lake. There were tall trees on one side, whilst the side next to the water chute was more rocky and bushy. Once they were up above the top of the hidden cave Blaise made to walk through the bushes.

"Wait." Remus called to her as he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. "We had best walk up a little too where the bushes are thinner. Some of them look a bit dead and we would probably end up snapping a load of twigs and leaving a path if we try and squeeze through.

Remus insisted they walk further up, so it wasn't until at least a minute later when he finally found a point where he was happy to try and cross over. It didn't have much overgrowth, and there were two rocky platforms which they could climb on, the second of which also formed the side of the water chute. They should be able to crouch on this and block it up a bit.

"I will go." Blaise said, as she looked at Remus, who looked exhausted. She didn't know it was because tonight the moon was nearly full. She hadn't thought about that. "I'm lighter on my feet."

"Ok." Remus said, as this was the wise choice. "But you will be in charge of blocking the stream then. Try and make it look as natural as possible, like a branch has fallen or something." He instructed

Blaise nodded, before coming up with a rather important question.

"Where shall I get the branch from then?" She said as she stood on the first rock a few feet away from the side of the path.

"Hold on, I will just get you something." He said, before running off up the path. He disappeared around a corner, and for a moment Blaise was left feeling very alone. The wind blew, and there was the light fall of rain. By the looks of the clouds a little further up in next to no time they would be under a full on storm.

She was just high enough to see over the small circle of trees which surrounded the oasis. In the distance she could see a tiny light, the glowing embers of the house that had been so different such a short time ago. She inhaled deeply, and between the smells of the imminent storm and the growth, she could pick up a faint whiff of smoke, carried in the wind. She shivered and wished she had something besides wet clothes to pull tighter around her.

She felt like she did back in their first night in Pharaphax, when Harry and her were trapped in the small cave. The only difference was that this time he wasn't there to protect her. She was an independent person, but even the best will understand the fear better on their own. Just as she was starting to loose her nerve Remus reappeared, wielding a branch about four or five feet long.

One half was bare, but the other was highly bushy, and would hopefully slow the water down enough that it would conceal the entrance at the bottom.

"I was lucky to find this has already fallen. Remus said as he handed it to her. She nearly fell from the rock as she took hold of its weight, which was much more than she had expected. "That means Voldemort shouldn't be able to find it as any sort of clue. To us being here at all, let alone under the water fall."

Blaise moved towards the edge of the rock. It was a few feet above what would be considered the path. There was a small low bush in front of her, which with a large jump she mostly managed to clear. Her legs brushed against the far side as she landed, and she got a small cut, but she didn't notice this until later. She was standing in a small clearing, no more than two feet in each way. There was a rabbit hole on one side, disappearing under the bush.

Blaise placed the branch down on the rock in front of her, before pulling herself up onto it. As she did this the small river became visible, and though she couldn't see she could guess the bottom lay about twenty or so meters below.

"How should I do this?" She called to Remus, over the low roar of the water as it rippled over small bumps before churning into a white froth at the bottom.

"Try and hide the broken stump." Remus called back to her. "Unless you can make it look like it has broken from a tree then you will want to make it look like its growing that way."

Blaise looked to the other side of the flowing water. It was a few feet wide and probably ten or twelve inches deep. Unfortunately the plants on her side weren't nearly big enough for the branch to belong to them, yet on the other side, where there were much larger trees growing there was a sheer rock face several feet high, so there was no way she could get across to there.

"I think we need to go back and get our brooms. I can't get into a good position." Blaise called to him as she swung the branch over so the leafy end was in the water. Almost immediately she felt its drag against the flow, and found herself nearly pulled down after it. She pushed hard against her foot hold and lifted the leaves just clear of the surface again.

"We don't have time for that." Remus called back to her. With the full moon his senses increased, and he knew, without the smell of smoke in the wind, that danger was fast approaching. Voldemort would have found the tunnel by now, and it was surely only a matter of time before he reached the end and found the logical next place too go to, would be here, at the oasis. "Just do the best you can."

"Do you really think we will be safe?" Blaise asked him, as she paused from what she was doing. She couldn't help but feel that it was all a little ridiculous, that their life depended on a broken branch and a waterfall. Remus didn't answer straight away, but considered for a moment, as to how honest he should be with her.

"We are hiding behind a waterfall." He finally replied, answering her question.

Blaise lowered the branch again, this time a little further out so that the other end could reach the far side. It was pushed down a few inches until the other end seemed to catch against some small lump of rock she hadn't noticed. The water level against the branch grew a little, and slowed down as its speed was broken by the obstacle.

"I think I got it!" She called back excitedly as she called to Remus.

Remus smiled briefly, before the branch shifted causing Blaise to loose her balance, and fall on her back, into the stream of water. The branch was pushed aside as she fell, and by luck she ended up in front of it. However, both Blaise and the branch quickly sped down the water way. Remus jumped forward to see what had become of Blaise, but by the time he reached the viewpoint she had gone round a curve, and couldn't be seen.

Blaise splashed down into the lake a moment later. She rolled in the water, disorientated and unsure as to which direction was up. In the end her foot hit something, which hadn't to be the ground. She kicked hard against it, and resurfaced a few feet away from the base of the waterfall. She wiped her blonde her out of her eyes, and looked up at where she had fallen from. The branch had managed to relodge itself in the rock, and was thankfully, blocking the water rather effectively.

They had some luck after all, or so it would seem.

Thanks for reading. I am aware that gain Harry didn't feature very heavily in this chapter, and I'm sorry if you are a big fan of his (who isn't?) all I can say was that his absence has been planned (someone accused me of forgetting the main character). He will feature a little more in the next episode, and will I expect have resumed the main character role by the start of the chapter after that.

Also, just to let those of you know, who are curious, this story is now over twice as long as OOTP

Thanks.


	85. Confrontation

Remus came round the corner a minute later, rather out of breath.

"Are you…" He gasped as he hunched over with a hand on his side. "…alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit of a fall." Blaise said as she waded away from where she had fallen. There was a dull pain in one of her ankles, so it might have been sprained, but other than that she was fine. "Looks like it worked though." She pointed to the branch,

Remus looked at it closer, and then at the water falling. True enough the flow of water wasn't quite so fast, and so it now entirely covered the entrance to the cave.

"That will do." Remus said, but we have a bit more work to do. "Im afraid I probably left a few footprints when I came running down here, and I think you snapped a branch when you fell. If we are quick we can nip up there and get it sorted, before coming back here."

Blaise felt Remus was being a bit picky, but she agreed none the less. He was going to do it with or without her, and with her help it would be twice as fast. She splashed over to the edge of the lake, where Remus was standing. They didn't say anything as they set about trying to make everything look natural once again. Eventually they were back where they had been, near the blocked river. Blaise twisted a branch aside so the leafy brach would cover where she had snapped of a branch, in a way that an animal is rather unlikely to do.

"I think that about covers it all." Remus said as he stood back and admired his handiwork, which looked like absolutely nothing. Blaise went to say something but paused. They had no time for hearty congratulations. Suddenly a bright light was seen on the far outskirts of the forest. There was no doubt that it was Voldemort and his followers. The time was now, no sooner than expected but far sooner than what they prayed for.

"Idiot." Voldemort scolded one of the Death Eaters. "Don't go lightning your wand yet. Get them surrounded first. I know they are here, I can feel it. There is no need to let them know that though. After all, those easiest to find are those who don't know they should hide." His Death Eaters spread out silently as they began to encircle the lake. Although there was probably a mile or two in circumference, they didn't bother with the back half. There were no trees there and the small mountains were steeper, leaving no good place to run to or hide, if they should try and flee that way.

"Let's get back." Blaise whispered as her eyes widened in fear. They needed more time. So much more time…

"No, we can't go that way." Remus mouthed back as his eyebrows furrowed.

"We must, we have to get to the others." She said as she started shaking despite herself. She wasn't weak when it came to fear, but for the first time in her life she felt like she was actually just going to sit down and wait for death to arrive.

"No, we have no time, it's not safe." Remus said as he grabbed hold of her sleeve and began pulling her after him, despite her half hearted attempts to resist.

He pulled her further up the path, treading as lightly as he could. When he got to what he felt was a good point he stepped off, into the wild vegetation. Blaise followed him freely now, as she knew it was her best chance. At the bottom of the mountain, in the small section of sandy grass between the lake and the trees, stood the Death Eaters, peering about them.

Remus and Blaise darted further along, to where there was no path at all. Clearly even the few who did travel by there, never explored this far. The stream had twisted some way off, up in the rocky peak. They carried on, away from this.

"We shouldn't go so far." Blaise said as quietly as he could, even though the Death Eaters were some way away. If they find the others we need to be able to go and help them.

"Blaise, you know well enough, that if the Death Eaters find Hermione and the others then there is nothing we can do. The best thing we can do is get as far away as possible."

They took large steps as they descended part of the way down from where they were. They neared the bottom of the mountain, before starting onto the next one. This one wasn't so steep, so they managed to make their way up its side quicker. They were careful not to stand on any of the dry sticks which had fallen from the trees around them, though since there were so many these was a task in itself. Eventually as they neared a sprint, Remus jumped too far over a log and ended up landing on a stick which gave a loud crack and ran through the night.

Blaise felt her legs coming to a stop below her, knowing that the Death Eaters had heard. She would have come to a stand still had Remus not taken her hand and pulled her onwards.

"Remus they heard us." She said desperately, barely audible over their heavy breathing.

"Probably. Better they come after us than the others though. Minimize the casualties, isn't that what they say?" He replied, giving her the distinct impression that he hadn't accidentally trodden on the stick at all.

A rocky wall was rising up on one side, leaving them a flat platform only a few feet to run along. The other side had a rather steep drop, littered with what appeared to be rabbit holes. The Death Eaters must have gotten to where they were by now. After all they had probably apparated, unless they put up an anti-apparition fields, to stop their prey from escaping.

"We need to find somewhere to hide." Remus said from a short way in front of her. He was taller, and had longer legs, so Blaise was struggling to keep up. She cast her eyes around for somewhere she could hide, but with a high rocky platform on one side and a sharp mossy slope the other, it wasn't a very good place. Blaise was so busy looking for a way up onto the rocks, or maybe a place under a bush that she didn't realise Remus had stopped in front of her. The path had come to an end, or at least it had in the direction they were going. Blaise crashed into his back, sending him, and herself rolling down the hill.

Blaise closed her eyes as sticks poked at her face as she rolled. She prayed she didn't crash into a tree, for she would surely have broken some ribs at the speed she felt to be going. Luckily she had a fairly soft landing, as after a very short drop she landed on top of Remus. She hastily rolled off of him, and opened her eyes to see where they were. They had rolled down about half way, with a mountain opposite them and a valley in between. There were high trees all around, meaning anyone looking for them would have to come down.

Some way further down the valley were remnants of a long ago fallen tree. Blaise and Remus were sitting now, in a small hole where the tree had ripped out a clod of earth with its roots when it fell. Since then a large bush had grown in its place, leaving them in a gap, with a few feet of muddy overhang above them, and a bush on the other side, meaning even if someone did come down here looking, they were in quite a good place.

"Looks like we found our spot." Remus said with a small smile as he wiped some blood out of his eye. Blood was running slowly from his forehead, where the skin had split open. He moved as far back as he could go, and slumped back against the hard chalky earth.

"What do we do now?" Blaise asked as she sat beside him with her legs pulled up against her.

"We pray. Pray that the others are safe, and that help is on its way."

Harry pulled himself to his feet. He could hardly see anything for the towering walls all around him and the floating city so many miles above. It was just through a thin line of light far above him that he had any way of telling which way he needed to go. He took a few steps forward and stumbled as his foot caught on something unseen to his eyes.

He hoped the others had made it back alright, especially Hermione. What had happened to her. He had hit his head on landing, and that coupled with his beating from the soldiers earlier that day left him a little unsure on some things. He felt around in his pocket for a wand, which he thankfully found, still intact. He gave it an experimental wave and a light appeared at the end. If his wand was working then he should be able to get out without much trouble.

Marcus stood half way down the chasm when something caught his eye. It was a faint light, any less and he wouldn't have been able to see it. He had heard of some creatures which could give off a light in order to find there way in the dark, but he seriously doubted it could be aby of those. This, most certainly would be Harry.

"Well the boy is alive." He said to himself with surprise, and even relief. The boy was resilient, if nothing else.

Harry glanced around. There were rocks as far as he could see, as well as skeletons. Mostly rats and a few others things which were hard to identify, birds maybe, as well human skeletons of course. At least if he didn't make it out he wouldn't be lonely in his death. Harry didn't fancy climbing, so flying was his best bet. It was a known fact that there were no spells to fly oneself, so his broom would have to do, where ever that was.

He had never summoned anything from so far away before. It may not be possible, but he had nothing to loose. He put all his concentration into it, on the broom, its shape texture and all its other properties.

"Accio broom." He kept saying to himself, willing it with every fibre to come to him. He had no way of knowing if it was working, but then he didn't know the brooms were so far away. He didn't know they were with The Blights, Ron and Hermione.

They stood crouched low in the are behind the waterfall. They watched even their breathing. Claire and Alex had been pushed to the back with the adults at the front. The brooms sat in a small pile. They could hear the distant shouting of the Death Eaters, and knew that their life depended on being unfound, or rescued.

"What will happen to Remus?" Claire asked in a whisper.

"Remus knows how to keep safe well enough. I don't expect he would risk coming back here. Him and Blaise are probably just as safe as us somewhere else. I bet they can even see us, so they can protect us if they need to." Hermione said as she tried to calm them. He was half right. One of the brooms moved a little, as though awakening from a slumber, before rising up. It hovered in the air for a second before darting forwards towards the water fall. Ron noticed the movement just in time to pounce on it. He grabbed hold of it near the tail and wrestled it down to the ground.

"What's happening?" Andrew asked curiously. As he stared down at Ron holding on tightly to the broom.

"I don't know, it looks like its being summoned by someone." Ron said as he tried to dig his heels into the ground, which had little effect considering it consisted of small stones and a sort of lake weed which was rather slippery. He started slipping forward before Hermione fell to the ground to help him.

"Voldemort must be doing it. If this broom got out then he would know exactly where we are."

"The pull is so strong. It's incredible." Hermione said through gritted teeth as she held onto the nose and tried to keep her hands from slipping off as it shuddered violently trying to brake free. Andre took hold of the broom in the middle, whilst Alex, unable to get a good hand hold simply took hold of Ron's middle to help keep him grounded.

"There's no way." Hermione said as all the blood rushed from her head, leaving a trail of goose bumps down her back and arms. "It isn't Voldemort." Hermione said as she struggled to keep her strength.

"The other brooms are fine, which means this in the only one being summoned. The only way that is possible is if the person is thinking of this broom in particular. It's Harry! It's his broom. He is Alive…and he's trying to get back to us." Hermione's conclusion was correct, but it made the broom even more difficult to hold onto. After all by holding the broom they were depriving Harry of what he needed. What if he was in danger?

Tonks Flew onward. She was freezing cold as the night wind flew through every part of her clothing. She couldn't feel her hands, or arms for that matter's o it was a miracle she had managed to stay on. She put it down to grim determination. She tried not to think about what was happening to the others, but it was hard, as she knew in all probability he was at the mountains now, and the others were hiding. Hiding for their life.

She wasn't making as good a speed as she hoped. The amount of cursing she had given her broom didn't seem to have any bonus. Why couldn't it be a Firebolt or Blue storm that Dumbledore had given them each. She would have been there easily by now. It could be one of those things that made the difference between living and dying. As she flew onwards she couldn't help but feeling a coward. She knew that the others could have flown with her and probably would have been much safer. It was a risk they had deemed to big to take, but she had slipped away unnoticed, so she supposed it was the wrong decision they had made after all.

Harry sat down on a rock similar sized to a bench. He supposed if the spell worked then it would take a few minutes, so he would wait some time, and then if that failed he would rethink his plan. Surely he could climb if he had to. The only thing that kept nagging on his mind was where were the others. If they had made it safely then they must have seen where he went, and would have come to help him. He kept trying to make them excuses, but the fact of the matter was his situation reflected directly on what was probably theirs.

Voldemort moved about the lake. His pray was near, he could sense it, and yet he could not tell what part of near it was. As he stood on the path leading up to the top of the waterfall he looked out across the plains. He could see for miles, the house was completely burnt out now, just like the other one. It pleased him in a small way, knowing there were at least two family's who would never forget him now. The moon was dim, as huge thick clouds of smoke hung about in the air. This didn't make it any easier to look. Not to mention it was starting to rain heavily now.

He cursed to himself as he made his way back down to the lake. What a lot of effort this was. He had everything he needed here. All that needed was the rite to be prepared. Perhaps it was greedy of him to try and capture Harry at this stage as well. Never the less a trapped animal is desperate, and it would only be a matter of time before they showed themselves. When they did he would have everything he needed. He would capture Harry and things would go according to plan, for what seemed like the first time ever.

Voldemort stood at the edge of the lake and held a conjured umbrella above his head. He could have used a water repelling charm but that didn't give him the splendid sound of rain on an umbrella. He looked at where the water cascaded over the edge into the lake, and marvelled that there could be so much water in what was otherwise a desert. It was as he was thinking about this he noticed something he hadn't earlier.

There was a branch growing across the waterflow, yet that was not how plants grew. They never grew with so much underwater, unless the branch had broken off, yet there was no reason for this to be the case. With a small smile everything made sense. He called for the rest of his Death Eaters, before circling the entrance the waterfall. He was to pleased, to anticipating to be annoyed by the deep water, as he approached. The kill was near.

Those inside the waterfall drew back, they could make out dark silhouettes approaching them, and they knew what it meant. Each had their own thoughts, yet none of them were of ways to avoid this. There was no way they could escape. What could they do against Voldemort? All they could really hope for was that it was painless. That and hope that whatever Harry was meant to do in life, he got to do it.

Voldemort raised his wand to a voice the waterfall and cast a powerful freezing charm, which stopped the waterfall for a long way up, and diverted that above it.

"No matter what, do nothing." Hermione said as she placed a hand on Andrews arm to restrain him. A moment later the wall of water was gone, leaving Voldemort and five Death Eaters staring at the group huddled in the wet little cave.

"Good afternoon." Voldemort said with his wand pointed. He tried to keep his anger in check, but seeing that Harry wasn't there was like a blow to his heart. He couldn't help but flinch a little. None replied. "Mmm silent, that's a nice change from the usual screaming and pleading I get. Now let's get down to business shall we. I really don't care about you, what I want is Harry. Whoever tells me where Harry Potter is gets to live. I think that very generous of me." He said as there was a general murmur of laughter amongst his followers.

Several seconds passed before Ron spoke.

"We do not know where he is, and if we did we wouldn't tell you."

"Oh yes of course." Voldemort said. "How very noble. The thing you don't seem to get though, Weasley isn't it? Is that I'm not pissing about here. I will actually kill her if you don't tell me." He said as he took a step forwards and grabbed Hermione by the wrist. He pulled her forwards and took the wand from her hand. They could have fought it out, but she knew what Ron meant when he said to do nothing. Their best chance was to stall for time.

"I…I don't know." Ron stammered, as suddenly his resolution failed. He knew once Voldemort had what he wanted then they would all be dead, but it was difficult not to believe what he said.

"Please don't make me kill such a clever little mudblood." Voldemort said imploringly. "I will take it in turn to ask each of you if you are brave enough to save her life." He explained, before proceeding to do that. If no one answers that then I will kill her."

Hermione looked scared, more scared than Ron could remember. However despite all this she kept very silent and still.

"You, farm man. Will you save this poor girls life and tell me what I want to know?" He asked

"No, im afraid I won't." Andrew said regretfully. He, having spied on a dark lord knew that the chance of her life, and his being spared, was really not very existent.

"Very well. Farm woman?" Voldemort asked as he proceeded to take it in turn each of them if they would reveal Harry's ware about's. Finally he got to Alex at the back.

"And do you care to share any information with me?" He asked unhopefully.

"I don't know exactly where he is, but I can tell you roughly" Alex replied as he pushed his way to the front.

"Alex, don't." his father warned him. As he grabbed his son by the wrist. Alex, to everyone's surprise threw off his father hold.

"Don't touch me coward." He snapped before returning his gaze to Voldemort. "Each one of them was to afraid to do the right thing, to stand up and save her."

"And I suppose you aren't?" Voldemort asked, in surprise as he stared at the boy, hardly a teenager.

"I'm not a coward. I have two conditions the first is Hermione and I get to live, and the second is that I can join you." Alex said as he held his gaze without the most powerful wizard from earth. His death Eaters started Laughing, but Voldemort held out his hand to silence them.

"Well they do always say that the next generation are getting smarter. I never believed it though. Why do you want to join us."

"What are you doing?" Martha asked as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Helping myself." Alex replied as he took a step so that he was standing besides Voldemort. "I am fed up of growing up and only managing. Why should we only just manage. Why shouldn't we live like kings? You and mother had magic and you never used it because you were to afraid. Well that means I must have magic to, and I'm not afraid to use it. I want great things in life. And I see now that with you two I would never get that. I can get what I want in life with my master's help."

"At what cost?" his father shouted at him. "At the cost of your family, those you love?"

"I don't love my family. Why should I. why does everyone feel they owe something to their parents? I'm sorry if I disappoint you but you can die for all I care, and its not at the cost of those I love. Hermione will live…" He said as he looked from his parents, to the young woman on the other side of Voldemort.

"Maybe one day when I'm older, and more deserving…" He said as he ran his fingers up the length of her arm causing her to shudder.

"I can't remember a time when I saw such promise in someone your age." Voldemort laughed. There is an initiation to take before you call me master, but we can do that later. I have a feeling you will come in use to me more than just this once. Now where is Harry?"

"He is near Calmera they said that he fell down to the bottom, down below ground level…"

"He fell?" Voldemort asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but he is alive." Alex assured the Dark Lord

"I'm sure he is. He is a Warlock after all." Voldemort said, as though he had known this for a long time. "He wouldn't be much use to me if he wasn't."

"Lets not waste any more time shall we. You shall have what you want. Stun the mudblood so she is free to go in an hour. Kill the others." Voldemort said as he turned his back on those in the cave, and looked to the moon, which was clearing up a little now. Tonks flew onward, though she was still ten minutes from reaching Marcus and Harry. In ten minutes time the others would all be dead. Marcus was still making his way down to Harry, who was still waiting for his broom. There was no chance of them being rescued, unless Remus was going to do it. An idea which is a little far fetched.

The Death Eaters had the Avada Kedavra curse on their lips when the silhouetted figure of Remus ran down from the side of the lake. Voldmort looked at this, but before he could react a spell was cast. Remus couldn't take on Voldemort, so he did what he could.

A Green skull burst from the end of his wand with a snake coiled round it. It shone brightly in the air like the one above the Blight farm.

Voldemort stared at this curiously. He was going to put one up anyway, but why would this man, who was friends with Harry Potter? Voldemort threw a stunning curse at Remus which hit him squarely in the chest. He fell to the ground, unable to move. With another wave of his wand Voldemort had the still body floating down towards him.

"What did you do that for?" Voldemort asked angrily as he stared down at Remus who stared back up at the Dark Lord.

Remus couldn't move his jaw, so it took him some time to say what he had to say, but he eventually finished.

"You are much stronger than I am. I can't kill you no matter how much I want to. All I can do is light a candle in the dark.."

"You talk rubbish. Your brain is gone." Voldemort said as he turned to his Death Eaters. "Make sure to kill him as well. Then have a rummage round for any more scum which might be burrowed away here.

"Boy, is there anyone else here?" Voldemort asked as he rounded on Alex accusingly, as though he should have already mentioned that Blaise and Remus were hidden elsewhere.

"Just one other person. A girl, the same age as Harry. She is his girlfriend I think."

"Is that so?" Voldemort asked with a smile. "Well that should be useful. We will get her in a minute, kill the others." Voldemort instructed once again. One of the Death Eaters picked up Ron by his neck. Ron tried to put up a fight but he was outclassed and outnumbered. They took his wand from his with minimal effort.

"Avada…" The Death Eater began to say as he had the wand pointed against Ron's Chest. He never got to finish his spell however as there was a whizzing sound and a brilliant shining ball shot through the air. There was a small explosion as it hit the Death eaters arm, and a moment later his lower arm fell to the floor, while the rest of his body remained standing, with blood issuing from the stump.

"I advise you get your hands off my students." Dumbledore called out from the edge of the lake in a thunderous roar. "I would hate to have to hurt you."

"You!" Voldemort yelled in shock as he saw Albus, standing in the wind.

"Yes, me. I will fight against you on earth and in the next world. Especially when what you are doing is killing the innocent.

"I'll teach you to get in my way…" Voldemort said, as in the dim light there was, Dumbledore looked tired. Not to mention Remus and the others had been disarmed, and so he was now outnumbered.

"We have what we need…" said Bellatrix, let's just leave it for now. There is nothing to be gained from fighting him yet. His time will come soon enough, but if you kill him now what will you have to really test your new abilities on when the time comes?" She whispered to him, in the convincing tone that so often worked when others had failed.

"Where do you have Harry Potter hidden?" Voldemort called, wanting to get what he could before they disappeared.

"Why do you ask when you know I won't tell you?" Dumbledore lied. He did not know where Harry Potter was at the moment. The fact he was not present was something he had noticed as he arrived, but to know that Voldemort didn't know, at least meant Harry had not been killed, or at least not by what was probably the greatest danger in Pharaphax.

"The ministry are on their way, Dumbledore called down, as he slowly moved forwards, closing the distance between him and the dark lord. Voldemort cursed to himself. He didn't fancy a match to the death with the Auror squad, especially not when some of his favourite spells wouldn't work. He though for a minute, before reaching in front of him and grabbing Hermione.

He wrapped an arm around her neck and had a wand pushed against her back with the other hand.

"I have some what of a conundrum, Old man, and I was hoping you could help me. Before you think of anything, let me state that I know what you know, which is that you are to far away, and no matter what spell you should throw at me, my spell would kill her first. Now, let me go onto explain the situation. I came here, undetected, or so I thought. However the fact you are hear, and that Aurors are on their way suggests otherwise."

"Now whilst I undoubtedly could dispatch with many, many innocent lives, I don't believe I could force my way back to earth safely. It is this sense I would like your help. You, will tell me how I can get safely back to Earth, and I will let all the people here go, and Harry, for now. Think carefully, are you willing to accept the death of this girl?"

Dumbledore stood rooted to the spot, where he stared at Hermione, under the mercy or the Dark Lord. Several of the Death Eaters still had wands pointed at the Blight family and Ron, whilst two other Death Eaters were ready to help defend Voldemort should Albus try anything. Hermione would die, if Voldemort refused, and probably some of the others. However Voldemort would be trapped here, in Pharaphax…If that were the case then the earth would be free from his tyranny…

The Portal wouldn't open again for another twenty earth years, by which point Voldemort, if he hadn't been able to achieve immortality, would most certainly be dead. However was it fair to Pharaphax to give them a new dark lord? Probably not, but then doesn't one owe an allegiance to their home land? The right thing to do would be to sacrifice the lives of the few, for the benefit of the many, that was the number one lesson in Auror training. However there was another lesson, called humanity, which took priority.

"I can't let you kill them, even though to have you trapped here in Pharaphax, is the right thing to do." Dumbledore called.

"That is why you are weak." Voldemort replied with a smile. "It will be you're downfall."

"Perhaps, but I have lived so far, which is more than can be said for you." Voldemort did not respond to this remark.

"So you will tell us how to get safely back to Earth?" Voldemort asked enquiringly."

"Yes, I will tell you what you must do…"


	86. Ascending Angel

Goodness, it has been an even longer wait than usual. Well Christmas came and went and I kind of took a 2 month break from writing, but I started again with new enthusiasm, so let this be the first of many more chapters to follow (hopefully at a reasonable speed) thanks again for all the support.

Far under Calmera Marcus peered curiously at Harry sitting on a rock.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked as he took a seat on one of the rocks and pulled out his wand to cast some light.

"I was waiting for my broom, but it seems to be taking its time." Harry commented, not surprised by Marcus' appearance, nor showing the relief he felt.

"Well you will be waiting a while I should say. It has to come all the way back from The Blight farm, if it is coming at all. Remus may well have tied down the brooms, I suspect."

"Perhaps, never mind though, we will find in good time, how is everyone? Was the mission successful and did everyone make it out ok. And Hermione?"

Harry asked, as he got up from where he was sitting, to stare into the old mans eyes.

"They are all doing fine, I should say. Damn sight better than we expected you to be doing at any rate. The mission was completed and the others are all back at the farm. Im sorry I waited for so long to come and rescue you, but even now far above us the Calmera royal guard are searching for you. After all you did kidnap the princes bride."

"So let's get going then shall we?" Harry said as he stared at Marcus with a look which said "make a portkey then."

"I think first we should have a talk Harry. I haven't spoken to Albus much, so I don't know what he knows, nor do I know what he has told you or asked you, but I need to know for myself. How did you use magic like that? Like the spell that saved Hermione."

Harry averted his gaze, and gave a shrug.

"When the need is great, the effort is great." They say something like that don't they?

"So you are claiming that you wanted to die less than just about everyone else in the world? I don't think that is the case Harry. Even if you really want to you can't cast a spell you don't know. How do you know that kind of spell? I cant believe you learned it from a book, not at your age, not to mention that last time I heard earth didn't give those sort of books out to children. Someone must have taught you."

"No one taught me." Harry replied slightly angrily. What did it matter what spells he used?

"Someone must have. I don't care if Voldemort taught it to you himself." Marcus lied. "It's just that I have only ever seen a handful of people summon up a force of nature, and only one is alive today, and he is one of the original five that first possessed magic. Summoning the element of nature, means manipulating them, and controlling them, and manipulation and control are both things that good wizards do not do."

"I don't know what you are trying to say, but I used it for good, and that's all that matters. There is simply good and evil in this world, not good and evil spells. They are merely what one uses to gain an ideal. I used the magic for good, so it was a good spell, if you insist on labelling spells as such."

"Good and bad are merely perspectives are they not?" Marcus countered. "After all does not a dark lord think he is doing good?"

"Good for himself perhaps."

"No, there is more to it than that. They actually believe that they are doing good for the world." Marcus explained.

"Well they are a little strange in the head. They can't be considered good by anyone is it involves murdering people."

"And that is what it comes down to though doesn't it." Marcus said with a small smile playing across his face. "After all Harry, you would murder wouldn't you, for the right cause. You would murder a death eater wouldn't you, if they threatened a friend." Harry did not reply, but they both knew the answer was a yes.

"In fact you may even kill someone who wasn't a death eater, if they tried to prevent you destroying the dark lord, as is the task fate has laid upon you. And to take it even further. I would be surprised if one or two of those soldiers isn't killed when they don't find you, and return with bad news. Your definition of distinguishing between good and evil isn't so clear any more is it. Now tell me Harry, who did teach you those spells?"

"I already said, no one did. I simply know them!"

"And yet there was a time when you didn't."

"I'm telling the truth, read my mind if you don't believe me."

"I do believe you Harry, without reading your mind. Or at least I believe that you think you are telling the truth. I think, and your free to disagree, that you were taught those spells without even knowing it."

"How could that be possible?" Harry asked as he returned his gaze to Marcus for the first time that conversation. He did not get a chance to respond however, as there were distant bangs, coming from far above them, and a small speck moving through the air, slowly it seemed, like a flake of snow.

"Is that, Tonks?" Harry asked, who had keener eyesight. She seemed to be screaming something to them, thought the speed she was flying at her words were whipped away behind her, so they couldn't hear what was being said.

"I think it is." Marcus concurred as she neared. She didn't seem to be slowing down at all, and Harry began to wonder if she still had control of her broom. It seemed she was going to crash by their feet at the rate. There were distant bangs as soldiers searching for Harry fired curses at her, but they were all out of range as for the time being.

"Something's wrong." Harry said, as he saw the look on her face. "Something…It's him." Harry said, knowing the kind of fear that processed her, and the one man who could strike it.

"My god, I thought I would never make it." She sobbed as she pulled her broom up at the last minute, only slightly crashing.

"What is it?" Marcus demanded." As he shook her gentyl by the shoulders. She seemd a little distant as it took her a second to look from Harry, who she realised was alive, to Marcus. As she stared at him her senses came back to her.

"Him, the dark lord. He is there, at the blight farm. He broke the barriers, we have no time. We escaped through a passage but he could have found them by now. My god they could all be dead, we have to hurry."

"Where are they?" Harry asked as his hand tightened around his wand. If Voldemort hurt one of his friends, then he would pay.

"I separated to get help. They flew off towards the Oasis I think. They said they would hide, but that was so long ago, I have been flying for so long, so very long." She finished, as she was emotionally exhausted.

Marcus knew what he must do, though he did not like it. Firstly he had to protect, Harry the prophet, and secondly he had to rescue Harry's friends, less they affect his future life.

With a quick nod at Harry he pulled out his wand and with a complex swirl of his arms he quickly made a portkey, over to the mountains.

"Be prepared Harry. It's entirely possible your friends are dead, and that Voldemort and his followers are there. We will be outnumbered, so we will have to be careful…" Marcus said, before holding out the port to Harry, who took a firm hold. Tonks was practically asleep from anxiety, so Marcus took her hand and placed it firmly on the portkey. With a spinning blast which seemed to throw them out of existence itself, they were transported across miles, to the Oasis, where Dumbledore now stood.

"Marcus!" Dumbledore exclaimed, almost before they had finished reappearing. "And you two Harry, glad to see you're alive."

"What about me?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"Yeah, why not." Dumbledore sighed, before turning his attention back to his friend.

"Yes, I hurried here as soon as I heard there was trouble. I take it Voldemort has not come here after all then?" Marcus enquired as he looked around, to the Blights, failing to notice the missing son.

"Nope, he has been and gone." Dumbledore replied. "Could have gotten messy, but I managed to convince them to leave without a fight."

"So there are no causalities then?" Tonks asked in relief, as she had convinced herself over her long flight that she would be to late.

"Er, close, or so Hermione tells me." Dumbledore said quietly as he explained what had transpired, leaving out where he agreed to help Voldemort back to earth.

"I think it best if we don't say anything on the matter at the matter to Andrew and Martha, they have only known you for a few days, so they might not appreciate your sympathy much I'm afraid." Marcus explained. "Now we have an important matter which we must resolve. Where is everyone going to be staying tonight?"

"Can't we set up the wizard tent? It will do for now won't it, if we all squeeze in." Asked Blaise, who had been fetched from her hiding place by Remus, once it was safe.

"Well yes, that is what I expect we will do, but we need somewhere safe to put it for now, not to mention we will be leaving here shortly, and the Blights need to find something more permanent. You know far better than I do Marcus, where would be a safe place that we can spend the night.

"I'm afraid I can't recommend my place, the security on there is so good I don't think I could even get you in if I wanted to, not without making it unsafe at least. We shouldn't expect another attack tonight though should we?"

"No, as I said, Voldemort has finished his business here, he may be a murderer but I seldom have found him to be a liar. However Remus told me that there were followers that weren't Voldemort's with them, and I can't say anything about them, though I did not see any here when I showed up, and he assures me he didn't shoot at any of them." Dumbledore said as he stroked his beard thoughtfully before pushing his glasses up a little way on his nose. Even with magic one couldn't get spectacles to stay on ones nose.

"They would be the followers of Gaeylmer…" Marcus said knowingly. "It must have been them to find the location of the farm so suddenly. I expect they teamed up, as they both had enemies together. Now I will have a quick look back at the farm to see if there is anything that would be of use to us, unless you have any objections Albus?"

"No, none. Besides I have a little catching up to do with Remus, besides discussing our plans, and what we know."

Marcus left a few minutes later, leaving Dumbledore in charge. They hadn't spoken yet, but Ron and the others seemed pleased to find Harry alive, even though they knew it when they saw his broom being summoned.

"Remus, I wasn't planning on seeing you until the mission was over, but it shall be a good opportunity, now that I am here to discuss your progress so far, and what you might expect from the remainder of the journey, should you wish to continue."

Remus and Albus broke into animated discussion, though it was rather quiet so that none could over hear. After a while they began to walk around the edge of the lake, giving Harry the distinct impression that they were mentioning him. He ignored this as best he could.

"I'm glad you're alright." Blaise said rather sheepishly, with a small smile. "Though you shouldn't have been so reckless and made everyone worry." She added as she gave him a half hearted whack in the ribs.

"Ow." He responded, without feigning it. "Sorry it's just I think I could do with a little medical attention when Dumbledore has a minute. It has been a long day…"

"You have a lot of those, or so it seems." Blaise laughed.

"Harry can I ask you something?" She asked awkwardly after a moment.

"Clearly, you have just done so." He responded with a laugh.

"Well, how did you survive… I mean you fell from so high and everything, and then Marcus was talking about stuff, about you being a Warlock, or something." Harrys smile faded as the topic took a direction he didn't like.

"Yeah Marcus spoke to me about it. I don't know why people can't just accept things as they are. I did a spell and I did it to save Hermione. So what if it was a strong spell, given the chance I know you would do the same."

Blaise nodded, and decided not to say anything more. Obviously Harry didn't want to talk about it, and she was happy to accept what he said. After all she knew him better than Marcus, and she knew that he would never hurt anyone.

"We still have three days until the Veil closes." She began to change the subject. "And only one more thing to get before we can complete the quest. It will be nice to get back to earth won't it. Enjoy the rest of the holidays, and even being back at school. It will seem like a holiday compared to this."

"Maybe, but its still exciting isn't it. If you ignore the bit's where we nearly died. It will make an interesting story to tell you're friends." Harry suggested.

"Yeah, I can imagine that going down a storm. Standing in the Slytherin common room and telling everyone how I spent Christmas with Harry Potter.

"Would it matter that much that I was with you?"

"What do you think?" She asked rhetorically.

"Why do you think you were put in Slytherin?" Harry asked as they took a seat down on the wet sandy bank, where a tree shielded them from the rain that was still falling, They were a little cold, but they didn't notice this.

"Well the hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, But I asked it to put my in Slytherin instead. A girl I met on the train on my first day was put there, and I didn't want to be alone…Guess that failed.

"You're not alone. You have friends." Harry said as he gestured to Ron and Hermione.

"For how long? What if we had an argument or if you stopped liking me, would they still be my friends then?"

"I couldn't say. But isn't that the case with life?"

"What about you, did you know you would be in Gryffindor?" Blaise asked

"No actually, I didn't. The funny thing is it wanted to put me in Slytherin but I asked not to.

"Really?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows. "That would have been funny, you would have been such a loner."

"Yeah, probably, but you never know."

"Well I'm sure I would have been more popular if I had been Ravenclaw. Being in Slytherin people think you are something you aren't, and in a way you start to become that, because it's what's expected. I asked to be in Slyhterin and you asked not to. I guess it just goes to show that you can make wrong decisions sometimes." Blaise said with an uncharacteristically soft smile.

"We should probably head back to the others, I'm sure they have a whole bunch of stuff to talk about, and I know Ron is dying to tell me all about his heroic part in this story." Harry said as he climbed to his feet.

"And I'm freezing, I need a Weasley jumped right about now!"

As they headed back to where the others were all standing he could see that Albus had stopped talking, which obviously meant he had decided on his plan of action.

"Ok now I want you all to listen carefully" Dumbledore began as he ran his eyes over everyone briefly. "After hearing the situation we have come to a conclusion on a course of action. Andrew and his family, will be coming to earth, at least for now." He said. Martha looked like she was about to protest, which showed she obviously hadn't been involved in this decision making.

"It is the safest place for them to be, and due to the way time travels more slowly on earth, it means we can get things rectified here in what would seem to be less time. You may stay on earth if you wish, though I don't imagine you will want to." He continued. Andrew shook his head. "I didn't think so." Albus smiled. "Now Marcus is going to scout out any danger that remains, and after eradicating any, we can see about rebuilding house. We will probably choose somewhere different, though I assure you it will be safer than ever.

"I will be leaving to track Voldemort down, and return him to earth. We can't have him staying here."

"Will you be able to on your own sir?" Ron asked as he raised an eyebrow. He didn't mean to douhbt the headmaster. "Yes, I should think I can. After all I do believe he has everything here he wants…for now."

"Now as for the mission, we intend to carry on. Marcus has agreed to let you stay at his house for now, until your quest is over. It is very safe. You six will be continuing on with the final two parts of the journey without my help. Marcus will be able to assist you I'm with everything you need. Let us not be demoralised by dark circumstances."

"On my desk I have a poetry book. A lot of it isn't any good but there are some thoughts in there that are very wise. And some things more powerful even than magic. If I may, I shall quote you a line from one of my favourites. "For suddenly, the worst turns the best, for the brave." This may be our worst, but if we are brave, then I know that all will be well."

"But what about Alex?" Martha asked after a few seconds silence fell between them.

"Hopefully when I meet up with the dark lord I will be able to get him to see the error of his ways. If not then I'm sure when they return to earth, Alex will want to stay here. If you don't mind I will allow him to think you are still here in Pharaphax. At the moment he may not realise the severity of his decision, and should it come to him going to earth, I'm sure he won't have it in him to leave. For after all when the portal closes it wont open again on this side for nearly three years."

Martha didn't look quite as confident in this as Albus, but then that was because she was honest about her feelings, where as Albus had been known to front false confidence, or at the very least to have his confidence based on things no one else knew about.

"Now we shall leave, for there is no reason to hang around. I have a portkey here" Albus said as he pulled one out of his pocket. I shall take you to the entrance, get you settled in, before returning on my mission. Harry, you six shall accompany Marcus to his house. It's late and if you are going to be off in time for your next task tomorrow I suggest you get to bed promptly."

The two groups said the farewells, though they weren't to drawn out. Albus explained that they would meet up again once the mission was over, where they could say farewell once again before the Blights returned to Pharaphax probably to be never seen again. Once Dumbledore had disappeared with the others via the portkey Remus Tonks and the others were left facing Marcus.

"Well come on then, if we must, though you had better take your shoes off before you come in my house mind I don't want a load of footprints all over the scene. You all ready, got a good hold of your brooms? I'm afraid the protection barriers I have up are a bit tight.. I have lowered some and barred you from others but out would help if you could all breathe out on the way there, and I mean really breath out!"

He took out a portkey, which looked rather like a misshapen jumped and let them all take a firm hold. He gave a small count down, and they all exhaled before the familiar tug took hold of them and launched them flying through the fabric of existence that was Pharaphax. Harry glanced below him though he could only just make out what was going by underneath. The endless stretch of the plains went by followed by a stinking ball of light which was the centre of the world, Harmonia.

There was a blur of something underneath, though it was dark so they couldn't really see. However this was the first glance they had of the wizarding nations, dotted on small islands in the only true sea of Pharaphax. Harry cast a look and saw that some of the others were struggling to hold there breath, as they had been going for about ten seconds or so. Harry felt a faint burning in his lungs building, which suddenly multiplied ten fold, until he was gritting his teeth and closing his eyes concentrating on not opening his mouth.

Finally they landed hard on a solid stone floor. There was a seconds pause before everyone except Marcus gave a gasp.

"My god, my lungs." Blaise said in anger. "You could have warned us."

"I did say to breathe out properly." Marcus countered, as he placed his palm against the front of an iron studded wooden door. There were several mechanical sounding clinks as red, blue and yellow runic symbols glowed in front of him and rotated, before disappearing in a new position.

"I never forget my keys." He said as the door swung open and he stepped inside. Remus went to follow in before the word "Shoes." Was spoken rather sharply reminding them to remove their muddy footwear. Harry glanced briefly round the garden. He was standing by what he assumed to be the back door, as it led into the kitchen. There was a path worming down to the other end of the garden, which he couldn't see. There appeared to be a tree at the far end, with a bench.

Besides that, in the middle there were many flowers. Harry couldn't see beyond the edges of the garden, but he could hear the distant crashes of waves. However what was the strangest thing was that over the garden there was a faint glimmering golden dome which appeared to be made up of pentagons, each one looking like the reflection in water. He recognised what it was.

"Is that the Shaman's barrier?" He asked as he stepped into the house last. The door slammed closed behind him, though it did so silently.

"If you like yes," Marcus said as he waved his wand at various parts of the room including a fireplace, and a kettle. "Forgive me for the mess, but you are the first visitors I have had in many decades. Blaise looked around the kitchen, which was really rather large. There were wooden cupboards on two sides of the wall, with a large Maripappu table which had six identical chairs around it. The oddest thing about Marcus comment though was that there was no mess.

Perhaps he was being sarcastic, though it didn't sound like it, but there was very nearly nothing to be seen. With the exception of the kettle the entire worktop was bare, as was the table. In fact even the sink didn't seem to have any taps. Tonks was tempted to have a look in the cupboards to see if there was anything there but felt to do so would be rude. Still, at least she might stand a good chance of not breaking anything.

"I will show you where the bedrooms and the bathroom are." Marcus said as he walked out of the kitchen into what appeared to be a large hallway. He turned left, and went down a long passageway with several doors on either side. "Here are the guest bedrooms." He carried on as he gestured to two doors on either side.

He opened one of them to show a large well decorated room. There was a deep red carpet, with a double bed against the one wall. There was also a large oak wardrobe along one side, and a window looking out onto the front garden, which looked rather similar to the back garden, from what they could see.

"The other rooms are the same, so you shouldn't have any reason to argue over them. The main bathroom is over here, though each room has its own en suite, feel free to use either. In the morning if you go into the kitchen for breakfast, I will be awake. I shan't give you a tour of the rest of the house at the moment; I will save that until tomorrow when it's a bit lighter. I suggest you try and get to bed as I'm sure you are all very tired. If you will excuse me I need to go and prepare your things for tomorrow's task."

"If you need anything just ask, and also feel free to set up the tent in the hallway, as I'm sure there are some things inside that you will need." Marcus finished off before disappearing further down the dark corridor. Once he had gone an argument immediately broke out over sleeping arrangements.

"Tonks and I will take the first bedroom." Remus began as he started the allocations. There were four bedroom in total. "Ron and…" He went to carry on before he was interrupted.

"I'm not sleeping in the same bed as Harry." Ron complained, before turning to look at Harry. "Nothing personal but I would find it a bit uncomfortable. I like to roll around in my sleep." Harry nodded in understanding to this.

"Ok then, um I suppose you can have a room of your own then Ron, and so can you Harry. Hermione, Blaise do you mind sharing a room?" He asked hopefully.

"No." said Hermione politely.

"Yes." Blaise said bluntly. "I to would also find it uncomfortable."

"Ok well then someone is going to have to compromise here." Remus said in mild agitation.

"I will sleep on the floor in Harry's room." Blaise stated, as though it wasn't open to debate. "I find him to be the least judgemental." There was a small cough, though it didn't really seem to come from anyone.

"I don't think…" Remus began to say before Tonks tightly squeezed his arm.

"…that will be a problem." She finished for him. "It won't be a problem." Hermione and Ron walked off to each check out their bedrooms, whilst Tonks pulled Remus inside the room they would be sharing.

"I don't think we should let them." Remus said once the door was closed. "They are going out, and at their age with hormones and everything…"

"Blaise is a nice honest girl, I'm sure she won't do anything I didn't at that age."

"That's what I'm worried about." He confided. Tonks gave him a light slap across the face.

"I'm not that kind of girl!"

"Wow not bad." Harry said as he paced around to the other side of the room where he slung his jacket down. "I tell you it was absolutely filthy down that crater, I could do with a long hot bath. Not that I'm trying to proposition you or anything." He hastily added. "I wasn't inviting you to join me! I just meant that I will have one in a bit after you have.

"How courteous of you." Blaise said jokingly. "Boys… Always trying to avoid washing."

"You're gonna sleep on the floor then?" Harry asked as he turned to her to examine the large amount of floor space around them, which although being well carpeted, didn't look particularly comfortable for sleeping.

"Yeah. I don't have anything personal against sharing a room with Hermione; I'm just a bit touchy about that sort of stuff."

"You don't need to explain." Harry said as he walked over to the door to see if Remus had started putting the tent up. His pyjamas and wash things were still in there so he couldn't get them. "I just meant I could sleep on the floor and you could have the bed if you like. I don't mind." Blaise looked at the floor and grumbled something about inconvenience which he didn't quite catch.

"My stuff is in the tent." Blaise explained after standing in silence for a bit. Being with Harry was strange; although she was more relaxed around him she still got uncomfortable at times. It was like every time they were alone together, after being with company, they had to break the ice.

"Mine to." Harry said stiffly.

"So what was it like to grow up without your parents?" Blaise asked cautiously. Harry turned round, and although he didn't say anything he gave her a strange look, as though it wasn't the politest thing in the world to ask. "Sorry I didn't mean to pry or anything I was just trying to make conversation and get to know you better."

"That's ok; you just caught me off guard was all. I don't know… it's like a blind person asking what its like to see. If its something he has never experienced he can't imagine it very well, even if someone describes it."

"I guess in some ways I'm lucky and in other ways I'm not. On one hand I never really knew them, so I don't miss them I don't think. I don't even know if I remember them or not. I think I do but then it might just be a few memories that I have made up from wanting to remember for so long…"

"I guess that not knowing them is something I will always wonder a little bit about. I will never know how things could have been and never know if I would have been different. You knew your father, but he isn't around now is he. Do you think you would feel better if you had never known him at all Blaise?" He asked as he looked at her pacing backwards and forwards.

"Well yeah I guess, I don't know. I can't say how I feel either. Since my dad is still alive things are a little different, but I would probably be happier if I hadn't ever known him, because then I wouldn't know he left because I disappointed, because I didn't live up to his expectations, because I failed him as a daughter." Harry went to open hi mouth to say that this wasn't the case, but Blaise went on. "But then if I hadn't known him I might be in the same boat as you, and I would always wonder what he would have been like, and in my mind I would build him up to be something he wouldn't have been."

"We can wonder for a long time if we want, but we are who we are, and this is the situation. I was just wondering if you still thought about them at all, still wondered."

"Yes, I still do, though not as much as I used to. These days I'm a little distracted. Anyway I think the tent is up now. Let's go grab our stuff and get horizontal." He joked, causing Blaise to glower at him. "With several feet of space between us… and a wall… and lots of clothes!"

You asked, and I delivered, Harry is once against the main character P


	87. Arc

Hi, thanks for the reviews of last chapter. It's nice to know people are still around.

Someone mentioned about how it had become slow and boring, and if this chapter was no good then they wouldn't bother anymore. That's fair enough; I know AU fics aren't as popular. However I feel to be fair the reason it seems dull is because I'm writing it so slowly. If this was read at the speed a book is normally read at (which is obviously how it should be) then the pacing is fine.

But then if I write to slowly for you, that ok, fair enough. I admit that is the case for some, but for those who do willingly wait for the chapters, thanks, it means a lot.

I left my old job, and got a new one, which is admittedly more hours a week (40), though I don't feel this will be a bad thing, due to the fact it's more social hours which just means I will be working during time I would have spent probably watching daytime television.

Anyway, I've said enough, so read on please.

Harry and Blaise nipped into the tent which looked even larger indoors. Remus was currently tidying up as a few things were out of place since it had been carried around so violently, though the small fridge on one side of the tent still seemed to be working fine.

"Well all things considered I think we did quite well for ourselves." Remus commented as he was sweeping up a box of spilled breakfast cereal.

"I do hope the Blights are alright though." Tonks said as she sat watching him, sipping some milkshake. "Do you think Alex will be alright?" Remus cast a look around and saw that Harry and Blaise were there.

"To be honest probably not, and I think Albus knows that to. Followers don't leave Voldemort alive, and after all Alex wanted to go with them. He chose to go off with those murderers rather than his own parents. Problems like that don't just come from nowhere. He must have some pretty serious feelings, so even if Albus managed to get Voldemort to hand the boy over, I'm not sure he would go, and Albus isn't one to force someone against their will."

As Harry was about to leave the tent having retrieved his things, Remus called out to him, abruptly breaking of the conversation that had been taking place.

"Harry, Blaise, there is something you should know, and Hermione and Ron aswell. We have been thinking about it for a while now and we decided to tell you that well, Tonks is pregnant." He finished off with a smile. A moments silence fell as he added "With my child." Tonks shot him a look which stated to imply the obvious, as though it were not so, was offensive.

"Wow, that's great I suppose. I wasn't expecting that. You must be very happy." Harry said warmly. "I know you have always wanted to be a dad." It wasn't intended but these words bought some pain to Remus, as he recalled Natasha and their meeting in Sydney. She was probably at the orphanage right now, since it was the Christmas holidays. He doubted Natasha would stay at the magic academy for the holidays after all.

"You must be very happy also Tonks." Blaise added with a faint smile.

"Oh definitely." She nodded. "It won't be for some time yet, but I'm already thinking of names in my head." She confided. Remus was surprised at this.

"What and I don't get a say?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow. "I feel so valued…"

Harry and Blaise backed out of the room as a small argument broke out between them.

"Well…" Harry said as they walked back to the room. He didn't know what to say after that so he just entered the room in silence and gestured to the bathroom. "Ladies first."

Blaise went into the bathroom to get ready for bed whilst Harry sat patiently waiting. Twenty minutes later she emerged with a large white towel wrapped around her whilst drying her hair with a second smaller towel.

"You're turn." She said with a nod towards the bathroom. Harry cast one fleeting look her way as he closed the door and got washed and ready for bed. The bathroom was large with a white and blue theme, with a bath rather similar to that of the Hogwarts prefect bathroom, although a little smaller, and with only half as many taps. He dried himself in the bathroom where he also put on his pyjamas, to save himself any awkward situations. It was bad enough Blaise calling him a pig boy sometimes, and a pervert. He didn't need to be called a flasher as well.

"I'm surprised there was still hot water. The size of those baths and the fact everyone was having one meant that the boiler must have been running overtime.

"Marcus is a capable wizard Harry, I'm sure it's all done by magic, Blaise assured him as she sat on the edge of the bed, combing her long blonde hair through which was nearly dry now. There were thick curtains drawn, so there was little natural light in the room. This meant the gently flickering candles gave Blaise's hair a warm shine similar to that of a summer's day.

"You sure you don't want to share the bed. It's big enough for the both of us!" He said with a stereotypical cowboy accent.

"I dare say it is, but you know… that's another step forward, with us…"

"Well we don't have to do anything, except sleep that is. I don't want to make you. You should only do it if you're comfortable. If you feel it's to soon or something then I don't mind. I don't really know how fast these things are meant to go, so I'm afraid sometimes I might get it wrong."

"That's fine. We are pretty much in the same boat." Blaise said with a smile as she tucked away the comb in her rucksack. She was wearing a pair of pyjamas which were purple, and by the looks of it, made from polyester.

"So what do you say then Blaise?" Harry asked as he patted the spot on the right hand side of the bed."

"You promise you wont do anything to perverted?"

"Yep, it's a promise."

"Even when you're asleep?"

"Er, yeah." He hesitated. Blaise considered momentarily.

"Well thanks but no thanks. I'm fine here." Blaise said with a smile

"Why did you bother asking me then?" Harry enquired with more than a little confusion.

"Because I was considering it, but you hesitated, which meant you weren't sure… You had to think about it. At least if I sleep down here I won't need to worry about those wondering hands of yours."

Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"Well ok, I'm cool with that. All the more space for me." He said as he climbed under the duvet cover and rolled on his side to face her.

"And I'm also cool with that. All the more protection for my innocence." She said as she rolled out her sleeping bag. Harry chucked a couple of pillows down to the floor.

"There is no such thing as innocence you know. People who claim to be innocent simply haven't had the chance to be naughty." He laughed

Blaise threw one of the pillows back, hitting him in the face.

"How can you say that if you're not speaking from experience?"

"Well, I can't, but I live in a boy's dormitory, and that's what I hear. Doesn't mean I believe it…" He said as he pointed his wand and extinguished the candles, sending the room into total darkness.

"Wow… would you mind if I opened the curtains actually Harry, just a bit." Blaise asked from the darkness.

"It's just that when its really dark you can't see the room, and if someone broke into the room they could sneak up and kill you without you knowing…" She said, as she wriggled a little out of her sleeping bag, and sat upright.

"You're more paranoid than I am. At least I only worry about being attacked when I'm awake."

"Well Death Eaters didn't come round your house one night during the Christmas holidays did they?" She asked, anger ebbing into her tone. Harry regretted what he said.

"I'm sorry… You can have the curtains open. You can even have the candles on if you like."

"No I think the curtains will be enough." She said as she rose to her feet, very cautious of the fact she couldn't remember exactly where the wall was.

"Not to mention the fact you have me watching over you."

"Perving on me more like." She said with a giggle as she zombied her way forwards until her hands brushed against the velvet drapes.

She fumbled for a minute before she found the edge and threw open the curtain. Bright moonlight spilled in, giving everything a steely, yet warm glow.

"That is one big moon." Harry said in shock, as he lay in bed. It was a full length window on that wall, and the moon stretched nearly from side to side."

"Well I guess that is how things are round here. Anyway that's a bit better I think, at least I can see where I'm going now." She yawned as she returned to her sleeping bag, tired from the long day.

"I hope tomorrow goes smoother." Blaise said as she snuggled down for the night.

"Me to." Harry said with a smile. "Goodnight Blaise."

"Goodnight Harry." She responded, as he lay watching her for some minutes before eventually succumbing to the tiredness which had long been waiting to encompass him.

"I do believe it actually…" She said to herself, just as she fell asleep.

As Harry slept, he dreamt. He had dreams, which like many of his dreams, were more than they appeared to be. He had mastered Occlumency now, and nearly Legilimency, so he could repel any attempts Voldemort may make, even outside the protection of his bedroom at home or at Hogwarts. It was for this reason that he hadn't had any dreams where Voldemort tried to infiltrate his mind in quite some time.

On the other hand Harry had been lucky enough to have several dreams where he had read Voldemort's mind. Just last night he had seen them gathering water from the magical ocean all around them, and yet this dream was different. It was something more bizarre, something more interesting, and ultimately more horrifying, for upon awakening he knew that it meant something.

He was surrounded by darkness, from all directions. He turned to look and yet he could see nothing, so he wasn't really sure he had turned at all. It was only after a minute, though in dream terms this seemed to be much longer, that a light started to appear. As it spread across his vision illuminating he began to recognise the room.

It was a cold stone room, deep under the ground, and yet one he recognised, from both real life and from his dreams.

He was standing in a room with a platform in the middle, and upon this platform with steps leading up to the middle, was the shimmering veil which belonged to the arc of spirits. At first Harry thought it was a nightmare, where he would see his godfather being killed again, where he would be running to try and rescue him, but never get any closer, yet as he looked round, and saw no one he realised this wasn't the case.

"I'm consciously aware…" he thought to himself. "Which is something I'm not in ordinary dreams." Harry could sense that this was more than just a dream, because he could choose exactly what to do. He could almost feel the stone floor beneath him, and almost taste the air, and most of all he could almost sense the power radiating from the veil in front of him.

If it was one of the Dark Lords actions then he would be there, at the ministry with his followers, but as Harry looked round he saw no one, which confused him. It slowly dawned on him that this must be something different, but what?" He didn't have chance to wonder as a word, or rather a whisper broke the deadly silence. He didn't hear what it said, but he knew exactly where it came from. It was coming from the Arc, it was beckoning him.

He took a step forwards, followed by another until he was on the platform standing looking up at the ancient old arc, as old as Pharaphax, and yet unrelated. He held his breath, and listened, for he could now hear more whispers. There was more than one person, he could tell yet still he couldn't understand what was being said. It was to quite and to quick. The words were being said over each other, so nothing could be deciphered.

He sank to his knees with his face only a foot or so away.

"What are you saying?" He asked it, not really expecting an answer. "Why am I here, what must I do?"

"You must…"

"Don't look…"

"Can you…"

"Please…" He heard in reply, all at the same time…An answer to his question. He lent closer and turned to one side so his ear for only centimetres from the dark shimmering veil.

Why am I Here?" He asked again, this time ready for an answer.

"I need you to tell him…" a voice replied, probably a woman's, or maybe even a girls.

"Tell him what?" Harry asked as he leaned in for an answer. His skin came into contact with the veil and in an instant a burning pain flared up on one side of his face, which across his body, as some force beyond his control pulled him into the dark mysterious depths of the Arc, just like Sirius…Into the lad of the spirits.

Harry lay with his eyes close for several seconds, until he was fairly sure he was still. He opened his eyes, expecting to be awake yet he wasn't. He was lying on his back on hard mud ground void of all life, all colour and all anything. He steadily rose to his feet and looked all around for the sources of the voices he heard. He didn't worry about how he would get out, for now more than ever he believed that he was here for a reason.

He expected to see people, or ghosts or something, yet there wasn't. The voices had stopped and now he was left standing in a thin dark passageway, with rock face on either side. He looked above and saw they rose hundreds of feet into the sky, blocking out the sun, if there was one. There must have been he guessed, because he could still see his hands in front of him.

He walked forwards, to where he could see the rocky walls on either side moving away from each other. As his feet touched down on the gorund they were absolutely silent, though he could still feel it. As he carried on he looked around him, for a bird in the sky or some moss on the rock face, and yet he saw none. It was as if everything was completely dead.

"Is anyone…" He called out, before stopping. His voice seemed to echoe for far longer than he had expected, and it seemed like less than the safest thing to do in an unknown place like this. Voldemort could be around after all. As he reached the end of the passage, and the rock walls came to a sudden end he paused and looked ahead. In the distance he could see what looked like an old barely alive tree, which must have been many hundreds of years old, and yet only about six or seven feet tall.

He stood for a minute, not knowing whether he should advance onwards or not, and if he should, then which direction should he take.

"Why am I here?" He asked himself again as he looked round for some sort of sign.

"To know." Responded a voice, which seemed to come from the direction of the tree. Harry froze as his head snapped round to face the source. He could just about make out a pale mist that hung in the distance, which seemed to be moving.

"Who are you?" He tried to ask, whoever it was that had spoken.

"You must know…" Was all the voice responded, in a manner which implied it wasn't entirely there. It seemed that perhaps it was inside his head. He couldn't identify how old the person saying it was, nor was he certain that it was a woman, though that is what he believed.

"What must I know?" He called out, in frustration that he wasn't getting direct answers.

"You must leave" said the voice. He looked round for any movement, and found the only change was that this time the mist in the distance seemed a lot closer. He could now properly see the ancient tree.

"But what must I know?" Harry asked as he watched the mist, swirling in a way mist should not swirl.

"You must leave, you must never come hear, that is what you must know."

"Why mustn't I come here? What is this place?"

"You mustn't come here, for you will be like us… you will die."

"Why would I die, what is here?" He asked as the mist was now only a short way from him, and appeared to be slightly more solid than he had originally thought. He was half prepared to run if it came much closer.

"He intends to kill you Harry." Said a voice, different from the one he had heard so far. It seemed to be male.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, backing slightly down the passageway. The mist slowed as it neared him, before stopping. It either couldn't, or didn't want to come any closer.

"Promise never to come here." Said the first voice, whom Harry was now certain was a woman.

"What the hell are you talking about, where is here, why will I die, and how do you know my name. Start answering my questions."

"This is the land of the spirits Harry, through the arc…"

"But I am here now and I am not dead." He argued. "Please, what are you talking about?"

The wall between the worlds is thin where you are, so you can hear us, for now. Please Harry, never come hear again. The arc will kill you, he will kill you." The male voice explained

"Voldemort?" Is it him that will kill me?" Harry asked. "He can kill me anywhere, what is special about here?"

"Him…It is the only place he will do it. It is the only place he can do it." Harry walked back towards the mist a little. He didn't feel quite so threatened by it, and he could make out something in the random movements, something that seemed more solid than the rest, but still not really there.

"Dumbledore isn't telling you what he knows Harry. He thinks it is for the best, but it isn't. If you don't know you will die."

"What does he know?"

"We can't tell you that…He can tell you… If you come hear you will die. You must go."

"Stop saying that." Harry shouted angrily. His voice echoed for some time before he continued. "How do you know what Dumbledore knows? Why will he only kill me here? What is special about here and how do you know who I am?"

It was getting difficult to keep track of what he didn't know.

"There is little time. Never come here. Never." Said the female voice.

"If you do you will die." Said the male voice, as the mist swirled more than ever.

"How do you know my name and how do you know Voldemort's plans? Are you working for him? Did you help kill my father!"

"No, Harry!" said the male voice in a stronger tone that it had done so far. "I am your father!"

At that instant the mist swirled in such a way that all the different shades were in just the right place, and Harry saw a clear ghost like form of his father, with his mother beside him. He blinked and it was gone. He lifted his foot to take a step forward, a dozen questions on the tip of his tongue, but there was a sharp sudden tug on him that sent him plummeting backwards, towards the arc that he had walked through. He watched as within a second the misty form of the dead had shrunken and he was slamming into the shimmering veil.

A Bright light erupted, engulfing his whole vision, which went as quickly as it had come. He found himself sitting in the moonlit bedroom of Marcus' house, the bed sheets on the floor and his knees drawn up to his chest. His pyjamas were drenched in a cold sweat and he was breathing heavily as though he had just run a marathon.

"Father…" He said to himself, lost in his own mind for a minute. "What were you trying to tell me?" He tinkered briefly on the edge of sanity before coming to a resolution, which may not have been the right one.

"I will find you. I swear."

"Harry what's going on?" Blaise asked as she climbed out of her sleeping bag on the floor beside the bed.

"You were thrashing around screaming Father! If it wasn't for the silencing charms I think you would have woken the whole house."

"It was just a bad dream." He shrugged it off.

"It must have been." Blaise commented as she rose to her feet. "Are you going to be alright? Harry paused for a long minute.

"It just seemed so real." He said as he ran his hands through his hair. "Anyway it was just a dream, and I'm sorry if I woke you."

"That's ok." Blaise said honestly. "That floor was proving to be a lot less comfortable than I thought." And with that she climbed into the bed next to Harry, who forgot the dream almost entirely.

"Just keep you're pervert hands to yourself." She warned him as she lay on her side with her back to him. "And remember, dreams aren't real and they can't hurt you." She said before closing her eyes and attempting to go back to sleep.

"Yours might not be able to." He thought as he lay on the very edge of the bed with his arms crossed across his chest, taking Blaise's warning very seriously. He tried anxiously getting to sleep, so that he could continue his dream where he had left off. He wanted to know more. Was it really his father he had seen? Was he really being given some sort of message from the otherworld, or was it simply the most realistic dream he had ever had, bought about by exhaustion and stress.

He felt that it was real, but as it stood he didn't know what it was he should know. Dumbledore knew something, and he wasn't telling Harry, something important. He would try and find that out later, but until he spoke more to his parents, he couldn't know anything for certain, and he didn't feel like accusing the greatest wizard alive based on one abstract dream.

It must have been an hour later when he finally fell asleep, and it was only when he woke up some hours later with the late morning sun shining in his eyes that he realised he hadn't had any more dreams, much to his annoyance.

"God damn it." He cursed to himself in anger before realising Blaise was lying right next to him, still asleep. He looked over his side of the bed to find he was no longer right on one side as he had been, but was now nearer to the middle with Blaise in his arms. His breathing caught in his throat as his mind played out the various scenarios that could take place when she awoke.

None of them looked particularly pleasing.

After some minutes of deliberation he decided the best thing to do was get out of there. He couldn't pretend to be asleep as Blaise would still hit him, and he was never any good at faking sleep. Very slowly, and skilfully he took hold of one of her arms and began to move it, in a slow motion movement reminiscent to that of the ballet at the spider king's lair.

Everything was going well for about half ten minutes until he heard a single word spoken which bought him to a stand still.

"Pervert…" His eyes trailed up to her face where she was staring at him with a stern expression. "Groping my arms up while I'm asleep, you're despicable. I'm just lucky you don't have more nerve or who knows where you would have stopped.

"It's not like that." He argued as he quickly jumped out of bed. "It was an accident and I was trying to crawl away."

"Maybe…" Blaise said after deliberating. "But I'm still going to hit you anyway."

"Why? Don't you believe me?" Harry asked as he ran and locked himself in the bathroom, Blaise hot on his heel.

"Believing you has nothing to do with it. I want to hit you because its fun." She said with a laugh which signalled the start of a new day, in which they would retrieve the third and final ingredient.

Half an hour later Harry and Blaise emerged from the room, refreshed and ready to face the day ahead of them, whatever it may contain. They didn't know what they would be required to wear for the day, in order not to be noticed, so for now they were just wearing shorts and t-shirts, as that's what the weather seemed to demand.

"Sleep well?" Ron asked from over the breakfast table as Harry sat down. Blaise scowled at this comment. It seems that Ron and Remus were already awake, though Hermione, Tonks and Marcus were else where.

"So are we setting off soon?" Blaise asked as she sat down and reached across and took an apple from a bowl of fruit on the table.

"Mmm in a bit yes, though not that soon. Tonks is still taking a bath, so when we actually leave is anyone's guess." Remus said over the top of a newspaper which didn't appear to be very new. "Still it's the last ingredient and then we will be ready to visit the dragon and get the Hell's Blessing, which will immune us to the unforgivable curses. At least the end is in sight, and I think that makes things seem a little bit lighter. Don't you Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He said as he took a bite from his toast. "But Marcus did say it was the most dangerous, and the last two were no walk in the park."

"Oh absolutely." Remus said as he lowered his paper and stared at Harry over a pair of reading glasses he had not seen before. "I'm sure it will be the most dangerous, but we have been lucky so far, and I can't see any reason to turn back, so all we can do is prepare and face it level headedly. Excessive fretting never did anyone any good did it?"

No one answered this question, and so breakfast carried on rather quietly, with only small talk between Ron and Harry. Eventually Hermione entered, followed a few minutes by Marcus.

"Splendid I see you are all up." Marcus said as he pulled out a seat from under the table, and yet remained standing.

"Actually Tonks isn't here yet." Harry replied.

"Oh that's alright. I have already spoken to Remus and Tonks about what to expect today. I won't be saying much she doesn't already know."

"Now as you know the third ingredient you must retrieve is the ink of a particular squid, which lives on the bed of the true sea, off the coast of the wizarding islands. We shall Portkey there shortly, bringing our brooms with us. I'm afraid it is impossible to port to many of the islands, so you will be flying for some of the journey. Once we get to the furthest point of the wizarding islands is where the danger begins, or the serious danger at any chance."

"Now the squid itself is relatively harmless, however there are other dangers that you will face, such as sharks, other predators, rocks and time."

"Rocks and time?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow. "They are gonna be dangerous are they? Are they going to try and eat us as well then?"

"No Ronald, I shouldn't think so." Marcus said with a thin smile. "And I don't appreciate sarcasm, especially when it suggests you don't take the mission seriously. The wrong attitude could result in the death of yourself or your friends."

"The Rocks will be dangerous because down on the se bed there is next to no light, and so you will be swimming amongst razor sharp spikes coming up from the sea bed which could slice you open with very little effort. As for time, again if you don't succeed this one time then you won't get another chance, due to the fact that the potion you will take in order to stay under water for so long is lethal in larger doses."

"If you are on the sea bed when your time runs out I would be worried as firstly you won't have enough air to make it to the surface, and secondly, even if you did the pressure should crush you till you are little wider than my hand. Now the potion you will be taking is a variant on a polyjuice potion, if any of you have heard of that. It is different in the fact that it will change you into an animal, in this case a dolphin."

"It is useful for any of you who don't know how to do a full body transfiguration, which I'm guessing you don't, and even if you did I wouldn't advise attempting it here, here something could go seriously wrong. I have brewed up the potion so it should last for a little over three hours, which should be plenty of time. I can't be sure of the time over. Somewhere between five and fifteen minutes, so I recommend that at most, regardless of how close you are to finishing, you head to the surface at three hours."

"How will we keep time?" Remus asked. This was obviously one of the details that hadn't been explained to him.

"Well as I said it will be to dark to see a watch, and I wouldn't recommend a light up watch as they may attract unwanted attention. This leads to the reason I chose a dolphin over the other water species which may have worked."

"A dolphin has one of the most accurate body clocks known to man. You should each be able to count the passage of time without even trying. You will all be able to tell that three hours are up with only a few seconds difference between each other. The other useful thing you will find is that Dolphins are able to scan around then using echo waves, which reflect of any creatures or objects. This will allow you to get an image of what's in front of you much clearer than what you're eyes will see."

"Remus will be carrying a specially designed filter strapped onto his back. He will use this to collect the ink needed from the water. I can't tell you where to find the squid, other than the fact that it will stay on the sea bed, and when approached will eject ink at you. When it does this it will either flee, or for small prey. it will attack them using its tentacles or forcing the prey against the rocks whilst it is disorientated.

"You should be able to communicate, or so I have been told form my studies into the matter. None the less you may want to plan a little more amongst yourselves, as opposed to simply all getting in the water and going off."

"Sorry Marcus but wouldn't it make much more sense for us not to all go at once? That way if we don't succeed in the three hours then the others could have a go." Harry asked.

"I considered that, but I don't feel so Harry. No, by travelling together you are safer. Sharks, which may well be a problem, generally won't attack a school of dolphins.

"What about clothing?" Blaise asked. "If we are going to have to fly over a load of wizards will we need to wear a disguise or something?"

"No, the wizards here have a large choice of clothing and fashion, and since we shouldn't be coming into to close contact with any I shouldn't think a disguise will be necessary, as for the main task, obviously clothes won't be needed. Dolphins don't wear clothes!"

"I think that covers everything just about. You won't be able to cast any magic whilst in your dolphin form, nor will you be able to turn back prematurely. For these reason I suggest you do avoid danger, as fighting back or running onto dry land isn't an option. None the less you shouldn't need to with any luck. We will be setting off in half an hour, so as I said, if you think of anything else I will be in the lobby preparing."

Marcus pushed the chair back under the table and turned to walk out of the room. He bumped into Tonks as he made his exit.

"Oh good morning." She said as she sidestepped round him. "That was a cracking bath, so what's going on then?" She asked as she tried to shake water out of her ears.


	88. Metamorphosis

Right, heres another chapter. Again the wait was longer than I like, but this time I'm blaiming x files, which will hopefully be an acceptable excuse to the 1 of you who enjoy it.

After breakfast was over and Harry and Blaise had done the washing and drying up Harry walked into the hall where Marcus was packing a backpack and talking to Tonks. Ron and Hermione were busy talking, meaning Remus was on his own. Harry turned to Blaise, and excused himself.

"I won't be long. I just want to talk to Remus for a sec, I won't be long."

"Oh hi Harry." Remus said as he looked up from some books on a shelf at the side of the room. "You all ready for the final task?"

"Er yeah, could we talk for a minute." He asked. Remus caught the look in his eye and knew it would be a private talk. He nodded and lead Harry off to the living room, which was currently empty.

"So, it's something important I take it." Remus asked as he sat back in a large armchair and brushed a lock of hair aside.

"I think so. I was wondering if you know, or rather, what does Albus know?"

"He knows many things Harry." Remus said with a small smile. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to know?"

"I think he knows more about Voldemort than he is telling me. I think he knows what Voldemort wants with me, why he hasn't been trying to kill me. I'm sure he knows the answers to all of it."

"Well Harry that' a bit better." Remus said, though his face didn't show a pleased look. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows less than you think. He is someone people follow, and look up to and place their hopes in. It's his job to look like he knows what to do. I'm not saying he doesn't. I'm sure he knows better than anyone, but when it concerns what you are asking to know he probably doesn't know everything."

"But he knows more than he tells me."

"If that is the case, and as I said, I don't think it is…" Remus lied. "Then I'm sure he has a good reason not to tell you. How are you so sure of this anyway?" At this Harry stalled a bit. He didn't feel comfortable recounting his dream from last night.

"It's just something I know." Harry answered unconvincingly.

"I see. Well that's a shame. If I knew how you knew it I could determine how accurate it is. If you say it's just something you know, then we could say its just instinct, which is often wrong."

"It's not instinct!" Harry said angrily. "It's a fact. He has to know. He has to." He sighed as his anger rose.

"Why does he have to Harry? Even with your legilimens abilities you can't find out what he is thinking, so what makes you so sure? I have never known you to put so much faith in instinct.

"I heard it… It's something someone told me." Harry confessed, torn between protecting his deep secret, and trying to find out something which he knew he couldn't let go.

"What makes you think this person you heard from knows any better than you or I. He spends more time with you and with the order than with anyone else. There is no way anyone could know what he knows, if he does know anything.

"But they do know Remus!" Harry said very quietly in case anyone was listening in. "Have you ever spoken to the dead Remus?"

"Ghosts?" He hazarded with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I mean the real dead. The ones who have crossed over into the other side. Is it possible to see them, and speak to them?"

"I would say no." Remus confessed. "But I have a feeling you feel otherwise. I will tell you Harry, I looked into the matter, a great deal. For over four years it was a matter which largely consumed my time. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, and then in my dreams it was something I wondered. I looked so hard Harry, I searched all over the world. It was a mad mans quest and it so nearly killed me. Do you know what I found?"

"What?" Harry asked with bated breath.

"Nothing." It isn't possible. Those who have passed over can never return, and they can never speak to us. In the same way we can never speak to them. Its another world Harry and one that is only meant to be crossed once, when it is your time. To deliberately bring about that time, to see the one your searching for, I contemplated it Harry, I confess that, but it wouldn't be what your parents wanted and nor would it be what Natasha wanted…"

"But I spoke to them Remus!" Harry hissed. "Last night, when I was asleep I spoke to them. I crossed over, and I came back. They were there Remus, talking to me."

"You may want to believe that Harry, but it's just not the case. You said yourself you were asleep. Please Harry, dismiss it as I dream, for no good will come from fretting over it.

"It wasn't a dream. I know what I saw Remus. It was as real as anything, yet so different. It was different in ways that you couldn't imagine unless you had seen it. Like when you first see a new colour, and not just a mix of the old ones. That's the best I can describe it.

"Well Harry even though I don't believe you I will say this. Whatever they may have said to you, they could well be wrong. They are dead, and so they may know nothing, even if they were real, which they aren't.

"But they told me Dumbledore knew what Voldemort wanted.

"If they know why didn't they tell you themselves?" Remus asked sceptically.

"They would have but we ran out of time. They were going to but I didn't give them the chance."

"If Dumbledore hasn't told me yet then he won't do unless he can't deny it." Harry said as he rose to his feet with resolves. "I have to find out more. My life depends on it."

"Please Harry, just leave it." Remus began, knowing now that Harry was serious, that he really was about to embark on a quest to obtain the unobtainable, something that was never meant to be had. He would become the modern day doctor Frankenstein.

"I can't. You know I can't ignore something like that. I'm sorry you don't believe me though…"

"Me believing you doesn't have anything to do with it. You believe yourself, and that should be enough for anybody. I see I won't change your mind, so I will simply ask a favour, that should you speak to them again, or not, or find a way to speak to them, don't tell me. Don't tell me anything about it. Not a thing. I'm happy now, and I closed that chapter. To open it up again, would ruin everything. Just mentioning it is damaging. So please Harry, don't mention it to me or your friends, because it won't do you any good.

"Well thanks for your help I guess." Harry said as he rubbed his neck. "Though it would be cool though, if people could speak to the spirits of the dead."

"Nope Harry, it wouldn't. It would just make people sad. Often it is better to live with an ideal than the truth. If your parents were different people, if they were bad people wouldn't you rather not know?"

"But what if you knew the dead people already, like Sirius?"

"Then that is just as bad." Remus argued. "Because sometimes they would turn out to be even better than you remember them to be. The reason people can move on after a death is because they grow to accept it, and then they begin to forget them. They will still remember what they think is the important stuff, but they don't remember, they forget the essence that made that person more than just anybody else. Do you understand Harry?"

"Yes, I can see what you mean… though I still have to find out."

"Yes, yes. But not a word remember." Remus warned him, before leaving he room in a cold sweat with his hands shaking in his pockets. If Harry succeeded when no one had before, would Remus be able to ignore that. If he could speak to Natasha again could he ignore her? Could he do the right thing to Tonks? He never stopped loving Natasha, he just forgot it enough to be happy with someone else.

If she was here now wouldn't he love her as much as he ever did? He knew the answers to these questions, which was the worst part. It was for these reasons that he had a stiff drink before returning to the hall where everyone had assembled ready to leave for the day.

"All prepared are we?" Remus asked he gave everyone a glance over. "Splendid! We should all be…very, nice and safe then."

"Right I'm all packed and ready." Marcus said as he picked up a small bag looking suspiciously like a womans hand bag. Harry thought it best not to comment on this observation.

"Ok so its about eleven o clock now, so you should be splashing down by about noon. With any luck you will be done after an hour or so, at most three hours, so we should all be done and dusted intime for a small rest before dinner tonight."

"Has everyone got their brooms ready? I will port us as close as I can but then we will need to fly."

"After yesterday I can't say I'm looking forward to flying." Ron commented as he thought about how they were chased by the Death Eaters.

"I should imagine so." Marcus said disregardingly. "Now as I said there shouldn't be any trouble from the wizards , although they can be dangerous if you have been to Harmonia then it will seem like a breeze."

Once there was a final check that everything was ready, wands brooms, towels, emergency supplies and all the apparatus they would need to complete their mission and obtain the final ingredient to complete the blessing. Everyone made their way out into the garden, which in the mid morning night looked so different from last night. They stood round and took hold of the portkey, which with the usual jolt, took off.

Everyone touched down on a planked walkway, in an area noticeably warmer than Marcus' garden had been. Before Harry had time to take in the sights he noticed the diffeence in smell. Whilst Marcus' garden had been scented with quantites of flowers and the faint smell of open sea air, here there was a sticky smell, yet one that was not unliked. It was slightly spicy, and seemed to come from a local potions shop across from them.

"Haven't got much like on earth have we." Tonks said as she looked round.

"Not that I have seen." Remus replied in amazement. It was not the sheer amount of magical activity, for that was probably no more than Hogsmede, but rather the climate of it. It seemed to be rather like a wizarding village on a caribean island. Harry looked down to realise they weren't on an island at all, but rather on what could only be described as a large port, or pier.

Although there were no boats to be seen, and indeed there were houses and shops, there was no solid ground underneath them. The whole construction seemed to be supported on wooden stilits driven into the andy ground which was submersed under ten feet of crystal clear water.

"Although they are called the wizarding islands, few of the inhabitants actually live on the islands. It is th large of the buildings only, which needs stronger ground, which lies on the islands." Marcus explained as he began walking along the gangway.

"That large building over there..." He said as he sharply pointed, narrowly avoiding Blaise. "…Is the court house and library. Obviously with all the books they weigh a lot. It did used to be built here on the port, but as it grew they needed to relocate it."

"I wish I had bought my camera." Hermione comented as they all began to walk along the busy walkway with whitches and wizards buzzing past in their daily lives. "I doubt I will ever get another chance to visit it."

"I tend to find…" Marcus said as they walked past a small café. "…that when one wants a photo simply to admire a past memory, it is often better not to have a photo at all. Although they may see it more accurately often the mind can fabricate a past memory into something greater than what it was. From an observational point of view it's a pity, yet for ones musings, don't we all wish to remember things as better than they were?"

No one really responded to this, though they all thought about it briefly. It was true. In much the same way Harry could remember Sirius being an even better person than he was, so could he lessen his past trauma by forgetting how desperate some of his situations had been. Although the streets were busy they were still clean, and unlike Harmonia the inhabitants seemed to have a good idea that personal hygiene wasn't a kind of fish.

"Where do you think Alex is right now?" Ron said as he past a boy of similar age walking with his mother.

"Well I'm sure he is where he wants to be." Tonks said. "And wether or not that is where is good for him, that's not for us to judge."

"But if he was still with Voldemort…" Blaise began to interrupt before Remus stopped her.

"Tonks is right. You can wish someone well but if they don't want your help then you can't do much about it. I'm sure he is safe, but I think for now we should just concentrate on the mission at hand."

After only five minutes of walking the walkways started to become further and further apart. Till the one they were following came to an end.

"Wow now that is something." Harry said as he glanced no less than six small islands around the horizon, each with their maze of wooden walkways and pale sandy coloured buildings. Each of them was no bigger than a thumbnail in the distance, but the clear water stretching from one island to another made it look like one of the most beautiful places in Pharaphax or Earth.

"Well that's the walking part over. We could have flown but then we would all become fat wouldn't we." Marcus said with a small smile as everyone mounted their brooms. Harry watched curiously as the old man also mounted a broom, and though he did so correctly there was something distinctly strange about the sight of it, rather like although a man knows how to put on a dress it is something he should refrain from doing.

Harry kicked up into the air, leaving the small wizarding settlement far below. Everyone came to a stop a few hundred feet about the ocean, though Harry flew higher. Here things seemed so peaceful, and far away from his worries. Things like Death Eaters and Voldemort and monsters seemed so far away from him and this place at the moment. It was a euphoria bought about by the scenic beauty and the exhilaration he found from the freedom of flying with the wind blowing through his hair.

"Don't go to high Harry." Marcus called up from the rest of them. "You might bump into the sun." He said sternly, in a way which left Harry puzzled as to whether it was a joke or not. They flew forwards towards the middle island that was in the distance. Although it looked to be only a stones throw from where they had stood, it turned out to actually be a good ten minutes of flight.

"It's a beautiful morning." Blaise exclaimed as she came and flew besides him. "It's magic…"

"Like last night?" Harry asked with a wink and a small laugh."

"I don't know what you dreamt Harry, but nothing happened." Blaise said in a tone which had a distinct "you wish" factor in it.

"I know, I just like to wind you up." Harry smiled.

"And I just like to hit you." Blaise said as she flew a few feet away from him and then gave him a shoulder ram as she bought her broom back to his side.

Harry looked shocked as he began to fall from his broom, hundreds of feet about the blue ocean. Blaise gave a short shriek as Harry swung round to be hanging upside down, his legs hooked around the handle. Everyone glanced up briefly form below, to see what the commotion was.

"Oooh temper, save it for the Quidditch pitch." He taunted her as he continued to fly besides her, though upside down. She made a half hearted swat at him as he flew out of her reach, before shooting forwards and plummeting down towards the ocean.

He spun round so he was facing the right way, and pulled up just as the ocean surface came level with him. He skimmed along the surface, his feet skimming the cool ocean water, not caring about the fact he was still wearing his shoes.

"He likes to show off doesn't he?" Ron asked Hermione as he flew along leisurely with his arms behind his head. Hermione tutted.

"The only thing you two have to show off about is the size of your heads." She said, causing Ron to grumble and take hold of his broom.

"Well looks like we are here then." Harry said as he rejoined the main group. The island was now just appearing underneath them. It looked to be larger than the one they had just been on, though it was difficult to tell from this height.

"Yes, if we just carry onto the other side then we should be able to land on the beach right where we need to be."

They carried on over the small island for a minute or so, whilst gradually lowering their altitude till they came to the far side where they needed to be. Marcus began to circle down, with the others following until he touched down onto a small patch of grass running onto the white sandy beach. There didn't seem to be as many of the gangways over this side of the island as there did the rest, though one supposed this was due to the fact it wasn't leading to anything other than the open ocean and the edge of the world.

"Splendid, it's just as I remember." Marcus said as he strolled onto the sandy sea front. "As you can see it is very quiet here just now. Well I have applied to the wizarding council of this island, and we have got a private part of beach reserved just up here. It means you will be slightly safer, amongst other things. After all if you do come back early, and are waiting by the seafront we don't want someone trying to kill you and eat you do we?" He asked with a laugh.

"It wouldn't be the first time I have had that feeling." Harry confessed with a smile, which most of the others also displayed, knowing all to well what he meant. They set off along the beach which was no more than twenty meters from grass on one side to sea on the other. The water was also so clear that he could see the rapid decline in depth only a few meters into the water.

"Good, here we are." Marcus said a minute later as they came to a patch which didn't look much different from the rest of the beach, although it had some large dark rocks on it. "Ok now the way this will work is simple enough, Remus is the only one who will have any apparatus, which he can put on before his transformation, other than that the rest of you will only serve to help locate the squid."

"I know I said that this one would be the most dangerous, but I was anticipating the other two objectives to go slightly more smoothly than they did, so if this does all go fine, then this will seem to be the easiest. If you would like to split into two groups then Marcus instructed.

"I will be in Harry's group." Blaise volounteered quickly.

"You could be…"Marcus said as he peered at her over the top of his glasses. "But you should wait till I have finished talking, as I'm sure you don't want to be in the men's group when your removing your clothes do you?"

Blaise blushed furiously and shook her head.

"I didn't think so, now as I said, two groups please. Males on one side of this rock, females will get changed on the other side. I have here a measure of the potion you will each need." Marcus said as he handed them each a small flask. If once you have removed your clothes you could stroll into the water about waste deep and then take the potion that would be great, at that point swim forwards a little until the two groups come together."

"From that point on its upto you. I will be here the whole time, so good luck." Marcus said as he took a seat on a rock he seemed rather familiar with, before drawing out an old dog eared book from his pocket and opening straight to a particular page, though there was no mark to identify it from the others.

"Well come on them, get to it." Marcus said as he realised they were all still standing there.

Harry Remus and Ron separated from the girls and made their way over to the right hand side. The large rock which rose up from the ground served well to divide the two groups, so that they each had some privacy while they undressed. The rock was about eight feet high, so it couldn't be seen over.

You had better turn your backs." Blaise threatened them as she raised a fist.

"Of course." Hermione said as she walked a short distance from Blaise and Tonks.

"Isn't this exciting?" Tonks said as eagerly took her top off, stripping down to her jeans and a red bra. "It's just like a girly sleepover, but without the sleep."

Hermione and Blaise exchanged a brief glance, each wondering what sort of sleepover Tonks used to have, and making a mental note never to go should they be invited.

"Oooh lets peek!" Ron said as he gave his eyebrows a wiggle.

"You would really sneak so low as to do that? Harry asked as he shook his head.

"I am a guy you know." Ron reminded them.

"You would want to peek a look at Hermione your best friend then?"

"No!" Ron stated adamantly.

"Who are you going to be looking at then?" Remus asked threateningly in his ear. Ron realised the situation had suddenly turned rather dark. Both Harry and Remus were staring with daggers in their eyes.

"Such interesting sand…" Ron said as he quickly tried to change the subject. Little did he know but that moment then was probably the most dangerous he would face that day. After a minute in which everyone had changed in silence, on both the girl's side and the guy's side they strode into the water.

"Hey this is actually quite warm." Remus said in surprise. As someone who had lived in England all his life he was used to even on the hottest days, running into the beautiful sparkling sea, before becoming so cold that he could cut glass with his nipples. He had tried.

"I'm so glad this water is clear." Harry began as he waded a little deeper, completely naked. "If I couldn't see the sand under my feet I would be terrified of crabs…"

"I should think crabs are the least of our worries." Remus said with a small laugh as he uncorked the small flask of potion he had. "We are deep enough now I believe, so lets not waste any time them shall we?" He asked as he turned to Ron, who had already started.

"Someone's eager." Remus commented as he followed suit and downed the potion, before chucking the flask back so it landed just on the watery shore. "Mmm not the best tasting potion in the world."

"What does it taste like them?" Harry asked suddenly worrying as he eyed the liquid infront of him, suddenly looking far less appealing than it had.

"It doesn't matter does it, you are going to drink it anyway." Remus said as he stopped, and turned to Ron, who began coughing.

Harry quickly uncorked his potion and downed it, before Ron's tranformatiopn could get to ugly. It didn't seem to have a taste at first, as it just felt like a cold tingling going down his through, but it had a distinct aftertaste of Snape. He gave a cough too, as he turned his attention out at the open sea, stretching beyond him. From here it looked endless, and tranquil, but he knew beneath the surface there could well be a multitude of troubles.

He began to doubt the effectiveness of the potion, until he felt his legs struggling to support him, which was strange considering his body weighed nearly nothing under water. When he looked down it was difficult to see through the rippling water but it seemed that his legs were getting darker in colour. It was only when he looked to his right that he truly believed the potion was working. Looking at Remus, who had began to spout an elongated nose, and then to Ron, whose arms were shortening, and flatting out into flippers.

He felt his own similar transformations setting in, which were probably no worse than that of the polyjuice potion. Mind you there shouldn't be much difference, he mused. He was transforming into an animal in both instances. His head started to get closer to the water, as he felt his legs pulling together, by some magnetic force. He didn't care to see the rest so he screwed up his eyes and tried to concentrate on the feeling of having completed the tasks, of how it was so nearly over now, even though he knew it wasn't.

He tried to think of standing on the beach afterwards, the sun setting, relaxing with his friends. He tried to ignore the growing feeling in his stomach that told him he was going to be sick. The only thing he did try and concentrate on, besides the completion of the mission that is, was keeping his balance, which was proving difficult. He felt like a drunk man standing atop a lamp post. There was a burning feeling from deep within his body as the transformation reached its final form.

Finally he lost his balance, and fell forwards, his head plunging beneath the water. As this happened a soothing calm past over him, and he opened his eyes, seeing for the first time, the underwater world through the eyes of a dolphin. He mentally panicked for a second about breathing, but that was all it was. He could hold his breath now for some time, as he knew dolphins could. He remembered hearing in school that they could stay underwater for upto ten minutes at a time. He didn't wish to test this just yet, but he expected sooner rather than later he would have to.

"Come on then." Remus said to him in the whistling form of communication, which to Harry sounded like perfectly normal speech. "Let's go see if the girls have gotten on alright."

"Wait for me." Ron called as he swam over besides Harry. "I think my watch fell off when my hand disappeared…"

"This is weird though isn't it." Harry said as him and Ron swum ahead to where the large stone rock that had separated them ended. Remus had swum on ahead, and was now in a small school with the three girls, who all looked to have transformed without any problems.

"Hey Mione, you're looking pretty sexy as a dolphin." Ron joked as he swam up beside her, his fin brushing against her.

"Er Ron…I'm Remus." He responded as he swum sideways a few inches, away from a rather embarrassed Ron. "Can't you see that they are smaller?" Remus said as he nodded to the three girls.

"Good things come in small packages." Tonks chided as she gave her tail a wag.

"Well that's a wait off my mind." Harry joked, causing them to laugh. Blaise had since swum besides him. She didn't laugh.

"I was only joking you know!" He explained to her in private.

"Why do I care?" She whipped back.

"Um because you… um…" He floundered.

"You wish." She responded sarcastically, proving that even if she were a sea creature she could still be her usual self.

"Right, before we get on our way I need to explain a few things." Remus said as he swam round them instinctively, as though to keep them together. "We should be able to hold our breath for up to ten minutes at one time, though we each have our limits. I don't want any of us to go longer than seven minutes. Once you gone been down for seven minutes you need to surface for air." He explained, which was followed by silence, and a small fidget.

"Breathing won't be an instinctive thing. It's something you need to do. I don't believe we will feel the need to breath like we did when we were humans, It's just something you need to remember to do. If you forget I expect the first you will know is that you will feel tired or your senses may not be as sharp. As I said there is no need to test this at all, We all know how to keep time, so make sure to breath.

"Does everyone know how long we have been underwater for now."

"A minute and forty?" They all responded, much to their surprise.

"That's what I thought. I don't know if you are right, but I doubt we are all wrong." He smiled.

"Now another thing is communicating. As you can all see it seems to be as straight forward as normal. However you will all want to make use of your echo location." Remus said as he gave a small click, which sent out a high frequency wave through the water, bouncing off all objects within the near by area.

"How do we do that then?" Hermione asked impatiently. Not liking to see something she didn't know how to do.

"Well it's simple enough." Remus said as though he were an expert. Obviously Marcus had done a good job of explaining what it was like to be a dolphin. "You know how you normally would give a growl…You know, like a deep throat." He explained, again to silence.

"Well if you sort of try and do a growl, without actually using your voice then you should all be able to do some clicks.

Harry had a go and although at first he didn't manage. He tried again, this time to success, He had a look around, and where he could see rocks in the distance, he could also sense them through his echo location.

He couldn't see the waves with his eyes, but he could feel it as they came back to him. If he had to give it a visual description it would be like a pale green glow which surrounded the edge of objects that it bounced off. As it was since he could see the objects it seemed a trick of his mind more than anything, but he suspected when he was down on the ocean bed and couldn't see with his eyes, that it would prove indispensable.


	89. Dive

Sorry bout the long wait again. With easter and mothers day its been a little hectic. I have been pulling Saturday shifts at work as well to try and earn some more. Its looking set to get even busier until the end of April as I got a week of driving lessons and a few 65 hour weeks planned.

Anyway I do apologise if this is dull, as people were looking forward to action… which isn't really what I had planned.

"Now I think covers everything there is to know." Remus responded. "In three hours we make sure we are here. Even if we get separated, at three hours, this is where we meet up." Once everyone had had a few minutes to practice diving and rising to the surface for air, and they were confident in their echo locatuion they all set off swimming, out into the open sea.

Harry had to admit, all things considering it was a wonderfully free feeling, as like flying as anything else he had ever felt. Perhaps it was the freedom to move up and down as well as forwards and sideways. He had supposed this would feel something like when he had used gillyweed, but that was not the case. This was effortless, the diving and bursts of speed as he launched himself up into the bright sunlit air, like bursting through the clouds. It felt as though the water was parting for him.

"Make the most of it." Blaise said as she swum along beside him. "We will need to begin searching the sea bed soon. The squid isn't supposed to be that far out I don't believe, and we have already gone a few miles." Harry was surprised to hear that they were so far out, but then he supposed at such speed ground, or rather water, was easy to cover. He looked back to the shore, where the island was distant, and realised that Blaise was entirely right. He knew instinctively exactly how far it was.

"I thought this would slow me down." Remus said as he motioned to the apparatus he had strapped to his back. "But it isn't much." The bottle he had on his back was pointed at one end, with a curved intake at the back, and some sort of filtering mesh, which Harry couldn't quite understand. "Anyway I think we have stretched out flippers enough, anyone ready for some real diving." He asked as he slowed down infront of them, and turned to check that everyone was confident.

"Well I'm a little worried that I won't be able to hold my breath." Ron confessed.

"That's only natural." Remus replied, but knowing that you don't need to is the most important thing. "If you panic on the sea bed then there isn't much we can do to help you. As long as you keep your mind, and return to the surface as and when you need to then we should be fine."

"Now take a deep breath everyone, because we ae going to be down for five minutes to start with." He instructed. "We still have the best part of three hours so there is no need to push ourselves quite yet."

"Everyone took a deep breath, before pushing down hard, away from the flickering sunlight of the sky, and down towards the murkiness below, which didn't seem as dark as one would have expected. He had a little more difficulty diving than usual, due to the amount of air in his lungs, but Harry none the less managed to dive rather well.

As they got deeper, and their vision gradually got more limited by the amount of sunlight he could feel the pressure pushing down on him, though it wasn't uncomfortable like it had been for him as a human. It felt natural, and he didn't feel any discomfort.

The first sign of life they found, besides small clumps of weed floating loosely in the water, was a small school of three dolphins, which came up from behind them and swum next to them with excited curiosity.

It seemed that they could tell Harry and the others weren't real dolphins, yet couldn't identify what they were otherwise. Hermione tried talking to them, with little success.

"That's strange; I thought they would understand me." Hermione said slightly sadly. "I have always wanted to swim with dolphins…"

"Well its not surprising really that we don't understand them." Tonks answered. "Just because we have the physical ability to communicate with them doesn't mean that we have the mental knowledge to understand or talk back to them."

"I suppose its a lot like human languages then…" Blaise asked, as she hung to the back of the group. If anything attacked them from below then she had a nice shield in front of her.

"Yes, that's right. Just because you have the physical capacity to speak French doesn't mean you know how to. After swimming with the dolphins for a few minutes they separated again, chasing after a school of gold and silver looking fish.

After about three minutes they came to the sea bed, which was very dark. "Harry was the first one to use his echo location, and down here where he couldn't see so far in the distance it proved to be more useful than it had by the surface.

He gave a click, and a glowing outline came to him of the objects in front of him, of Hermione and Tonks, of some see plants growing up from the sandy bottom, and further in the distance, of some large rocks. The further away objects came to him later, like shining a torch in front of you and running it along the pavement, revealing one patch of ground at a time.

"I was hoping that the seabed wouldn't be so far down." Remus confessed. "We should go back to the surface now, that won't take as long as diving but should still take one and a half or two minutes. I think even in an hour or so when we are more practiced we can only hope fro five minutes of time down here looking for the squid."

"I think we would have been better off with diving gear." Harry commented, giving Ron a confused expression. "If we are going to spend half our time diving and rising…"

"We can dive and rise as quickly as we can can't we?" Hermione asked as they all turned upwards and began swimming back up to the surface. "It's just the change in pressure can cause carbon dioxide bubbles to form in the blood which can kill you." She explained.

"No, I did ask Marcus about that and he doesn't believe it can happen to dolphins." Remus answered

"He doesn't believe?" Blaise asked sceptically. "I feel so confident now… Please let me dive really quickly because he _thinks_ it will be ok." A moment later they broke the surface, with the sun feeling very bright again. It felt strange to Harry, to breathe in the fresh air, knowing it was what he needed to do, yet not feeling the familiar burning sensation in his lungs.

"Ok I don't know what you think but I think we should go in two groups." Remus said. "Since it could be to a side, as opposed to just further out we shouldn't all look together. If we go into groups we can cover the ground twice as fast.

"Sounds like a plan." Tonks responded as she playfully splashed water all over Remus. No one else commented on this decision, so it was taken to be unanimous.

"We will still keep within distance of each other, but as I said we will be as far apart as our echo location will allow, without being out of contact. Ron, Hermione you are going to be in my group. Harry, Blaise, you are going to go with Tonks."

The six of them split up into the two smaller groups, and after confirming how they would communicate meanings through their echo location, they set off for the bottom again, this time with the intention of staying for a minute or two to look around.

"So have you two done it?" Tonks asked nosily as they dived down. Harry nearly swallowed a load of water in shock that she would ask him such a question.

"That isn't any of your business." Blaise said in a tone which indicated quantities of anger. Something Tonks didn't seem to pick up on.

"Oh so you have then!" She replied with a laugh.

"I didn't say that." Blaise responded.

"That means you have, if you hadn't you would have said no." She said slyly.

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to this, so he simply blushed in silence.

"No, it doesn't mean anything. I'm just saying I wouldn't ever tell personal secrets, especially not to someone as indiscreet as you!" Tonks didn't seem to take any personal offence at this remark. "I'm not that trampy."

"There is nothing bad about if you had." She carried on pryingly. "After all if you two have love each other…"

"I don't have love for him." Blaise snapped. "I have hatred and knives!"

"Ooooh." Said Tonks in victory. "So you're into that kinky stuff. Pain heightens the pleasure?"

"You're sick, you know that. Sick in the head." Blaise said, effectively saying that this conversation was over.

"Feel free to come to my defence here Harry." She said as she rounded on him. Tonks swum forward a little to give them space, she loved stirring it.

"You wanted her to think that we did do it didn't you? Sicko…"

"No I didn't." Harry argued. "I just didn't know what to say."

"Likely story…It makes you feel big about yourself doesn't it, having someone think you did it. Harry didn't have a response to this. He didn't want to lie, and yet he valued his life to much to admit. "We are gonna have words about this later!" She warned him as they came to the sea bed, this time only two and a half minutes after diving from the surface.

They were a dozen meters or so from where they had been previously.

"So where do we start then?" Harry asked as Blaise gave a click from beside him.

"Well I guess we just swim around a little bit having a look for anything that looks like a squid. You guys know what a squid looks like?" Tonks asked them.

"Yeah…" Blaise replied.

"Good…Just checking." There was a moment pause before Harry spoke.

"It looks like a big ball, probably grey, with a load of tentacles coming out of the bottom of it."

"Oh right!" Tonks said in a surprised tone. "Remus never said, and I didn't want to appear stupid."

"Heaven forbid if that were to ever happen…" Said a quiet voice in Harry's ear.

"They generally don't live on just the sea bed do they?" Tonks asked, also to confirm her beliefs.

"No I don't think so, they haven't got any form of echo location, and since they are rather vulnerable to being surprised they often stay with their back against a rock.

"I thought so." Tonks said, so I guess we should swim until we find a rock, since I can see now that it isn't on the sea bed in my range.

"There is a rock ahead of us. Let's start there." Blaise answered as she began swimming towards the rock Harry had seen on his first scan of the sea bed. It was probably about ten foot in each dimension, and could he supposed, have a squid hiding behind it, though he doubted it would. It still seemed too open. As they reached rock they cautiously circled it until they had covered the whole thing. The only creature hiding was a small crab, which shuffled down into the snow as it saw them.

"Oh well, no luck here." Tonks said as she gave a click and had a look around her. "My belief is that since we have the mountain range to one side of us, and the ice part of this planet on the other side, then we should mainly be looking forward. At the moment we are quite close to the centre, so it is only a few miles across, where as its many miles long. I think we should do a quick sweep of the seabed between here and the edge, I expect Remus will do the same going his way.

"We aren't meant to move out of range of each other though." Harry warned her as she was already to dart off.

"Well that seems a little overcautious now that we mention it. Especially since we have only got a few hours to search an area potentially hundreds of square miles.

"I think your right." Harry confirmed.

"I think you're an idiot." Blaise muttered, annoyed that they had dived all the way to the bottom before realising the impracticality of staying within reach of each other.

There echo vision could only see about four hundred meters at most, less if there were objects blocking the sound wave.

"I'm surprised actually, that we haven't seen more sea life down here." He commented as he gave a click, and saw no sign of anything moving, except for Remus far to his right. Sea creatures for the most part were almost generally on the move, even he himself was unable to remain entirely stationary.

"Must be something eating it all." Blaise commented. "Like a shark. You know what one of those is Tonks?"

"Yes…" She replied, a little scared. "Remus said we probably won't see one of those though."

"Oh well if Remus says it…Still I think we had best head to the surface, we have been here for about three minutes now."

Harry nodded in agreement and the three of them set off for the surface. When they broke through the surface for air Remus, Ron and Hermione were already there waiting.

"Find anything he asked them?"

"No nothing yet." Tonks replied, before discussing her plans for exploring the sea bed. Remus seemed reluctant to separate from them, yet he couldn't deny that his caution was limiting their ability to explore.

"If we find anything we will come and get you guys straight away." She assured him. "We won't even go near it without you." Eventually he gave in, and they returned to the seabed, ready to carry on with their exploration. As they came to the bottom they swam, mostly over sandy ground and weed beds, with an occasional Rock jutting up from the bottom here and there, and the occasional school of fish lurking around, running when they came near.

After swimming at full speed for a few minutes, each of them giving off a click every few seconds and finding nothing they came upon a wall, or al least felt its outline, before reaching it.

"we are near to the edge, you can feel its colder here can't you?" Tonks asked, which was indeed true.

"Yes, it would seem so." Blaise responded as they swum closer to the edge of the sea, where it met the icy mountains. Eventually through the murky darkness the edge became clear to their eyes.

"Wow so that's what it looks like." Blaise commented as they came to an icy wall underwater that went on either way as far as they could see. The icy was very clear so they could see surprisingly far into it. They happened also to notice that there was actually ground in the ice sector. It seemed that the earth beneath them carried on under the ice, not that anyone would ever step foot on the ground before them.

"We should start heading back. Ideally we don't want to surface this far away from the others. I mean I know we don't need to meet every time, but if they find something they will also want us to be there, so we should head as far back as we can before having to surface again." Tonks explained, as they turned and headed back, though this time a few hundred meters further out from before, so that they weren't checking the same ground twice.

Before they were half way back their body timers told them that they needed to return to the surface, so they did this. Remus and the others couldn't be seen when they reached the surface, so they got their breath back and went on exploring further. This carried on for the next hour, with them diving and surfacing every ten minutes or so, sometimes in vision of each other, and other times not. As they got further out it seemed that the sea bed was becoming more interesting, with more plant life and more rocks, so it was taking longer to check

It was shortly after they had just spoken to Remus, who had turned up nothing that they were back darting along the sea bed, coming upto the edge when something caught Harry's eye.

"Well let's head back then." Tonks said as she made to turn round and head back towards the centre.

"What is that?" Harry asked, causing Tonks and Blaise to pause.

"You found something?"

"That's impossible… Harry said to himself as he swum to the edge where the ice met the water, and peered ahead of him. It was partially obscured by some frosted ice, but it seemed that a few hundred feet into the ice, was the form of a large red dragon, captured in time.

"Is it dead?" Tonks asked, as they watched it unmovingly.

"I think so, but how could it be dead, it hasn't decayed. Harry said to himself more than the other two.

"Well sometimes animals get preserved in the ice don't they?"

"Not like this… We are at the bottom of the sea. Dragons can't go in the sea, and it certainly can't get over a mile into the ice like that, not to mention its covered in chains…"

As they spoke they stared at the dragon, still perfect in form, its horns ivory white, its scales fiery red, and its eyes, yellow with thin pupils. They still seemed to shine.

"Well that's a mystery in itself." It's a good job its not that we are after, or else we would have a job getting to it." Harry said in wonder. What were the chains about? "Anyway let's carry on looking, we don't have all day and I'm getting a chill." He said as he turned and began swimming, though he wanted nothing more than to carry on staring at the great lifeless beast.

As they surfaced they happened to arrive only a short distance from Remus and the others.

"Have you found anything?" He asked them as they waited on the surface for a minute, taking deep breaths to get the oxygen levels in their blood back up.

"Well we found a dragon frozen in the ice, but other than that nothing." Tonks explained, as though this wasn't particularly strange.

"A What?" Remus asked rhetorically. "Never mind. We happened to pick up some pretty big rocky formations ahead. I would suggest unless you find some on your side of things then it might be worth us joining up, so we can explore them thoroughly."

"Sounds like a plan." She responded as she turned to Harry, who nodded.

"Come on guys lets go then." Remus said as he, Hermione and Ron dove beneath the surface and carried on. Harry, Blaise and Tonks waited for a moment to catch their breath before setting off again.

"Come on guys, we need to try harder." Tonks said as they swum down to the ocean bottom very quickly. "We can't let them win."

"Aren't we on the same team?" Blaise asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Pfff no!" Tonks said incredulously. "WE can't let those guys win. It's girls team all the way."

Harry gave the small equivalent of a cough, which went unheard. Despite Tonks' enthusiasm they found nothing on the ocean bed their way, and so when they rose to the surface again they joined up with the "boys team" and set off to the rocky formations which he reported were rather extensive.

As they reached the bottom they could see Remus hadn't exaggerated. Whilst what Harry had seen so far was smooth ocean floor here there were many rocky outcrops and dark crevices stretching as far as he could see either way.

"You can see it could be dangerous." Hermione explained. Even with the echo location we have no way of knowing what is directly behind a rock. It could be waiting to ambush us.

"It could…"Ron said in a manner which suggested the thought of a squid didn't intimidate him. "But whats it going to do, hug us to death?"

As it happened magical creatures very rarely constricted their victim to death, and So Ron didn't see the danger in an animal which couldn't impale you with sharp bits.

Don't go swimming into anything to dark." Remus said as he motioned to a hole about ten feet in front of them, which was only a few feet wide, but entirely black inside. "In fact you may want to swim round it for safety, as something could pounce at you from them."

Harry saw the logic in this but suspected Remus was just being over precautious. None the less they soon started swimming round looking over and under rocks, swimming through large arcs of rocks that had naturally formed as a flow of water passed through them, eroding over thousands of years. There were many schools of fish swimming around, as well as plant life, which suggested to Harry that nothing to dangerous could inhabit this area.

"Don't go sniffing Ron." Hermione cautioned as he rubbed his nose against a strange pink plant. "It could be poisonous."

"Yeah what ever." Ron dismissed her as he swum on with a green and purple rash on his nose.

Up on the surface, where Marcus has last seen them, he was sitting in a deckchair, warming his old bones under the warm sun with the sound of the waves gently brushing the beach in the background. It could have sent him to sleep had he been less vigilant. He couldn't afford to let any danger befall Harry and the others.

A shadow moved, away from the large rock, and quickly, yet silently across the sand, until it was right behind the deck chair where Marcus sat, looming over him.

"I would prefer, if you didn't block the sun." Marcus said without a trace of surprise at the presence of this other party.

"Shouldn't you be more on alert?" Asked the man as he lowered his wand.

"I am on alert, just not from you. You're not in the mood for trouble these days are you? Bad year for it, Is what I hear you feel.

"There is never a bad year for trouble, there are simply times when weariness take the better of us, and rather than act, we choose to step aside." Oldman explained. "But this Harry Potter is exceptional. One can always make changes for the exceptional."

"I would advise you leave Harry Potter alone." Marcus said as he shifted his weight slightly to his other side, and reached down for a drink which stood in a glass beside him.

"Leave him alone? Well I certainly don't intend to stop him, not yet at least. After all when was the last time you saw someone who could summon up a force of nature?"

"So you saw that then did you?" Marcus asked, though the answer was known."

"Kind of hard not to, I should think most of Harmonia saw it to. Quite the bit of gossip it caused." Marcus said, as though this was something to be proud of.

"And rightly so. After all Pandemonium hasn't been summoned in over six hundred years."

"Yes, that sounds about right. Though it does feel like only yesterday." Oldman said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Are you going to stand there all day, shadowing over me or are you going to shed some light upon the situation, quite literally."

"Well I just wanted to discuss the situation of this Harry Potter, with someone else who knew what was going on."

"I don't." Marcus responded as he kicked off his shoes and put his feet down upon the damp sand, a small pleasure which he decided to savour, before it would be undoubtedly ruined, by something, or someone.

"No, I suppose not, but you at least understand what I say, if I say it."

"Understanding you is not something I pride myself on. You're a very deprived individual you know…"

Oldman's mood seemed to worsen at this comment, so he cut straight to the point.

"This Harry Potter, twelve years from now he is due to kill you."

"Been staring at the stars have you?" Marcus said after only a moment's pause. He was thrown back by this statement, but he wouldn't give Oldman the satisfaction of knowing so.

"You should know, I can see the future Marcus, with amazing clarity at times."

"I know, but I don't believe he will. I choose to believe differently."

"How can you choose to ignore the facts."

"Because quite simply they aren't facts. They are destinies, and anyone with enough will power can defy their destiny.

"You're willing to risk it?" Oldman asked.

"There is no risk. He is leaving before the end of the week, and won't be back. And even if he were, I don't believe he would."

"So you won't kill him then?"

"No, it doesn't seem any of my business. His fate lies on earth, and if he wants to kill Voldemort, or get killed, that's up to him. After all that is in his future, that much I know without your star gazings."

"But what if he fought Voldemort in this world? I have spoken personally to Voldemort. Very powerful man. Can't say I have ever seen determination take someone's natural ability that far, with a few exceptions." He said, obviously referring to himself.

"Well his fight won't take place in this world, since Voldemort has already left, escorted last night by Albus Dumbledore."

"Well that's a surprise, and at my age surprises are something to savour, rather like a beautiful woman. They all seem to die so quickly."

"They wouldn't die nearly so fast if you didn't kill them…"

A silence fell between them for a moment.

"So why are you telling me this anyway."

"You never did understand me, so don't start trying now." Oldman growled. "Now are you interested to know how a young boy, even one with us much natural talent as his, can summon a force of nature without having knowledge of it?"

"No." Marcus said bluntly. "If I say yes you will talk for thirty minutes before telling me, where as if I say no you will tell me anyway, just to spite me, but you will at least do so in a quick and efficient manner."

"His dreams his spells, they are all his own, they are a part of his destiny, and yet where as he may have once ignored them a part of him has been opened, enlightened, by the wand in his hand."

"His wand?" I saw nothing special about his wand, phoenix feather, fairly standard." Said Marcus as for the first time in the conversation he was interested enough to actually turn around in his chair."

"He has two wand's. He bought a spare, though the first one was fine, he bought it not long ago I believe, though it's not a new wand. In fact the wand is as old as Earth wands go. Made with a Thestrell bone core, it once belonged to a Salazar Slytherin. The thoughts, spells and desires of its past user are imbedded in it, influencing him on such a level that he doesn't even realise it."

"Then I shall take the wand away." Said Marcus firmly. There was no need to risk having a warlock, even if he didn't believe Harry would kill him in the future.

"You can do, but its job is already done. It has already awoken a dark part of his soul he has been suppressing since he was born. He now knows hatred enough to carry on with the power he once never knew he had." Oldman explained with a small smile.

"After all if it wasn't in his soul then he wouldn't still have a coombsy alive inside him would he?" He asked, as he raised an eyebrow in delight as Marcus jumped to his feet in fear for the first time that conversation.

"A COOMBSY!" He roared in accusation.

"T'was not I." Oldman said in jest. "Clearly you have more faith in him than that Albus Dumbledore, for I believe it was him who administered it."

"But it could kill him. The transformation from animal back to human will upset it. It could kill him as soon as the potion wears off!"

"Mmm indeed it could well do. You asked what I wanted, when I came to visit you. I guess now you know." He said as he broke into a short lived maniacal laugh before clicking his fingers and disappearing into thin air, despite the fact Apparation was said to be impossible in Pharaphax.

Marcus turned his eyes toward the Sea, which sparkled under the sun. Somewhere out there Harry was swimming, possibly moments from death.

"What have I done…"

Meanwhile, it may be worth noting, to those of you who do so care, that Snape was currently sitting alone in his house, drunk, or as close as one can be whilst still maintaining a greasy degree of dignity. He was also watching Sleepless in Seattle.

Ok, just to recap, as I'm sure a few of you are going "what?" a Coombsy is a magical creature which was introduced in Chapter 8, which Harry swallowed as an initiation to the OOTP, which feeds on the evil in ones soul, and will ultimately kill anyone with poor intentions. I had intended to introduce this story arc at around April on the Harry Potter year, so if this seems out of place do tell me, as editing may be needed in place. Thanks.


	90. Recover

Hi, guys, sorry for the wait. I know it's been a long time again, and time just seems to fly. Unfortunately this is chapter is a little shorter than usual, and probably not what a lot of you were expecting, but it was just something I needed to wrap up, before moving onto the last story arc. This crept up on me quite quickly, largely due to the fact I have cut out a few of the stories I planned, so for those of you interested to know, there will be between, 3 and 10 chapters more to this story, before I get started on the sequel, which will be just over 3 years since I started this J

Anyway, here you go peeps

Leagues down under the ocean surface Harry and his team was swimming round, desperately racing as the squid darted and chased after them, great talons on the tip of each of its tentacles, hissing through the water in a blur of death and pain. Ron and Tonks had separated, and had headed to the surface for air.

"Well I guess they wouldn't have saved this for last for nothing." Harry said as he darted down a crevice in the ground with the other three still remaining.

"Any plans?" Blaise asked sceptically as it circled overhead, a dark unrelenting shadow.

"Well we need to get to the surface before we can think of anything else." Remus reminded them. "If we don't get some air soon then we won't be doing much of anything, let alone getting some ink." After a few moments of debating Harry and Remus darted out of their safe place, skimming along the sea bed. The giant squid, after only a small hesitation shot after them, leaving Hermione and Blaise free to make a run for the surface.

Up in front of them came the large rocky underwater mountain where they had first disturbed it. They swum as fast as they could, their echo vision beating out as fast as they could just to try and get a clear image of what was in front of them. It drew nearer, as did the squid.

At the last moment just as they were about to slam into the rocks they changed their direction, and started swimming straight up. The squid's talons shot past on either side of them, barely missing them.

"I think we should be able to out manoeuvre him Harry" Remus called as they rose to the peak of the rocky mound, and finally into the clear water. "We are smaller and can change direction faster"

The squid, which crashed into the rocky surface extended on of its tentacles, grabbed onto one of the rocky ledges and hurled itself up and after them, putting Remus' statement to the challenge.

"Well maybe not, but in open water we should at least be able to give it a run" he said as they pushed upwards. Harry couldn't look over his shoulder, and at such speeds his echo location wasn't showing anything behind him either, so he simply concentrated on swimming upwards, towards the surface, and away from the danger.

Eventually he broke the surface, rising some distance into the air with the sun blinding his eyes, before he crashed back into the sea again, he quickly looked below him for any sign of the squid, but it seemed it wouldn't dare venture so near to the surface. Remus was a few feet from him, whilst the others seemed to be waiting a short way off, along with Ron and Tonks.

"So I don't think this will be as easy as we thought." Tonks said as she swum over beside Remus who was catching his breath. The glass drum on his back, which would filter out any of the ink, was still completely empty.

"Well obviously we need to do it, so I guess it will just be a matter of swimming very quickly, and maybe a little bit of clever tactics to try and confuse it." Harry said.

"I think our best chance is in open water." Remus explained. "We are faster and we don't take as long to change direction. If it can get us pinned to the floor and use its tentacles then it has the advantage, but if we try and get it as near to the surface as possible then the advantage should be ours."

"Still, it's not like it's going to be a splash in the pond is it?" Ron asked sceptically, he had a very near miss before he made his run to the surface. "I mean with all the tactics and everything I'm still not looking forward to going back down there."

"I don't think any of us have looked forward to anything in regards to this whole quest, but its something we choose to do, because it will be of benefit to us, and often we need to look past the hear and now, and into the future, in order to make the best decisions." Remus said convincingly, before taking a deep breath, and diving back down, ready for a second attempt.

Harry dived down under the surface with the rest of them. The squid wasn't anywhere to be seen, which meant it must have returned to the ocean bed, something that would have been good, were it not for the fact that they still needed to go and get it. As he swam down, with Ron he realised why this was the most dangerous task yet. Without his wand he felt entirely useless. At least with his wand he had options open to him. Now what could he do other than splash a little?

Marcus who had been peacefully sitting on the beach front was now busy, in a panic as he rushed round trying to gather his thoughts in the best way to deal with the situation that had presented itself. Never before had he needed to remove a coombsy from someone. The whole point of them was that they shouldn't need to be removed. They should kill those who deserve to die, and yet it seems there was an exception…

Marcus summoned up more apparatus that he thought we would need.

"They should be finished by about now." Marcus thought to himself as he glanced out over the clear water front every few minutes, for any sign of movement. The potion would be wearing off soon, and he needed to get Harry stunned before the transformation started if there was to be any chance of the operation working.

He double checked he had everything, despite having just done so.

"Damn Oldman…" Marcus thought to himself, as he chose to blame the messenger. But what was Albus thinking? How much did he know about Harry, about his powers, his dreams and his hearts desires? Was that why Harry was invited to join the Order of the Phoenix? Was it not for the contributions he could make, but rather so Albus could administer that evil parasite, and protect everyone, should Harry take a turn for the worse?

There was a ripple in the far distance, as a dolphin surfaced, followed by another, then another.

"Which one is Harry?" He wondered as this new question faced him. Something was wrong though… Remus surfaced with the equipment mounted on his back, and from what Marcus could see from this distance they had succeeded, but they were moving slowly, and then as the last three surfaced there was no doubt. One of them was swimming slowly, with a companion on either side helping him along, whilst Remus was swimming slightly to one side, as though he was weighed down by something.

Marcus rolled up his sleeves and drew his wand ready. Having injuries to deal with in addition to the Coombsy was the last thing he needed. As they neared the coast it became clear that Remus had been injured on one side as their was a faint tint of blood in the water, whilst it seems the one at the back was either Ron or Harry, for it was slightly larger than the females.

Marcus glanced at his watch, which showed they should change back any moment, which was good timing, as he couldn't allow Remus to carry on bleeding like that, and also since he didn't much fancy his skills at being able to cure a dolphin.

The dolphin at the back which was being supported by two others swam forwards until it ground itself on the beach, and begun to change in shape. Marcus watched this, desperately hoping it wasn't Harry.

As the figure finished turning back into human form Marcus realised it was Ron, which meant that the remaining male who seemed unharmed for once was Harry. Remus gently rolled over and slipped off the glass apparatus strapped to his back which had a dark inky substance inside. As he did this he revealed the injury which was making his swim erratically. Just behind his left fin there was a deep spike embedded within his torso. By the looks of it the spike came from the squid.

Marcus waded into the water and pointed his wand at Harry, before firing a powerful stunning spell. Harry quickly rolled in the water and avoided the spell, before looking back in anger.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, though it just came out as unintelligible click to Marcus.

"STAY STILL!" Marcus shouted back at him. Harry simply heard this as a deep slow groan.

Remus now also began to change back, as did one of the girls. Marcus fired a few more times before he finally hit Harry, who slowed down, and then rolled over in the water.

"What are you doing?" Asking Ron in a wheezing voice as he rolled onto his back and tried to sit up.

"He is in danger." Marcus explained as he strolled into the water and took Harry behind each of his fins and dragging his up onto the sandy bank.

"What about Remus? He's got a freaking big spike in him." Ron snapped as he looked over to Remus who was now back in human form.

"Harry is about to die, he has a coombsy in him, and there is a very real chance that when he transforms back into his human form it will awaken from its state, and kill him. Ron fell silent at this, and simply watched with wide eyes. Harry began to transform back a few moments later, with no signs of anything going wrong.

"Tonks, help me lift him." Marcus said as he looked over to Tonks who was the first of the girls to transform back. Remus despite putting on a smile was still injured and unable to stand without a great deal of pain.

She walked over to where Harry was, only mildly aware of the fact that everyone except Marcus was naked, herself included.

"Wait." Marcus said as Harry went through the final stages of transformation. "Now!" he said as immediately after Harry fell still they picked him up and walked a short way to the metal bench Marcus had summoned.

They placed him down, where he lay completely still. Marcus was just starting to question whether maybe the Coombsy was still dormant, or even there at all. Oldman could very well be standing laughing, having made the entire affair up simply for kicks.

Suddenly Harry's body jerked, and though he remained unconscious his arm moved towards his stomach, towards where the coombsy had been living for the last several months.

"It's happening." Marcus said as he quickly paced around the table and strapped Harry's arms and legs down to the table

"What shall I do?" Tonks asked as Harry started writhing on the metal table.

"Help Remus. You will be of more use to him than you will to me." Marcus instructed. "It's a good job we caught it early." Marcus muttered as he stunned Harry again, just in case he woke up. "If I hadn't known what was wrong then he would most probably have die."

Tonks felt wrong leaving Harry, especially as Marcus drew out a knife which didn't look at all designed with surgical procedures in mind. However she turned her attention to Remus, who gave her a weak smile.

"Not much harm done." He said before breaking into a series of coughing. She knelt down on the wet sand besides him as she examined his wound.

"Well it looks deep enough." She said, as it appeared it may well have punctured a lung. "I'm afraid I don't have any numbing potion she said, as she wrapped her fingers around the embedded talon.

"That's ok, I'm a big boy." He said. "I'm sure you won't hurt me much." Tonks nodded in response to this, before bracing herself. With a firm tug she removed the talon, which was followed by a burst of bloody water.

Remus gritted his teeth, yet didn't make a sound. He wouldn't want her to know he was in pain, for it would only make her worry.

"Right we need to get this healed up sharpish." She said as she drew her wand and peered at the injury. It seemed he had made a lucky miss with the lung, and would hopefully have a full recovery. He was still bleeding at a steady pace, but that was nothing that couldn't he healed in a minute. As for the coughing that was due to ingestion of water.

"You know for a minute there I didn't think we would make it." He said as Tonks finished up repairing the wound. "It got a bit crazy down there…I'm glad none of us got to hurt."

"Well it couldn't have been much worse could it!" Tonks said angrily as Remus made light of the situation. A few inches one way and you would have been dead, and Ron looks like he has some broken ribs, as for Harry, well I don't know about him but its not hunky dory."

"Leave that." Remus said, as he took hold of Tonks' hand. I can do the dressing, you go have a look at Ron. He will only fuss otherwise." Tonks nodded, before going over and attending to Ron's injuries. Remus wrapped some bandages round his middle, which though not a work of art would do the job. After all there was only a small mark to show he had been injured, though the bruising would be bad later.

Remus pulled on his trousers, before having a look as to whether there was anything else he could help with. Ron was telling Tonks all about how amazing it all was, as though she hadn't been there. Hermione and Blaise had got dressed, and were now standing a distance from Marcus, who was still at work.

Remus strolled a little closer to where Marcus was standing, he had his sleeves rolled up, and blood covering his lower arms, though his use of the large knife didn't seem anything less than skilful. There was a large incision on Harry's front where there was a steady flow of blood which obscured much or what needed to be seen.

"Come on." Marcus said to himself as he worked with great concentration. In his other hand he held his wand, which was pointed straight at Harry, with a pale glow at one end. After a few moments the glow increased, and a wispy grey black tail appeared from the wound, thrashing and wriggling for safety as it was drawn from its host.

After a minute it had entirely emerged. No features to distinguish one end from the other, except for two tiny orange eyes. It must have been about twenty inches long, and yet only as fat as his thumb. Once it was safely suspended in the air, under the control of Marcus' wand he placed the knife down on the bench, before reaching out and grabbing hold of the parasite, which immediately turned into a smoky mist under his touch, dissolving, and disappearing once and for all.

"Is it done?" Remus asked, once he felt it was safe to speak.

"Nearly. I need to heal him, and he will need to take several potions just to make sure the whole thing is out of his system…"

Despite all the thrashing about his body had been doing during the operation Harry remained unconscious, not knowing of any of it. His wrists and ankles were bruised and raw where they had been rubbing on the leather straps when his muscles had been convulsing.

Ten minutes later Marcus had finished, Harry was all fixed up, as well as they could hope, and it seemed everyone was going to be ok. Marcus strode down to the sea front where the tide was still gently washing back and forth across the bleached white sand. He crouched down and splashed some water over his arms.

"Was it the Coombsy that made him behave like that?" Remus asked as he pulled on his t-shirt.

"You mean thrashing around like that?" Marcus responded as he looked up from the water. "No, he was doing it himself. His body was fighting…"

"What, you mean it wanted to be infested?"

"No, not at all. It wasn't fighting the Coombsy. It was his subconscious that was fighting. It was looking for something…"

Remus cast a thought back to the conversation they had been having this morning, before shuddering, and waking off to talk to the girls.

Harry awoke in darkness, rain pounding against the window. The sky outside was heavy with cloud, and even the moon was only just visible through the downpour. Harry looked around him, mildly confused as to how he had come to be here. He was in a large bed, with heavy crimson sheets, which he recognised to be the same room he had slept in last night.

Blaise wasn't in bed with him. She wasn't even on the floor. He threw the blanket off him, going to get up, but felt a sharp pain around his middle. He looked down to see that he was bandaged.

"What had happened?" he wondered. The last thing he remembered, was that Marcus had stunned him, but why? It was Marcus wasn't it?

He went to get out of bed, despite the fact it was quite painful to move.

"If you could refrain from excessive movement that would be splendid." Marcus said, as he sat in a chair in a dark corner of the room unnoticed.

"What happened?" Harry asked, slight unnerved that he wasn't as alone as he had thought.

"You had a narrow escape Harry." Marcus explained, as he remained sitting. "You see I discovered that you had a coombsy inside you."

"I did." Harry replied.

"Yes, you did."

"No, I mean that was months ago, it died."

"You may have taken it months ago Harry, but it didn't die. It had been living inside you."

"How is that possible?" Harry asked, as suddenly he had a dirty feeling about himself, as though it made him less of a person. "I was told it would either die, or kill me."

"That is usually the case." Marcus said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "However it seems that in you it found an inbetween. It found enough of what it needed to survive, and yet not enough to thrive and kill you."

"You mean evil."

"Yes, Harry, though I wouldn't feel to bad. Most people have a little evil in them, you just seemed to have the right balance for that Coombsy."

"Why did you stun me then?" Harry asked, mildly annoyed at Marcus, but more at himself.

"Well you see the physical transformation disturbed it, and there was a good chance that it would have killed you when you transformed back. As it stood it was growing, very slowly, and so sooner or later it would have to have been removed. I suppose we are just lucky that your journey is almost over. You may not be up to much physically over the next few days, but you should be in a fit state to complete the Rite."

"It's almost over then…" Harry thought to himself. It seemed like he had been in this world forever. The nearly constant danger had made the situation so tense. They hardly had a moment to relax and enjoy themselves. At least they had the remained of the Christmas holiday to look forward to, or so he thought.

"Tomorrow you will finish the task, and then you will return straight to earth afterwards. We considered it and we couldn't see any reason to wait any longer, as long as you're ok with it. As I say it shouldn't be too challenging."

"No, the hardest part comes later." Harry laughed, before stopping, as it was hurting him.

"Indeed." Marcus said, referring to something rather different than Harry.

"Anyway I just wanted to make sure you were going to be alright. It doesn't appear you have received any mental injuries, so I think I will leave now. After all I don't expect you much want me watching you sleep."

"It's not one of my life's fancies." Harry confessed.

"Well anyway you should probably get back to bed, we don't have an early start tomorrow, but you probably need your sleep after everything." He said as he left, closing the door behind him.

Harry lay awake for a little while longer, wondering what Voldemort was up to now. Whilst Harry and his friends were coming to the end of there mission, so was Voldemort. They both had everything they needed to complete their missions. And what about the Blights? What had happened to Alex, had he seen sense and returned to his family, or was he advancing along the path into darkness?

He fell asleep to these questions and didn't wake up until a little later. He pondered briefly what it was that had awoken him, because a glance out of the window revealed it was still dark. He looked at his watch, which revealed it was just shy of three o clock.

"You, awake Harry?" asked Blaise as she tiptoed across the carpet. "I wanted to see how you were…"

"I'm fine. Why are you up so late though?" He asked, concerned, though not displeased that she was creeping into his room late at night.

"I couldn't sleep very well in Hermione's room." Blaise said. "I swear she was watching me when I slept."

"Maybe she was worried you would attack her." Harry suggested with a smile. Blaise would have hit him, had she not partially agreed, and had he not been injured.

"I can't believe it's almost done." Blaise said as she climbed into the bed next to him and pulled her feet up towards her so she was sitting on the pillows. "This has been the longest week of my life I think."

"Well there were fun times weren't there?"

"Yes, but that just goes to show people lie. Time doesn't always fly when you're having fun. It will seem strange to go back to doing lessons…"

"I think I'm used to the contrast. Besides lessons offer a nice break between the peril, you learn to savor them, not to mention Snape's potion lessons seem quite pleasant by comparison."

"You are so unlucky Harry, how do you always manage to look on the bright side of things?" Blaise asked as she looked into his eyes, which hid many years of suffering.

"I'm not unlucky, I'm still alive, and I have friends, and I have you. I couldn't ask for much else." Blaise slapped him playfully.

"But what about all the death?" Blaise asked, bringing up a subject Harry never enjoyed.

"Well its unfortunate in the fact I am at the very least partially responsible for it, but that just makes me more convinced that I'm doing the right thing, and that by standing up to Voldemort, in what little way I can. That it will one day pay off."

"I don't think I will ever understand you." Blaise said as she lay down in the bed properly.

"You're a girl and I'm a boy. We aren't supposed to understand each other." He said with a smile. Blaise didn't respond to this but simply smiled, and drew a little closer to him. What she did next though surprised him, as she pulled off her pajama top and closed the remaining distance between them with a kiss.

"Blaise, I…"

"I know Harry. But I'm doing it because I want to, not because it's you want, that's just an added benefit. Besides… this will probably be the last night we get to spend together like this. I would like it to be a nice one."

The two of them lay like that, topless in each others arms, for the next half an hour, whispering to each other and kissing, until they eventually fell asleep, the remaining hours of the night, and a good amount of the morning passing as they slept peacefully, together, unaware of the world around them, and the troubles that lay ahead.


End file.
